Foods that help you avoid inflammation

As a rule I’m not a fan of specific diets. I shy away when I hear the words keto, low carb, intermittent fasting, and so on. My theory has been, if I eat mostly healthy foods and unhealthy ones only occasionally, I’ll be healthy. But there’s one diet that caught my eye recently that gave me pause for thought: the ‘inflammation diet’. 

It’s not actually called the ‘inflammation diet’ but that’s the phrase that’s stuck in my brain since I spotted it. The diet in question is designed with inflammation in mind, though – specifically with the aim of reducing inflammation.

And that’s of particular interest to me, because I’ve been experiencing inflammation pains in various parts of my body recently. Granted, I’m not young, but it seems to me that my inflammation-induced aches and pains are more than should be endured by someone who’s not yet 60.

Diet and inflammation

So, is there a link between diet and inflammation? And, if so, what foods should you be eating – or avoiding – to ease the pain? 

This was a question Jennifer Wargo asked when she set up a goal of reducing inflammation in her family. That goal led Ms Wargo to a chart that now hangs on the family fridge at her house. The chart comprises a list of foods and the fibre content of each one. 

For example, there are 4.5 grams of fibre in a medium-sized apple, skin left on. And a cup of raspberries will provide 8 grams of fibre. A cup of black beans? 15 grams!

Excellent, but what does that have to do with inflammation? As it turns out, probably more than previously thought. High-fibre diets have long been recognised as helping you maintain regularity and reduce the risk of bowel and other cancers. But evidence is mounting that a diet high in fibre can help prevent and reduce inflammation. 

Ms Wargo put the chart up on her fridge on more than a whim. She is a researcher based at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston. Along with other researchers, she has accumulated evidence to support some key ingredients.

These ingredients appear to do more than simply reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancers and other illnesses. As part of a healthy diet they effectively control inflammation, the evidence suggests.

The business end of the fibre-inflammation deal takes place in that increasingly important part of our body, the gut. The gut’s microbes don’t just help digest our food. As part of the digestion process, they produce molecules that communicate with our immune systems. Those messages, in turn, influence how much inflammation our bodies produce.

A stronger link

The more the researchers have looked at this, the stronger the apparent link between more fibre and less inflammation. They found this when looking at another diet we commonly hear about – the so-called Mediterranean diet.

So big has been the mountain of evidence of the benefits the Mediterranean diet provides, it’s the one ‘named’ diet I don’t shy away from. Now it appears there’s even more reason to consider it – albeit with a tweak. That tweak is to include foods that take the daily fibre count up to 50 grams. 

That’s a fair bit more than the generally recommend target of 30 grams. Bear in mind, though, that’s a guide and often quoted as a minimum target. Raising it to 50 grams, provided it’s done gradually, is unlikely to produce any serious adverse effects.

There is another aspect of diet linked to inflammation – highly processed foods. Evidence suggests that the more processed food you eat, the higher the risk of inflammation.

In a way, this research takes us back to my original thought. Rather than be sucked in by a diet with a fancy-sounding name, focus on more healthy foods and fewer processed ones. If you must choose a diet with a name, science suggests the name should be ‘Mediterranean’ – and some added fibre.

Do you suffer from inflammation? Have you been able to link it to specific foods? Let us know via the comments section below.

Also read: Superfoods – healthy or just hype? 

Disclaimer: This article contains general information about health issues and is not advice. For health advice, consult your medical practitioner.