How to Start an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
- Welletto Health
- Jun 9, 2023
- 4 min read
In a group text with girlfriends recently, one friend asked the group if anyone had a favorite anti-inflammatory diet to recommend. Within just a few minutes, two more texted they wanted to know, too.
I get asked this question a lot. "What foods can I eat on an anti-inflammatory diet?" My favorite answer isn't a cookbook or link to an anti-inflammatory blogger, but instead to describe what an anti-inflammatory diet does for your body and what inflammatory foods might look like.
So how do you start? Well... it depends on your own body. What my body does with certain foods is different than what your body does with it. So put your detective hat on as you read this; you might notice some of your own body's patterns as we dive into what inflammation is and what triggers it.
Inflammation is a body's response to a perceived foreign invader or an injury. It is what keeps us healthy and what fights off unwelcome invaders like viruses, bacteria, fungi, pollen, or chemicals. Targeted inflammatory response to such an invader is a sign of a healthy immune system. However, prolonged inflammation is linked to decreased immune function and increased risk for a variety of diseases like heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol...all due to damage to otherwise healthy cells and tissues from excess inflammation.
So the idea of eating in a way to reduce chronic inflammation seems quite sound. And it is, if you make sure you're consistent, you're logging your food, logging your symptoms, and making thoughtful choices based on what your body is telling you.
To begin an anti-inflammatory diet, most advice starts with listing the top inflammatory sources. This list is not only just inflammatory foods, but it's also a similar list found on foods to reduce or avoid for improving heart health, to reduce cholesterol, for blood sugar management, to manage arthritis, for fat loss... it's a tried-and-true list of foods that most health care providers suggest we all reduce consuming for overall health improvement.
Inflammatory Foods
Fried foods
Refined carbohydrates
Refined sugars
Refined grains
Processed meat
Overly processed, packaged foods
Excessive alcohol
That seems like a lot, no? It's a list of staples in an American diet. Something grab-and-go? On the list. Something served at a friend's house or social gathering? Probably on the list. Something to indulge in? Likely on that list, too.
It can be so overwhelming to know where to start or what to stop enjoying. And if you're reading this, you probably have experienced what happens when you try to overhaul your eating patterns in one fell swoop. It usually doesn't work longterm.
Anti-Inflammatory Choices
My approach to health behavior change, regardless of the specific topic, is always the same. What can you add in to your life to make you feel better, not worse? What can you simplify? And most importantly, what can you maintain?
Instead of trying to follow a specific diet or someone else's recipe list, try this:
If it grows, it's a go. If you can find a specific food in nature in the form you're about to consume or cook with, it's fair game. Think: Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, chicken, eggs, fish, oats, rice, farro, beans, legumes... They grow in nature and you can eat them or cook with them. If you can identify how it might grow and it has been minimally altered, consider it an anti-inflammatory food.**
Know what your food is the majority of the time. Vegetables are vegetables. Fruits are fruits. Chicken is chicken. Chia seeds are chia seeds. Olive oil is olive oil. There are no other ingredients except what you see.
Sweets are not off the list! Get accustomed to sugar alternatives. Note - those first two guidelines still apply. Reach for something that comes from nature and you know what it is. To add in sweetness to recipes or drinks, try honey, dates, bananas, maple syrup or coconut sugar. Manufactured chemical sugar substitutes are a no-go.
Vary your food. Take note of the colors of foods on your plate during your day. Shoot for a minimum of at least 3 different colors on every plate. Mix up your lean proteins throughout the week. Mix up your fruits and vegetables throughout the month.
If you drink alcohol, try one less drink each time you reach for alcohol. If you usually drink 3 glasses of wine, enjoy 2 instead. If you usually have 2 gin and tonics, savor 1 drink for longer. Note how it makes you feel as you explore your relationship with alcohol.
**You might be thinking...what about gluten? Soy? Dairy? Nightshades? My friend, you're not wrong. For some bodies, these things can be inflammatory. Your goal is to choose one topic at a time so you can rule out if something is inflammatory for your body or not. If you are laser-focused on nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant), then choose that as your first entry-point to test how your body responds to removing it from your diet. If you are convinced that gluten causes you to feel like you have a swollen belly by the end of the day, then choose that as your starting point. Trust your instincts and try ONE idea at a time. Consistency is the name of the game. Taking everything out at once will not help you figure out what was the main culprit in your inflammatory response. And remember - it's not about limiting or restricting. It's about finding substitutes that you enjoy.
Anti-inflammatory diets are essentially elimination diets. To give yourself the best chance for success, pick just one focal point that you can commit to for a prolonged period of time - either my list above, or choose one of the following: gluten, soy, dairy, or nightshades. Whatever you choose, stick with it for at least a month, ideally longer. Chronic inflammation takes time to address. As a female, you also have your cycle to consider. Your cyclical hormonal change plays a part in how your body holds water, how it digests, and how you feels. It is part of this equation and may be a significant contributor to sensations of feeling bloated or inflamed. Take brief notes daily during your experiment to see what you eat (or not) and how you feel. You might find that eating an anti-inflammatory diet with a narrower focus will lead to more consistent behavior and better results.
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