Chiropractic Corner, Anti- Inflammatory Diet
It is becoming increasingly clear that a host of illnesses – including some forms of chronic pain, joint pain, spine pain, disc pain, muscle pain, heart disease, many cancers, degenerative brain disease and Alzheimer’s disease – are predisposed in large part by chronic inflammation. This is a process in which the immune system becomes off balance and persists unnecessarily in its efforts to repair the body and fend off pathogens. This prolonged process results in damage to healthy tissue as well. Chronic pain, stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition and other lifestyle factors can all promote inflammation, but poor diet is perhaps the biggest contributor, and is the ideal place to begin addressing inflammation.
Fatty acids play a major role in the mediation of the inflammatory mechanism. Fatty acids, specifically certain members of the omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fat families may influence local tissue. Clinical studies have shown the most promise for increasing food and supplemental sources of omega-3 and EPA (made from omega-3) beginning at about 500mg/day for heart disease prevention and 3,000mg/day for clinical anti-inflammatory effect. EPA can be found in your local health food store.
Clearly the best evidence for designing the fatty acids contribution to an anti-inflammatory diet is to increase EPA intake from marine sources such as oysters, oily fish (salmon, sardines, herring, trout, black cod) and plant-based foods. One’s goal should be to consume these foods several times a week. It is just as important to reduce dietary sources of arachidonic acid (pro-inflammatory) made by the body when meat, high-fat milk, cheese products, and eggs are consumed.
Some other factors to pay attention to when on an anti-inflammatory diet is to avoid too many calories, too many saturated fats, too much alcohol, too much sugar, too many carbohydrates, high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio and high sodium to potassium ratio.
For example, having a cheeseburger for lunch and then three slices of pizza with salad (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and croutons with blue cheese or ranch dressing) for dinner will send the body into a pro-inflammatory state. These are very popular American meals and consist of a five point pro-inflammatory exposure (high calorie, high refined carbohydrates, high saturated fats, high sodium to potassium ratio and high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio). You should consume these things in moderation.
Many patients may wonder if one pro-inflammatory meal has a big effect on the body? It is important to know that small portions of foods which up-regulate inflammatory reactions will not cancel out the effect of a primarily anti-inflammatory meal/diet. For example, a few foods that will tend to up-regulate the degree of inflammatory response during the metabolic course that follow ingestion include American cheese, bacon, bologna, bratwurst, brownies, white bread, butter, corn chips, cream, doughnuts, egg rolls, fruit juices, ice cream, hot dogs and honey to name a few. Additionally, foods that can down-regulate the inflammatory process may lose some or all of their benefit by being battered or deep-fried.
Foods to include in an anti-inflammatory diet that will cause down-regulation of inflammation include apples, apricots, artichokes, avocados, beans, berries, broccoli, eggplant, non-fat dairy, kale, lemons, mushrooms, pecans, peppers, wild game, nutmeg, oregano and spinach just to name a few.
An inflammatory diet can also cause decreased energy levels, which can produce body-fat uptake. This is often overlooked as a cause of systemic inflammation and increased pain mediators in the body. It shows that eating too much, too often may be one of the most influential factors that support a systemic inflammatory response. When it comes to systemic inflammation, the amount of physical activity does not play as large of a role in the process as the amount of excess body weight may carry due to our diet. For example, a dietary imbalance of eating too many up-regulatory inflammatory foods promotes overeating by triggering neurochemical responses that hyperstimulate our appetite. Adipose (fat) tissue itself produces mediators called adipokines- some are pro-inflammatory and some are anti-inflammatory. When there is excess adipose tissue, the pro-inflammatory mediators overcome the anti-inflammatory mediators.
It is evident that most people do not eat an adequate amount of vegetation, lean meat and fish. In addition to a healthy anti-inflammatory diet, an optional basic supplement approach to support the deflaming course includes magnesium, fish oil, a multivitamin and vitamin D. From reading the above, if you find you might have an inflammatory diet and/or suffer from chronic pain, it would be beneficial to write down a diet history over 3-7 days and make adjustments where needed. Hope this helps and happy eating.
Tiffany Moat, D.C.
