
Do you know the reason for Chronic illness
Do you know the reason for Chronic illness
Most of you may have heard the term inflammation mentioned casually during conversations. Are you aware of the actual meaning, and when is inflammation good or harmful?
Inflammation is a natural response to any injury or infection in the body. It’s a process by which increased white blood cells protect you from bacteria, viruses, and other external damages.
If you remember the last time you had an accidental cut on your finger, or you had a foot accident while walking, was there swelling or redness in that area?
You find that the localized area where the injury occurs is swollen, slightly red, and a little painful. These symptoms are nothing but the cause of acute inflammation due to protecting your body.
But, what happens when this natural process takes place with continued effect even when you have no injury? Of course, this does not occur naturally, but with our foods.
Inflammation is the root cause of most chronic illnesses
Our body has an immune system that we need to check throughout our lives. And, this depends on the food we eat.
Therefore, some foods trigger inflammation in our bodies.
We will soon talk about inflammatory foods, but first, you need to know how inflammation can harm your health. Understanding the seriousness of inflammatory responses can help you make the right food choices.
How can chronic inflammation harm your health?
Chronic inflammation can seriously harm your health, and you won’t even realize it when you spiral into multiple illnesses.
- Cognitive decline– This means that you would experience slower thinking abilities, impaired mental capabilities, memory loss, and lack of focus over time.
- Cardiovascular diseases– Coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, unexpected loss of heart function, heart failure.
- Abnormal growth of cells – Inflammation can turn chronic if the process persists or specific control mechanisms fail to shut down the process of inflammation. When this happens, cell mutation can occur, creating an environment that may lead to cancer development.
- Reduced digestive processes – Suddenly, you start to notice that your digestive system isn’t functioning as well as it used to! It’s not just aging that harms you but the fact that the foods you eat are causing digestive problems.
- Weight gain– Inflammation gets in the way of your weight loss habits. It becomes harder to lose weight even after putting in two or three hours of daily exercise.
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- Loss of muscle mass – A pro-inflammatory cytokine called TNF-α (a member of the Tumor necrosis factor family) can induce loss of muscle mass and develop associated diseases.
- Skin irritation– When the skin gets irritated, a natural trigger causes the release of agents that lead to inflammatory damage and destruction to the skin’s structural components. This includes collagen and elastin, eventually leading to wrinkling formation.
- Joint pain and damage – When the immune system does not function properly, the body reacts with an inflammatory response. As a result, the inflammatory chemicals released attack joint tissues, causing swelling, increasing joint fluid, cartilage, bone damage, and muscle loss. Nerves present in the joints are also activated, causing severe pain.
Eventually, the body develops a myriad of sicknesses, ranging from metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and autoimmune conditions.
The top 10 foods you should avoid to reduce inflammation
So, now that you are aware of how chronic inflammation can harm you, it’s time to list down the inflammatory foods, intake of which you should at least try to reduce.
- Reduce gluten: Wheat, rye, barley (pasta, bread, pizza, cereal)
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Almond, coconut, quinoa, amaranth flour, lettuce, collard greens, cauliflower, toasted sweet potato for avocado toasts, portabella mushrooms, zucchini or cucumber, and veggie sticks.
- Reduce sugar: snack bars, candy, baked goods, sodas, pastries, sugary drinks, sweetened tea or coffee, pasta sauces, condiments.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Berries, green apples, sweet vegetables like beets, and carrots. Natural sweeteners like Stevia or Monk Fruit.
- Reduce refined carbohydrates: Bread, crackers, bagels, pasta, flour tortillas, and breakfast cereal.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: sweet potato chips cooked in coconut oil, veggie sticks, coconut wraps, zucchini or palmini noodles, cauliflower rice, baked sweet potato fries.
- Reduce raised meat and Dairy: Meat and dairy products are treated with hormones, antibiotics, GMOs, and toxic pesticides.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Eat meat that comes from animals that were raised humanely and fed a healthy diet. You may eat pasture-raised raised poultry, grass-fed beef, and lamb.
- Reduce farm-raised fish and seafood: Farm-raised fish are often treated
with antibiotics and are fed a diet that is less than optimal.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: You may eat wild-caught fish that have higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, and have lesser fats. They have low levels of pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics.
- Reduce processed conventional meat: Deli meat, cured meat, highly processed meat products, sausages, burger patties, etc.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Pasture-raised and wild-caught options like raised poultry, grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, and wild-caught fish.
- Reduce artificial trans fats: Also called partially hydrogenated oils. Canola oil, soybean, sunflower, safflower, corn oil, grapeseed, margarine, cottonseed, and peanut oil.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Butter, tallow, ghee, coconut oil, avocado, coconut milk, fish oil, olive oil, eggs.
- Reduce food additives and preservatives: MSG or Monosodium Glutamate is associated with metabolic syndrome, weight gain, etc. Artificial coloring like Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and 6 are related to allergic reactions, inflammation, and some types of cancers.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Stick to organic whole foods while keeping in mind portion control.
- Reduce highly processed vegetable and seed oil: Reduce intake of Omega-6 fatty acids in your diet. Reduce the consumption of vegetable oils, such as corn oil, canola oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, and peanut oil. They contribute to inflammation and other diseases.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Organic virgin coconut oil
- Reduce artificial sweeteners and flavor enhancers: Aspartame, acesulfame potassium, monosodium glutamate, sucralose, and other artificial sweeteners.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives: Monk fruit and stevia
Dr2bthin.com provides its patients with a recommended diet at the time of signing with them. This diet emphasizes on all the above points by giving the patient many alternatives.
Although it is impossible to avoid these foods altogether, you may reduce their intake to a large extent. You can gradually introduce new and healthier food options while significantly eliminating harmful, inflammatory food from your diet.