When you fall and your knee swells up like a beach ball, that’s inflammation. When you cut your knuckles and they turn red and puffy, that’s inflammation. When you eat a piece of chocolate cake and you feel sluggish, that’s inflammation, too.
Hard to believe, huh? Who knew that so many staples of a typical American diet – bread, pasta, sweets and meat, to name a few – can actually make you feel bad, and worse. They can contribute to illnesses that affect every part of your body, from the lungs to the heart to the brain.
Really? All that from enjoying a hamburger or lingering over a cupcake?
Really. Local doctors, dieticians and naturopaths consider inflammation in the body one of the most serious and most consistent health problems they see in their patients.
They list the top five illnesses and conditions caused by inflammation as digestive problems, chronic illnesses like colds and yeast infections, distressed mental health such as fatigue and depression, respiratory issues like asthma and allergies and the neutron bomb of illnesses, cancer.
The top five food-based causes of inflammation? Well … everything Americans know and love: refined sugar, refined flour, unhealthy meats and fowl, corn and soy. Those who practice the paleo diet also consider grains and dairy of any kind suspect.
Other than retiring to a corner of the local health food store and subsisting on puce-colored protein drinks and the occasional apple, what’s a health-conscious person to do?
“The cornerstone of any healthy diet is lots of green vegetables,” said Dr. Michelle Hemingway, who practices both traditional medicine and integrated medicine, which includes using the body to heal itself.
I know, that’s not what you want to hear. After all, how much kale can people consume? How often can we face celery in our lunch box, broccoli on our dinner plate? Can’t we have a good steak and a baked potato without fear of lasting physical damage?
Well, there’s some wiggle room, but local health-care professionals stress that getting rid of sugar and refined flours and eating only meat and fowl that have been fed no genetically modified grains (read: corn and soy) is the path to eliminating inflammation and enjoying good health.
Hemingway came to that realization the hard way. Trying to balance both family life and a demanding medical practice, she continually suffered chronic sinusitis, insomnia and fatigue. She knew something had to change.
“No one talked about the importance of food, which is critical. We are what we eat, it’s not just a platitude,” she said.
She concedes that like most of us, she was raised on processed foods, full of sugar and nutritionally empty starches. So she gave up gluten, sugar and dairy, added lots of vegetables and exercise and she started to feel better.
“It always made sense to me that the cleaner the food, the better the body,” she said.
But can it really be that simple – eat better, feel better?
“Yes, it really is that simple,” said Nicola St. Mary, a local naturopath. “Plants are going to counteract the negative impacts of inflammatory food.”
She explains the science of food-based physical inflammation like this: Food particles travel down a fatty acid pathway, stimulating inflammatory proteins, which make platelets sticky. That can constrict muscles like the lungs, stomach and blood vessels and lead to asthma, irritable bowel syndrome and high blood pressure. It can also cause swelling and too much mucus in those organs, again to detrimental effect.
But St. Mary holds out a fig leaf to those of us who crave more than salad and two raspberries in our daily diet. Organic and humanely raised chicken, beef and lamb are permissible, as are free-range eggs. Full-fat, organic dairy products like yogurt and butter from grass-fed cows are also acceptable, if your system can tolerate them. The same goes for beans and certain whole grains like brown rice and quinoa.
And then, of course, there are foods that fight inflammation. Leafy greens like spinach, chard and mustard are at the top of the list, but thankfully, there are more.
Seeds like flax and sesame, nuts like almonds and walnuts, squashes like pumpkin and acorn, herbs like cilantro and parsley, spices like turmeric and ginger and bulbs like onions and garlic. And not to forget fish, a healthy protein that can boost your essential fatty acids such as omega-3.
By decreasing inflammation, the body’s reaction to harm, these foods help lower blood pressure, decrease triglycerides and facilitate the function of muscles that promote digestion and good breathing. So bring on the parsley!
But not even the most pristine diet can counteract stress. Just as everyone reacts to foods differently, everyone reacts to stress differently. A stressed-out body will turn on itself, reacting as if its survival is at stake.
“Stress is the number one inflammatory cause,” said Amita Nathwani, who practices the Indian form of healing called Ayurveda medicine.
St. Mary concurs. “The number one anti-inflammatory food is stress management, hands-down. If you’re eating a plant-based diet but you’re stressed out, it’s not going to help.”
So, some deep breathing with that bowl of beet greens? Run, ski, meditate and yes, breathe deeply – do anything it takes to manage the stress in your life, dieticians and doctors agree. If you don’t, all those chronic problems you may be attributing to a poor diet will never go away.
But there’s a last saving grace in the face of rampant inflammation in the modern American body. We’re all different. Wheat causes inflammation in me, dairy might in you and corn could in your neighbor. Stir-fried vegetables and brown rice might be my anti-inflammatory tonic, lamb kebobs with yogurt sauce might be yours.
“Everybody is an individual. You can’t across the board say this diet is going to be good for you,” said Sydney Cooley, an acupuncturist and food therapist. “Nothing is written in stone about what everybody should be eating.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m breaking out the Häagen-Dazs.
phasterok@durangoherald.com
Hot Chai
Yield: 32 ounces
Ingredients:
2 cups milk or milk substitute
2 cups water
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
6 slices fresh ginger (or ½ teaspoon powdered)
1 tablespoon cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1 tablespoon whole fenugreek (optional)
1 teaspoon fennel
5 whole cloves (or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves)
Dash nutmeg
Method:
In a saucepan, combine milk or milk substitute and water. Add remaining ingredients.
Put on medium heat and bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Strain, add raw honey to taste, and enjoy!
Recipe courtesy of Nicola St. Mary, Pura Vida Natural Healthcare.
A short list of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory foods
Inflammatory
Anything containing gluten or processed flour like bread, pasta, crackers
Anything containing sugar like doughnuts, cakes, muffins, cookies
Anything with corn products like chips and syrup and cereal
Soy
All meats that aren’t naturally or organically raised.
Anti-inflammatory foods
Green leafy vegetables like kale, chard, spinach, mustard, parsley
Spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon
Fatty fishes like salmon and mackerel
Bulbs like garlic and onions
