ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET
By eating whole foods as nature created them you will decrease inflammation in the body, promote a healthy metabolism, and decrease your risk for heart disease and cancer. Symptoms like pain, poor digestion, skin issues, mood imblances, and sleep disturbances are often reduced if not eliminated by following this way of eating.
Eat certified organic food: they have 2-5 times more nutrients and this decreases your exposure to pesticides
Plan meals ahead of time, shop accordingly, and find “to-go” foods you enjoy
No canned foods
READ LABELS!
Steamed vegetables
Steaming or lightly sautéing vegetables improves digestibility and allows for repair of the gut lining. High-water content, softer veggies like baby greens, lettuce, cucumbers are often tolerated raw. Include at least 3 green vegetables daily.
Avoid white potato and corn
Focus on non-starchy vegetables: asparagus, bean sprouts, beet greens, bok choi, broccoli, cabbage (red, green, napa), cauliflower, celery, chard, cucumber, endive, lettuce, mustard greens, parsley, radish, spinach, watercress, arugula
Also consider green beans, beets, Brussel sprouts, collards, kale, leeks, onion, zucchini
Starchy options include: carrots, parsnip, all kinds of squash, pumpkin, turnip, green peas
Sweet potatoes: try classic orange yams, purple Okinawan, and white-fleshed Japanese
Mushrooms are generally anti-inflammatory: try known medicinal mushrooms like shiitake, maitake
Grains (if grains are part of your diet --Some damaged guts need a grain-free diet to heal)
Avoid all wheat products: read labels
No flour or flour products: there are concentrated carbs, high-glycemic, and are from grains not prepared (soaked) properly
Eat only cooked whole grains that are soaked for at least 24 hours (or sprouted) before cooking. This removes the natural toxins and anti-nutrients contained in the storage/seed form of the grain.
Allowed grains include: amaranth, buckwheat, barley, millet, quinoa, brown or white rice, rye, and teff. Try a grain breakfast porridge with coconut milk and natural sweetener
Legumes: (if you experience gas or discomfort when eating legumes, avoid them)
Start with dry beans and make your own – soak 48-72 hours, rinse, and cook slowly with a piece of kombu seaweed.
If you need canned beans, Eden Foods makes properly cooked beans in BPA-free cans
Fish: eat 3-4 times per week.
Ideally steam or poach to preserve delicate omega-3 fats.
WILD, not farmed: higher nutrient content and healthy fats, and many farms poison the ocean
No shellfish
Salmon, sardines (Wild Planet brand is best and packed in BPA-free cans), trout, cod, sole
Meat
Animals MUST have eaten their natural diet – also called “pastured” animals:
Grass-fed beef, elk, buffalo, lamb, venison
NO PORK: almost all pork is raised in filthy conditions, treated with chemicals, and fed a poor diet
Poultry
Pastured poultry is hard to find, try the farmer’s market. Free-range is not allowed: poultry must have access to actual pasture to eat their natural diet of bugs and greens, which changes the nutrient and fat content of their meat
Eggs are potentially allergenic are must be avoided in the initial stages of using the anti-inflammatory diet as a medical treatment
Fruit
Eat primarily low-glycemic fruits: berries, pomegranate
Avoid citrus fruits (fresh lemon squeezed in water for flavor is acceptable)
Apples are wonderful; can be cooked to aid in digestion if necessary
Grocery-store grapes are high in sugar and low in nutrients
Sweeteners
Small amounts of maple syrup, raw honey, or coconut sugar are ok ONLY with meals
Stevia is probably ok
Sugar alcohols: xylitol and erythritol are ok in small amounts, avoid sorbitol and mannitol
NO high fructose corn syrup, fructose, sucralose, aspartame, cane sugar
Salt/Seasoning
Use as many frsh herbs Best salts to use are “Real Salt” brand salt, Himalayan pink salt, or Celtic sea salt
Try Coconut Aminos for a (soy-free) soy-sauce-like flavor
Fermented foods
Essential to the anti-inflammatory diet, fermented foods build your immune system by nourishing healthy bacteria inside and out
Sauerkraut and Kimchi must be raw (cooking/pasteurization kills the beneficial bacteria)
Coconut water kefir
Chickpea (not soy) Miso – e.g. Miso Master’s brand
Coconut yogurt
Kombucha – although most store-bought kombucha is fermented for only a short time, leaving lots of sugar which is more pleasing to the palate but not healthful
Seeds and Nuts
Raw only
Grind your own flax seeds: they oxidize quickly after grinding; pre-ground should be avoided
Chia, flax, and hemp seeds are high in omega-3
Pumpkin seeds and Brazil nuts are nutritional powerhouses
Raw organic nut butters are ok
Avoid peanuts: these contain toxins and molds
Butter/Oils
Eat plenty of healing oils
Ok to cook with: butter or ghee from grass-fed cows (Organic Valley and Kerrygold), cold-pressed coconut oil
Olive oil: do not heat. Eat at least 2 Tbs daily. Ideal form is organic from California. 70% of Italian olive oils were found to contain cheap vegetable oil. Should be cold-pressed and unfiltered.
Cold-pressed sesame and grapeseed are ok for low-heat cooking
Avoid toxic and chemically processed oils including canola oil, vegetable oils, peanut, soybean – READ LABELS
Spices
Harness the anti-inflammatory power of fresh green herbs (marjoram, rosemary, oregano, sage, etc.)
Anti-inflammatory spices include cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and cumin.
Drinks
Drink ½ your weight in ounces of water or herbal tea daily
Water must be clean: ideally spring water, or tap water through a multi-stage carbon water filter. Avoid plastic bottled water, distilled water, and reverse-osmosis water.
You may drink unsweetened sparkling mineral water in a glass bottle with a splash of fruit juice NOT from concentrate
Small amounts of unsweetened nut milks are ok (coconut, hemp, almond, cashew)
Or make your own delicious raw nut milks at home: blend fresh nuts or seeds with water in a high-speed blender like Vitamix and strain through a linen “nut milk bag” or other fine strainer. Sweeten to taste with stevia or dates, add a dash of salt, vanilla, cinnamon, etc.
AVOID THE FOLLOWING FOODS:
Canned foods
Dairy products (butter from grass-fed cows is ok)
Eggs
Wheat and wheat products
Flour (even gluten-free flour)
Fruit juice
Corn
Citrus fruits (a squeeze of fresh lemon in water is ok)
Soy
Sugar
Chocolate
Alcohol