If you’ve been in the world for even just a short time, it’s likely that you have heard the word inflammation. For example, we take anti-inflammatories (i.e. ibuprofen) when we are in mild to moderate pain. There is also a lot of buzz going on about anti-inflammatory foods in the food packaging industry. We see it all the time: “fights inflammation” or “anti-inflammatory”. But as with all things in our bodies, there is always a deeper, greater root to look at.
The world of anti-inflammatory is quite large, so I am overly simplifying it here to make it quick and easy. Start from top to bottom with the most helpful items at the top and work your way through slowly. There is no need to make massive changes to your life if you’re not doing some of these things. As you’ll see down the page is stress. The last thing you want to do is get stressed about changing your diet to be more anti-inflammatory. You’ll see why.
Among stress, is the kind of food & nutrients you put into your body. It can be simple if you let it be. The important part is to give room for your body’s natural healing process to occur by adding anti-inflammatories & removing inflammatories.
Are you ready? Let’s dive right in!
1.) FOOD TO REMOVE:
These should be pretty obvious. But what may not be obvious is the dairy and oils. While these 2 items have been mixed quite heavily into our diets over the years, there is a new turn of evidence pointing to them being highly inflammatory.
- Gluten from your diet. This is actually quite a HUGE inflammation factor. There is a lot of debate on the gluten topic, so I say try it out. Go gluten-free for 2 weeks and take note of how you feel.
- Sugar. Sugar, as well as fake sugars, feeds the growth of bad bacteria and yeast, and messes up our insulin levels, our thyroid, and adrenal function.
- Conventional dairy. Use almond, coconut, or goats milk instead of cow’s milk.
- Please do not cook with hydrogenated oils such as vegetable oil, corn oil soybean oil, or really olive oil (does not do well on high temperatures).
2.) FOOD TO ADD ADD AND ADD SOME MORE:
These are foods that should be a regular part of your diet if you are trying to reduce inflammation in your life (who isn’t?)
- Bone broth – this stuff will do amazing things for you! High in collagen, probiotics, minerals, vitamins and much more!
- Fruits and/or veggies – try to have at least 1 at every meal. High in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, anti-inflammatories, pre-biotics, etc.
- Quality high-fat food items like these help with inflammation. I recommend up to 5 to 7 servings per day of the following: avocados, expeller-pressed organic canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed, hazelnut oil, hemp seeds, high-oleic safflower or sunflower oils, sesame oil or walnut oil.
- Foods high in Omega 3.
- Coconut oil or Ghee to cook with.
- Ginger & turmeric are highly anti-inflammatory – I like to add these in a smoothie or in a stir fry.
3.) DRINK:
Try to stick with water as much as possible, but feel free to add in some warm soothing tea throughout the day.
- Drink lots of water to flush out your system. If this is challenging, fill up a water bottle and bring it with you all day. Start your day with a glass of water with lemon for an extra boost!
- A few cups of tea (green, oolong or white) per day.
4.) ESSENTIAL OILS:
Essential oils are wonderful. They can bypass the internal systems of your body and go straight to the affected areas through the nose, or through the skin. You can put a few drops in an essential oil diffuser, or place a couple of drops on your skin. Make sure they are a quality grade of oils. There are becoming a handful of variations out there that contain more chemical than oil. Just make sure it is pure and organic.
- Wintergreen
- Frankincense
- Peppermint
5.) STRESS LESS
Did you know that stress actually causes inflammation in your body? Yes, it’s true. If you are implementing a healthy diet, yet very stressed in your day-to-day life, you will still be causing a great amount of inflammation in your body that can ultimately cause a lot of harm.
Here are some great tips to reduce your daily stress load:
- Nasal breathing – close your eyes, breathe deeply through your nose and let the air go into your belly so deep that your belly expands, hold for a quick second and release slowly out of your mouth. Do that for a few times and you will elicit the “relaxation response” in your body and feel a whole lot better! I do this a few times throughout my day and even while exercising.
- Get out and move – whether you like to exercise or not, movement helps your body in a multitude of ways. It doesn’t have to be hard movement or even planned. A simple 10-20 minute walk can do wonders for your body and stress levels.
- Get into the sun – Did you know that 15-20 minutes of sunlight can do amazing things for your whole body? You will receive a vital nutrient: vitamin D, which will help reduce stress. If you do this sometime in the morning, you will also help reset your circadian rhythm, and thus help you feel awake when you should and sleep well when you should.
- Take time to be still – with so much happening these days, it can be so powerful to just take 5 minutes to be still. You can choose to meditate, or you can choose to simply close your eyes and just be still. Doing this at the start of your day will do wonders!
- Remove stressors – Last but not least, if you have any ability to remove, or even reduce, the stressors in your life such as job stressors, people, thoughts, habits, etc, make a concerted effort to do so. If you cannot remove or reduce, then focus on reframing the way you perceive these stressors. Sometimes a simple switch in perception can change the way your body handles those situations.
6.) SUPPLEMENTS:
Here is a quick list of supplements you can add to your diet if the above need some extra help. Remember to try and get all of these from food as much as you can and only supplement what is needed.
- Bone broth collagen powder (especially if you don’t have time or room to make full bone broth).
- Omega 3 in a quality oil form (I love Udo’s!) or you can find it in vitamin form.
- High-quality probiotics will help heal the gut and thus heal the inflammatory agents streaming into the blood system.
- Active Lipoic Acid (300 mg)
- Curcumin (within turmeric, so more concentrated)
- Cod liver oil – 1 Tbsp/day
These are also great supplements to help aid you in lowering inflammation:
Co-enzyme Q10, Carotenoids, Magnesium, Potassium, Selenium, and Vitamins B6, B12, C, D and E.
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Kirsten Larsen is a wholeness coach, helping people experience freedom and breakthrough in body, soul, and spirit.
