Inflammation is a reaction which warns the body against any and all foreign bacteria, infection, and suspected viruses. Once it senses any type of threat which can potentially harm you, what’s triggered are white blood cells, which is the body’s natural germ fighters.
With certain autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions, such as: rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, celiac disease, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease, the immune system can become inflammatory, even though there may be no real threat.
What this leads to is potential damage to the internal tissues, where the end result is the well familiar stiff joints which can become painful and swollen. Inflammation also causes high blood pressure, resulting in the growth of abnormal cells.
How To Reduce Inflammation
Inflammation is part of the natural biological response of vascular tissues, which are harmful to stimuli. This stimuli could be damaged pathogens, cells, or irritants.
Inflammation is a protective measure, which is an attempt by your body to remove all of this detrimental stimuli, while starting the healing process. Wounds along with infections would never heal without inflammation.
The symptoms of inflammation includes redness, body pain, swelling, and restriction of movement. There are certain everyday foods that you can avoid eating, which are known to increase the inflammatory response.
Common Foods Which Can Cause Inflammation
Fatty Red Meats
Consuming certain poor quality fatty red meats such as beef or pork ribs, ground beef, along with other fatty cuts of livestock are proven to contribute to inflammation.
This because of their high content of foreign animal fat, which has been linked to heart disease, and chronic diabetes in a variety of medical testing.
Cured Processed Meats
Similar to fatty red meats, all cured meats which are processed and preserved, which uses a high content combination of nitrates, salt, or refined sugar for extending its longevity while enhancing its flavoring, causes inflammation. So avoid foods such as sausages, hot dogs, and other deli meats.
They’re known to be inflammatory offenders which have been linked to certain autoimmune conditions. To get your fix of healthy fats, substitute the processed meats for salmon, sardines, fresh or canned tuna, beans, and nuts, all for their valuable Omega-3 contribution.
Certain Cheeses
One of the biggest culprits of inflammation is considered to be cream cheese. There’s also studies which shows that just over to 50% percent of the world’s adult population isn’t able to properly digest dairy efficiently.
This because of the lactose that’s found in the milk, which is the primary form of sugar. This is why most cheeses, particularly the type which are processed or contains high-sodium, can cause inflammation.
The cheeses which are harder and are prepared naturally, are known to cause less inflammatory issues, this because of their lower sodium content.
Certain Vegetable Oils
According to a variety of known health and nutritional foundations, a diet that’s too high in omega-6 fatty acids will cause inflammation.
How you can reduce this inflammation is by substituting the known omega-6 oils, which are found in sunflower, soy, and safflower oils, and then substituting an oil which is high in omega-3.
The best recommended omega-3 based oils include extra virgin olive oil and pure pressed canola oil.
Avoid Fat Based Spreads
Processed margarine along with other similar spreads are all identified as being high in trans-fats as well as partially-hydrogenated oils. The recommendation is they should all be avoided, this since they’re known to exacerbate the inflammatory response in the body.
What’s recommended by health experts and dieticians is using clarified butter instead, such as ghee or olive oil. Although they may be rich in omega-6 fatty acids, what they provide is concentrated flavor in smaller amounts when compared to regular butter.
Dairy Milk From Cattle
It’s no surprise to dietitians that there’s a significant number of the world’s population that’s thought to have an intolerance to dairy milk, or they are allergic.
As a result, cow’s milk has been singled out as being highly inflammatory for most. The end result being that it upsets the stomach, resulting in constipation, hives, and causing poor breathing issues.
If you happen to suffer from intolerance to dairy products yourself, or have an allergy, then try switching to almond or organic soy milk instead.
Too Much Alcohol
The next time you sip a glass of hard liquor, beer, wine, cider, or spirits, know that there are a series of proven tests which has linked drinking alcohol to excessive levels, to chronic inflammation.
This inflammation occurs particularly in the liver, which as a result can potentially cause heart issues, stroke, vascular dementia, peripheral artery disease, and tumor growth over time.
Harmful Food Additives
We’ve all heard of the health warnings which are associated with a diet that’s rich in processed foods. The biggest reason being that they contain harmful additives, particularly monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame.
These two particular additives have been linked to further aggravating inflammatory symptoms, this combined with the existing conditions such as contributing to chronic asthma.
Choosing Your Foods Carefully
It becomes extremely important to reduce inflammation, not because of the discomfort, but also because chronic inflammation is found extremely detrimental to the body.
Unlike cases of acute inflammation, where the immune system naturally responds to infection or injury by activating the inflammatory chemicals which fights abnormal substances, chronic inflammation isn’t considered to be beneficial for the body.
The foods which you choose to eat can significantly help when it comes to reducing and preventing this type of inflammation. It’s the quality of food that you ingest which can increase or reduce it naturally.