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Anti-Inflammatory Diet

A

Adamantine

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Jun 4, 2013
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11
Has anyone been on one, and if so, did you find it difficult to switch to such a diet?

I'd been having back pain that increased in severity for several months. I went to a couple of doctors who wouldn't take me seriously. Finally found one who did, and who sent me for x-rays. They showed minimal arthritis in the lumbar spine, as well as several bone spurs.

I am only 27 years old (28 next month), and already have a host of health issues: type 1 diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, PCOS. I need to do all that I can to help myself. I need to be healthier overall. That includes losing weight. A friend suggested an anti-inflammatory diet, but I'm not sure where to start or what internet resource to trust.

I'll see an orthopedic specialist next week, but I want to start immediately, if possible.
 
Grains tend to be the biggest source of inflammation. Try to get your carbs from different sources. Roots like carrots, sweet potatoes. Fruits, but not fruit juices. Various vegetables. http://nutritiondata.self.com/ lists something like an "inflammatory factor" and glycemic load for most foods. Quite helpful.

Just be sure to make gradual adjustments since you have type 1 diabetes. As you obviously know, it's a condition that complicates a lot of dietary choices.
 
Alexander Shulgin said:
Grains tend to be the biggest source of inflammation. Try to get your carbs from different sources. Roots like carrots, sweet potatoes. Fruits, but not fruit juices. Various vegetables. http://nutritiondata.self.com/ lists something like an "inflammatory factor" and glycemic load for most foods. Quite helpful.

Just be sure to make gradual adjustments since you have type 1 diabetes. As you obviously know, it's a condition that complicates a lot of dietary choices.
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Thank you! That's very helpful. I'll definitely have to take it slow and see what works. Eliminating carbs isn't an option, for obvious reasons, but I can find new sources to balance out the reduction in grains.
 
I recently got over a month's worth of intense gut inflammation by eating half a watermelon every day. I didn't even know why I wanted to eat it so badly but I just randomly bought it. Then I looked up the benefits such as the high lycopene content and the alkalinizing effect on the bowels. Lycopene is also in tomatoes, but tomatoes can be acidic to the body.

Tumeric is also pretty anti-inflammatory.

I would say if you just cut out all industrial foods and dairy, you will be on your way. Eating whole foods only keeps the bad residues out of your body.
 
^funny how sometimes your subconscious will 'force' you to purchase things and then you later find out they are helpful to the issue you're having at the time, ever notice that? Like someone craving bananas then gets blood tests back showing deficiency in potassium?
 
^^its apparently very common. It's rumored that's why pregnant women crave what they do. Or people who want to eat dirt and find out they have iron/mineral deficiencies. The body knows what it wants most of the time. Now if I can figure out why opiates made me crave sweets...
 
RobotRipping said:
^funny how sometimes your subconscious will 'force' you to purchase things and then you later find out they are helpful to the issue you're having at the time, ever notice that? Like someone craving bananas then gets blood tests back showing deficiency in potassium?
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The body knows better than the logical mind what it needs to eat, I think. I was amazed at how immediately better I felt from eating half a watermelon on the first day... and I never buy melons usually. So yeah, my purchase was seemingly random :)

Whenever I hang out with my friend who's a nutritionist, I love to ask her a zillion questions about food. One time she was eating cherries when I met up with her, and I said, "I wonder what the medicinal benefits of cherries are! Why are you eating them?" and she said, "...because they taste good."
 
There are many decent anti-inflammatory herbs to consider such as stinging nettle, oregon grape, garlic, chili pepper, ginger, artichoke and milk thistle.
 
go on a raw diet. No cooked foods. Even though most nutrient rich foods we eat are good for us. When we cook foods, it breaks down and denatures certain nutrients making them less beneficial to eat. If we consume food raw, it is digested far easier and passes through us much easier as well as not gumming up our insides.

Its not an easy diet to switch to, but Ive seen someone who was going to need knee surgery who switched to an all raw diet, lost about 20 lbs in 3 weeks and no longer needed surgery. He did a very extreme diet program, but its proof the system works.
 
