Q. “My physical therapist suggested I go on an anti-inflammatory diet to help with joint pain. From what I can find on the Internet, this is a diet that limits saturated fat and simple carbohydrates (white flour, sugars) and concentrates on fruits, veggies, fish, olive oil and whole grains. Is there evidence that an anti-inflammatory diet can help with pain?” Continue reading “Can an anti-inflammatory diet ease aches and pains?”
Q. Can you eat cheese on an anti-inflammatory diet?
A. Although dietary choices can affect the level of inflammation in your body, it’s too simple to say that a single food or nutrient “causes” inflammation. Continue reading “Does cheese cause inflammation?”
Martha writes: “How does anyone really know what causes inflammation and what fights it, in the way of foods?”
A lot of people (myself included) are touting the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet these days. Then again, people tout all kinds of diets–and some of them are complete hooey. So Martha’s question is completely justified: What do we really know about how food affects inflammation?
In fact, there is quite a bit of data to go on, starting with a lot of observational evidence. In these types of studies, we don’t try to change what people eat; we simply gather data on what they are eating and other aspects of their health and look for patterns. And we can see consistent relationships between various nutrients and foods and the blood markers that indicate systemic inflammation. Continue reading “What’s the science behind an anti-inflammatory diet?”
Here’s a small study that may change the way we think about carbs. Researchers found that the order in which we consume foods may have a substantial impact on our blood sugar response to those foods.
In the study, subjects were given the same meal–consisting of chicken, vegetables, salad, bread, and orange juice–on two different occasions. The first time, they ate the high carbohydrate foods (the bread and orange juice) first, followed by the chicken and veggies. The second time, they reversed the order and ate the chicken and veggies first, followed by bread and orange juice.
In a traditional nutritional analysis, these two meals would be considered identical. But it appears that even small differences in timing make a big difference. Continue reading “Why cake may be better than bread”
Last week, I had the pleasure of being Jamie Logie’s guest on the Regained Wellness podcast. We talked mostly about diet and inflammation but somehow favorite books and movies, the dangers of Netflix binging, and other fun stuff also came up. You can find Regained Wellness on iTunes and Stitcher, or listen here:
People with arthritis are sometimes advised to avoid tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants (the so-called “nightshade” plants) because they are said to cause inflammation. But this advice really only applies to certain people. Find out how to tell if you’re one of them in this week’s show.
Q. What’s the deal with nightshades? Why are they supposedly bad? I love eggplants and tomatoes but wonder if I should limit my consumption of this group of foods.
A. Here’s the deal: Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant (as well as potatoes and tobacco) all contain an alkaloid called solanine. The Latin name for this family of plants is Solanaceae, but they are more commonly known as the “nightshades.”
People with arthritis are often advised to avoid nightshade plants because they supposedly aggravate joint pain. But nightshade plants aren’t a problem for everyone, just a small number of people who have a particular sensitivity to solanine. It’s a little bit like an allergy…some have a noticeable reaction while others have no reaction at all.
Continue reading “What are Nightshades and Why Do People Avoid Them?”
You’ll find lots of articles in the popular press about the value of anti-inflammatory diets. But many of them perpetuate certain myths about food and inflammation–in particular, that red meat is inflammatory and chicken is anti-inflammatory. I think that’s because many people simply assume that all the foods that we’re used to thinking of as “healthy” are anti-inflammatory and foods that we have been trained to view as “unhealthy” are inflammatory. In reality, the research on foods and inflammation challenges some of these assumptions.
A boneless, skinless chicken breast–that Holy Grail of diet food–is low in total fat and saturated fat, it’s true. But that’s not the whole story. Chicken is also relatively high in omega-6 fats, including arachidonic acid, a fatty acid that directly feeds cellular production of inflammatory chemicals. Continue reading “Is Chicken Less Inflammatory Than Beef?”