Foods Against Inflammation and Pain
Having a healthy diet overall will generally help with combatting inflammation. But there are certain anti-inflammatory foods that specifically help pain and inflammation. Your body’s inflammatory state is often related to the lack of nutritional and metabolic balances.
There is too much of free radicals during the oxidative stress, because of pollution, emotional stress, infections, iron overload, smoking, excessive physical exercise and more. When the pH of your body is too little or too high- below or above pH value of 7, you have the acid imbalance. You may also have an intestinal flora imbalance with more of harmful bacteria than good bacteria in your gut.
Even though your body needs plenty of Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids to function properly, you may have a high omega 6 / omega 3 ratio. And excessive consumption of Omega 6 fatty acids can cause inflammation while Omega 3 has anti-inflammatory properties. As these Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are not synthesized by your body you need to have healthy eating habits overall.
You may be consuming too much of simple sugars and trans fats in your diet, as well as the refined grains, which can easily lead to the chronic inflammatory state. With an anti-inflammatory diet you will be able to maintain the acid balance, reduce oxidative stress and inflammation while enhancing a healthy gut balance. You may, for example, switch to plant proteins from animal protein as your intake of proteins would be 50% each for animal and plant sources. Vegetarian protein is found in tempeh, quoin, tofu, veggie mince etc.
Increasing your dietary fiber intake will increase your intestinal microbiota. You may want to reduce your salt intake and go for herbs and spices like pepper, turmeric and ginger. Reduce your salt intake you may want to add salt in starchy foods during cooking rather than after. And try sometimes having rice, potatoes and other starchy foods instead of salty bread. Cheese contains lots of it and you may want to have not more than once a day. Omega 3-rich foods include salmon, herring, mackerel, sardine, salmon, trout, walnuts, rapeseed, hempseed, flaxseeds, chia seeds and Brussels sprouts.
You may want to eat more of whole grains and legumes that are high in fiber and low in glycemic index. Fruits and veggies contain high amounts of antioxidants and help maintain gut microbiota. And you probably want to have veggies at every meal and two fruits a day. Please go for the natural regular non-skimmed milk for a decent balance and adequate calcium intake. Small amounts of dark chocolate or cocoa every day may help fight stress and reduce inflammation.
Drink plenty of water (2-2.5 liters per day) to help with muscle fatigues, reducing the cramps, enhancing intestinal transit and improving overall body functioning. By focusing on an anti-inflammatory diet you will be reducing the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity and more. Extra virgin olive oil contains Oleocanthal that blocks the enzymes that cause inflammation, just like the pain killer ibuprofen. So you may want to use olive oil throughout the day on your salads, meals and dips.
Pineapple contains Bromelain enzyme that helps digest protein and decrease the inflammation risk. Eating pineapple can help decrease knee osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis pain and swelling in people with carpal tunnel syndrome. Apple has the anti-inflammatory quercetin antioxidant which is a type of flavonoids and has the anti-cancer properties. Nuts and seeds are rich in tryptophan amino acid and help reduce pain in about an hour.
Tryptophan containing foods are chicken, turkey, sunflower seeds, dairy products, rice, beans, seafood, soy and legumes. Leafy greens like spinach, Swiss chard, bok choy, kale contain lots of carotenoids with the pigments that give the green and orange colors and that have anti-inflammatory effects. Whole grain cereals including brown rice help fight leaky gut and irritable bowel syndrome. They help relax the nerves, muscles and blood vessels and reduce the frequency of migraines.
Grapes, blackberries or a glass of red wine contain resveratrol that blocks enzymes that cause inflammation just like aspirin but without any ill effects on your stomach. Other major anti-inflammatory foods include cranberry juice (reduced bladder inflammation), cherries, strawberries and raspberries (anthocyanin), nectarine, apricot, oranges (less of joint inflammation), green or black tea (flavonoids), onion and garlic, broccoli (glutathione), cauliflower, potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, watermelon and fish. So there is a long list of healthy foods that you can consume with anti-inflammatory properties and you are not restricted to just a few special foods.
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