Cooling the Flames of Inflammation

Understanding inflammation can help discern when to be alarmed and when to appreciate the benefits.

Inflammation is a natural and necessary response to injury, infection, illness, and invaders like bacteria and viruses. Inflammation helps to bring healing fluids to injured tissue, raise the temperature at the site of infection to create a hostile environment to unwanted invaders, and to bring nutrients to overworked or injured tissues for repair.

Sometimes inflammation occurs in response to irritating stimuli like food sensitivities and excessive acidic foods that make up our Standard American Diet (SAD). This will create a low-grade inflammatory response, often beginning in the intestinal tract. If left unchecked, harmful by-products like acids and toxins will build up and can spread throughout the body causing a chronic infection as seen with arthritis, gastritis, appendicitis, colitis, dermatitis, and any other condition that ends in –itis (which means infection).

One of the main contributing factors to chronic inflammation may be our dietary intake. Foods that contribute to an acidic, and thus inflammatory, environment are processed foods: refined flours and sugars, artificial sugars, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, alcohol, excess meat (especially fatty red meats), processed meats (cold cuts, bacon, jerky), conventional dairy (raw milk is neutral), processed cheese, artificial colors and flavors.

So what does an anti-inflammatory diet include?

·      Some of the most alkalinizing foods are lemons, limes, parsley, kelp, kale, broccoli, and pumpkin seeds.

·      Include dark green vegetables with each meal and eat several other colorful vegetables and fruits throughout the day.

·      Eat raw vegetables, nuts and seeds every day. They are loaded with vitamins and phytonutrients. Lunch is the best time for raw foods when the digestive system is at its most robust. Soak grains, nuts, and seeds for maximum nutrient value.

·      Eat plenty of omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, halibut, tuna), fish oil supplements, flax, chia, and hemp seeds, and walnuts. These help to balance the omega-6 oils that are plentiful in our diets.

·      Eat well-sourced animal proteins: pastured, lean, organic, humanely raised, and wild-caught fish from the North Pacific and Atlantic.

So with a willingness to adopt a few dietary changes and learning a few new recipes you can significantly cool down the fire of unwanted inflammation.