Anti-inflammatory diet is a diet plan that aims to calm down the ongoing chronic inflammation in the body, and thus prevent many diseases, whose source is chronic low-intensity inflammation (including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease).Read what the principles of anti-inflammatory diet are and find out what foods to include and which are not recommended to consume.
The anti-inflammatory diet is based on products with a strong antioxidant potential and scientifically proven anti-inflammatory activity.Her recommendations and principles were formulated by dr.Andrew Weil – American specialist in nutrition and integrative medicine.Its basic task is to prevent and eliminate inflammation.
Inflammation is in turn the normal reaction of the body to injury, bodily harm or the attack of microorganisms.It allows for a quick cure and prevents the spread of the disease.Acute inflammation is manifested by elevated temperature, a feeling of heat, redness, swelling and pain at the site of injury.It is a natural and desirable defense reaction that mobilizes the immune system to react in a given place.Dangerous for health is chronic inflammation, which takes on a hidden form and gives no symptoms for a long time.Chronic inflammation is the cause of increased oxidative stress, which is one of the triggers of autoimmune diseases, eg lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.Chronic inflammation is also mentioned among the causes of atherosclerosis, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, allergies and others.Stress is responsible for chronic inflammation, environmental pollution, use of drugs, abuse of medicines and – not least – diet.Nutrition can be both anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory.Anti-inflammatory diet that inhibits and reverses changes caused by chronic inflammation is an element of curing diseases of civilization, and above all a way to prevent them.
What is the anti-inflammatory diet?
Anti-inflammatory diet is a nutritional plan that aims to provide the body with the necessary nutrients, conducive to the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with chronic inflammation.For the systematization of knowledge obtained on the basis of scientific research results and recommendations for an anti-inflammatory diet Dr. Andrew Weil – lecturer at Harvard, a pioneer of integrative medicine combining traditional Far Eastern knowledge with the scientific achievements of Western medicine, well-known American nutrition expert and author of many popular books An anti-inflammatory diet according to his idea is a diet based on the Mediterranean diet, but containing a few additives, like green tea, dark chocolate and Asian mushrooms.
The goal of the anti-inflammatory diet is not slimming, but to provide the body with optimal health.
As a result of chronic stress, exposure to contamination, genetic predisposition, a very small amount of traffic and inappropriate diet, a huge part of the society is exposed to diseases associated with chronic inflammation.Dr. Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet is to be an answer to the needs and solutions to the problems of increasingly ill-affected communities.Recommendations on the anti-inflammatory diet can be modified in terms of caloric value and combine the anti-inflammatory effect of menus with the loss of excessive body weight.
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The products that you should eat using an anti-inflammatory eating plan are
- Vegetables (minimum 4-5 servings per day) – especially green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale), cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage), carrots, beets, onions, beans, seaweed.They are a very good source of flavonoids and carotenoids with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential.It’s best to choose vegetables from the entire color palette to provide you with various nutrients.Vegetables can be eaten raw and cooked.
- Fruit (3-4 servings per day) – the darker the fruit, the more it contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients.Like vegetables, they provide flavonoids and carotenoids.It is advisable to eat a variety of fruits.
- Grains (3-5 servings daily) – wild rice, brown and basmati, buckwheat and barley, quinoa and cereals are recommended products.Their task is to supply energy and minimize sudden jumps in glucose and insulin in the blood, which promotes inflammatory processes.Bread is not acceptable.
- Pasta (2-3 times a week) – from wholemeal flour, rice and beans are starch additives allowed in the anti-inflammatory diet.It is important that they are cooked al dente, which means they have a lower glycemic index and cause less fluctuations in the level of glucose in the blood.
- Legume seeds (1-2 servings per day) – beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas are rich in folic acid, magnesium, potassium and soluble fiber, which promotes excretion of toxins from the body.They are also a source of protein and have a low glycemic index, which promotes the control of blood sugar levels.
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