Chronic inflammation plays a central role in a host of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and chronic sinusitis, and even Alzheimer’s disease. Inflammation is essentially your body’s immune response - helpful in acute situations, but harmful when the underlying cause persists and the response lasts for months or years.

Causes: Imbalanced gut bacteria, harmful bacteria/parasites, chronic stress, some medications, excess weight (extra fatty tissue produces inflammatory cytokines in the body)

Symptoms: decreased energy and fatigue, sleep disturbances, brain fog, skin problems, abdominal pain/bloating/gas, joint pain, headaches, irritability/mood swings/anxiety/depression

Dietary contributions:

• Processed vegetable oils: Omega 6 oils trigger the body to produce pro-inflammatory mediators in our body. The ideal ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 oils is 1:1, but the typical Western diet contains a ratio of 20:1. Examples of Omega 6 oils to avoid are vegetable, canola, corn, soybean, peanut, safflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, and sunflower oil. Use avocado, olive, coconut, flax, walnut oil and ghee instead.

• Refined flour: A whole grain of wheat has 3 layers - the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. Refined flour strips the grain down to the endosperm. It’s then bleached and oxidized to give it the pure white color. The majority of nutrients are destroyed in the this process, including fiber. Look at food labels and try to avoid items containing “enriched flour.”

• Gluten: A primary constituent of gluten called gliadin has been shown to cause intestinal stress through activation of zonulin, a hormone that signals the tight junctions of your intestinal wall to open… leaky gut. Once triggered, zonulin stays active for 90 days. Gluten is not only found in bread and pasta but because of its binding properties, is often added to random items such as medications, lunch meat, shampoo.

• Sugar: Excess fructose consumption stimulates the body to deposit extra fat in the liver, contributing to fatty liver disease. Fructose does not trigger insulin release or leptin like glucose does. Stick to honey and maple syrup as sweeteners and limit added sugar intake to 6 tsp/25g or less (women), 8 tsp/35g of less (men).

• Artificial Sweeteners: These overstimulate sugar receptors, leading to sugar addiction and making less sweet foods much less appealing.

• Expired Items in Pantry/Freezer: Your body has a harder time breaking down expired food. Throw away spices older than 2 years, anything in the freezer that has frostbite, expired condiments.

• Other dietary sources of inflammation:

  • Foods containing non-organic corn and soy as 94% of these are genetically-modified

  • Dairy from cows fed hormones and antibiotics - look for “grass-fed, pasture-raised, rBGH-free, rBST-free”

  • Food colorings

If you are wondering what's left to eat, I will cover anti-inflammatory foods in my next post. For now, start reading food labels, become aware of what you’re consuming. Aim for a B - 80% compliance is good enough and much better than what you may be doing now.