Since most of you have covered food including herbs and spices, I would like to add honey, blackstrap molasses, rice syrup, and stevia in small amounts if you are craving for sweets. For beverages you can also drink yerba mate, green tea fresh veggie juice and Dandelion blend.
 
I found a huge reduction in bodily inflammation from doing a Whole30, which is a 30 day program based on a paleo diet framework. It's designed to get you started eating the most optimal foods and quickly reduce inflammation. I've been eating this way a year now. When I'm eating well, all my symptoms caused by inflammation are alleviated. Check it out. http://whole9life.com/
 
Foreigner said:
I recently got over a month's worth of intense gut inflammation by eating half a watermelon every day. I didn't even know why I wanted to eat it so badly but I just randomly bought it. Then I looked up the benefits such as the high lycopene content and the alkalinizing effect on the bowels. Lycopene is also in tomatoes, but tomatoes can be acidic to the body.

Tumeric is also pretty anti-inflammatory.

I would say if you just cut out all industrial foods and dairy, you will be on your way. Eating whole foods only keeps the bad residues out of your body.
Click to expand...

I can do watermelon! I love it, and of all the fruits, it seems to be the easiest on my blood glucose levels. Tomatoes definitely give me raging heartburn any time that I eat anything made with them (pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, stew with tomato paste). I've cut way down on processed crap and have been eating a lot more veggies, and I already notice a difference in my overall level of energy.
 
I've had the paleo diet recommended a few times now, but I've always found it to be so... different from what I'm used to that I can't even imagine myself eating that way. But, my health is on the line and I'm willing to do something more drastic. I may be able to at least do a modified version.

I'm down 11 lbs in two weeks, so far.
 
11 lbs in two weeks is great! Question, what is the reason for the pancreatitis? I too suffered from that and mine was caused by high triglycerides. I've been on a low saturated fat, low carbohydrate diet to bring my triglyceride and sugar levels down. Salmon is good for inflammation.
 
Jonnavi said:
Since most of you have covered food including herbs and spices, I would like to add honey, blackstrap molasses, rice syrup, and stevia in small amounts if you are craving for sweets. For beverages you can also drink yerba mate, green tea fresh veggie juice and Dandelion blend.
Click to expand...

As a person suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, I find that the sweeteners you mention do equal damage as refined sugar. Honey is still pure sugar. So is rice syrup. It's all sugar, and it's a hard load on the body.
 
RhythmSpring said:
As a person suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, I find that the sweeteners you mention do equal damage as refined sugar. Honey is still pure sugar. So is rice syrup. It's all sugar, and it's a hard load on the body.
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Oh Sorry to hear RhythmSpring :( I actually have a couple of relatives who suffer from RA as well. These sweets I have mentioned in small amounts do not affect them. I think this varies individually as to what the body can tolerate.
 
Get fish oil if you don't eat 2 or 3 servings of fatty fish a week, eat more vegetables and less red meat. Make olive oil your main source of fat as much as possible while cutting back on saturated fats.

Look into the Mediterranean diet which is supposed to be along the lines of anti-inflammatory diets.

Also have you heard of doctor Weil. I am not trying to advertise for him, nor do I work for him in any way but over the years I have found his advice to be the most reliable, honest and balanced.

He has been a big part of the health food movement since the 60's and he has developed a basic set of guidelines for an anti-inflamatory diet.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet

Edit:

Oh and here is a food pyramid that really simplifies things

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02995/Dr-Weil-Anti-Inflammatory-Food-Pyramid.html
:)

Edit:

And by the way this is all from my own experience as I used to eat a lot more this way before I went to college basically and after my diet got worse everything got worse.
Hmm
 
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Jasmine rice and sweet potatoes are two of the best carb sources. Get your protein from lean meats like chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef. Get fats from healthy sources like coconut oil, nuts, avocado, ets. Stay away from fried food, and eat tons of veggies.
 
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