Anti-Inflammatory Foods
5/28/2013
Hi everybody, today we will continue our conversation about anti-inflammatory lifeslyle and particulary –anti-inflammatory food.
I want to remind you very briefly what we were talking about the last time. We are surrounded by different environmental toxins: herbicides, pesticides, food additives and coloring and many others that present in water, food, and those toxins oxidate our cells membrane creating arachidonic acid. This arachidonic acid can be futher oxidated by toxins with formation multiple chemicals that are messengers of chronic inflammation. They go to different organs and tissues and set up a stage for chronic inflammation. We know that fat tissue produces hormone leptin, it stimulate fat deposition and suppress fat burning. If chronic inflammation took place in the blood vessel wall- plaque will be formed, in brain-result will be Alzheimer’s ds. If this process happens in the pancreas- it will effect production of insulin, insulin in this case does not work properly, it can not utilize sugar from the blood, as a result of this –sugar will be deposited as fat.
We can stop this chronic inflammation by accepting anti-inflammatory lifestyle which consist of anti-inflammatory food, anti-inflammatory supplements, stress management, exercises.
Today we will talk about anti-inflammatory food.
Just remember, it is not only stopping chronic inflammation and prevention of degenerative ds, but about weight loss in natural way- gradually.
WEIGHT MANAGEMENT is not about foods that you do not eat, it is about foods that you eat!
1. Fish ( wild Alaskan salmon, herring, sardines, black cod-butter fish, mackerel, anchovies, tuna)- all these fish has high content of omega3 fatty acid which has anti-inflammatory property, it also can decrease total and “bad” –LDL cholesterol, prevent platelet aggregation, decrease your high blood pressure and has anti-aging property too. Wild salmon high in antioxidant antaxanthin, it is because of antaxanthin salmon is pink. Do not buy farmed salmon, it can contain a lot of pro-inflammatory substances since it was fed in the farm and does not have the same beneficent content as wild one. Astaxanthin is 100 times more powerful antioxidant then Vit C and Vit E together. It is recommended, to have 3-4 servings of wild salmon or fish from this group, a week. Just remember to buy smaller size fish as possible- possibility of heavy metal contamination from the ocean will be lower.
2. Some sources indicate that red meat coming from naturally raised animals is good for you, it does have anti-inflammatory property, high content of omega 3 fatty acids and really does not increase your cholesterol. It is recommended to have 2-3 serving of organic ( the best-beef, lamp bison) a week. New-Zeland lamp is often organically raised , bit it may not say it on the label.
3. Fruits, containing good fats to fight body fat and chronic inflammation-olives, acai berry, coconuts, avocado. All these fruits have MUFA-monounsaturated fatty acids, they have b-sitosterols- have ability to decrease cholesterol, fight inflammation and burn body fat. It is low density food- give more satisfaction, more society with fewer calories. These food have a lot of magnesium that we need for energy production (remember that energy production in the cells –in mitochondria may be low due to damage by arachidonic acid), OLIVES also have 60 times more potassium then bananas. Olives have GLUTATHIONE- the most powerful antioxidant that our body produces.
4. Fruits with high fiber content : apples, pears, grapefruits. The most needed for us fruits from this group are apples, they have a lot of fiber, have anti-inflammatory property and facilitate weight loss. Pears have a lot of Vit C, as an apples, but they are rich in folate, copper and fiber- all we need for anti-inflammatory actions and weight loss. Grapefruit has prominent anti-inflammatory, weight loss property and has a lot of lycopene to prevent prostate cancer.
Remember equation: E+ R=O
E -stands for Event, in this case it is your health condition and your weight
R- stands for Response, what you are going to do to make situation better
O -stands for the Outcome, in this case what you will get if you decide to take responsibility for your life and health in your own hands
You can use these anti-inflammatory foods in order to cook your anti-inflammatory meals, it is easy to do, just remember that you already decided to take responsibility for your health, so go ahead and be persistent. Here is simple recipe:
Salad that you can use as lunch or even dinner.
Spinach, green or red leaf lettuce, olives, radishes, grape tomatoes, arugula, some cilantro or parsley, wild Alaskan salmon ( from the can or cooked already-leftover from the yesterday dinner), organic cold pressed olive oil, organic apple cider vinegar, some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Chop all together and garnish with pieces of avocado.
This is really anti-inflammatory meal, enjoy!
E+R=O
Dr. Natalie
