Chronic Inflammation is the leading and root cause of many a serious illnesses today. It can lead to a number of cancers, heart disease and even Alzheimer’s Disease. Inflammation shows itself on the surface of one’s body by way of swelling, redness, heat and pain. This is the body’s response to healing, however, if inflammation for longer than it should, it tends to damage the body and leads to illness.
A few causes of chronic inflammation include genetic disposition, exposure to toxins like from second hand tobacco smoke and lack of exercise. Dietary choices can play a large role in making sure that inflammation does not lead to illness. It is important that one follows a diet strategy that helps containing and even reducing risks of long-term disease.
The Anti-Inflammatory diet is not really a weight loss diet, however, it is a great way to stay in shape as well. What one must know, that is not a sort of diet plan that one could just take on for a short time, it should be something that one should include as part of their lifestyle, as it can really help maintain optimum health.
This diet does not only influence inflammation, but it also gives the body a steady source of energy, minerals, nutrients, dietary fiber, fatty acids and protective phytonutrients.
In fact, your existing diet plan can undergo a revamp by simply adapting the anti-inflammatory principles mentioned below:
Some Generic Diet Tips!
When you are planning your anti-inflammatory diet, try and aim for variety, include fresh food into your diet, avoid fast food and processed foods and eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
Caloric Intake
Pay heed to your calorie intake:
1) Adults should consume between 2000 – 3000 calories in a day
2) However, women and smaller people and those who have a sedentary lifestyle should consume lesser calories
3) On the other hand, men and bigger and those people with a more active lifestyle should consume more calories
4) If you do manage to consume the right amount of calories based on your weight and lifestyle, you weight should fluctuate too much
5) Calorie distribution should be as follows: 20% from fat, 50 – 60% from carbs and 10 – 20% from proteins
6) You should make an effort to incorporate proteins, fats and carbohydrates in every meal
Carbohydrates
1) Adult women, on a 2000 calorie a day diet, should ideally consume carbohydrates to the tune of 160 – 200 grams
2) Adult men need to consume at least 20 – 300 grams of carbs a day
3) Be sure that most of this consumption is less processed foods, less refined and carries a low glycemic load
4) Try and consume less of foods that are made from sugar and wheat flour, which includes break and packaged foods for snacking like pretzels and chips
5) Include whole grains such as bulgur wheat and brown rice in your diet. These are better than whole wheat flour products, that have the same glycemic index like white flour foods.
6) Include sweet potatoes, beans and winter squashes in your diet
7) Eat pasta in moderation and make sure its cooked al dente
8) Avoid all products that contain high fructose corn syrup
Fat
1) If you have a 200 calorie a day diet, 600 calories are allowed to come from fat sources, which equals to about 67 grams. The ration of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fat should be 1:2:1
2) You can reduce your intake of fat by eating less cream, butter, unskinned chicken, high fat cheese, fatty meats and all products that contain palm kernel oil.
3) Use extra virgin olive oil as the main oil to cook your meals (if low temperature cooking). If you are looking at oils to cook at high temperature use coconut oil, ghee or grape seed oil.
4) Regular versions of safflowers, sunflower, corn, cottonseed and mixed vegetable oils should be avoided.
5) Avoid all products that have vegetable shortening and margarine listed as ingredients and avoid the two as well
6) Avoid foods with partially hydrogenated oils
7) Include avocados, and nuts in you diet, nuts should include cashews, almonds, walnuts and you could also have nut butters made from these nuts in your diet
8) To get your dose of omega-3 fatty acids consume salmon (choose fresh over canned sockeye and frozen wild), sardines that have been packed in olive oil or water, black cod and herring. Include omega-3 fortified eggs in your diet and also include freshly ground hemp and flax seeds.
Protein
1) On a diet that is 2000 calories a day, your protein intake should be between 80 – 120 grams. Be sure to consult your health practitioner, as if you have kidney or liver problems or may have certain allergies or autoimmune disease, you may have to consume less proteins
2) Include less animal protein in your diet, but do not avoid, high quality natural yogurt and natural cheese.
3) Include as much vegetable protein as you can in your diet. You can get this from soybeans and beans.
Fiber
1) You should at least try and consume 40 grams of fiber daily. To increase these levels, include berries, vegetables and whole grains in your diet.
2) You could also find a decent amount of fiber from ready made cereals
Phytonutrients
1) Phytonutrients will help you gain natural protection against age related diseases, and these include: cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease and cancer, in fact these also help protect you against environmental toxins. Vegetable, fruits and mushrooms are a great source of phytonutrients.
2) Make sure that your diet contains fruits from all parts of the color spectrum: tomatoes, berries, yellow and orange fruits and beautiful dark green and leafy vegetables.
3) Choose organic produce always or at least as often as you can
4) Eat from the cruciferous or cabbage family often
5) Make sure that soy foods are a part of your diet
6) Avoid coffee, replace it with high quality green, oolong or white tea
7) Choose wine if you cannot avoid alcohol
8) Dark chocolate in moderation should be consumed, minimum cocoa content should be 70%
Water
1) Plenty of Pure water and drinks that are heavily diluted like tea, diluted fruit juice or sparkling water with lemon should be consumed
2) If you tap at home tastes of chlorine, get a water purifier at home or you could simply stick to bottled water.
An anti-inflammatory diet should indeed be followed if you wish to reduce the risk of long-term illness. Read the information carefully and learn how including a few foods and a balanced diet can indeed do good to your body.
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