Foods to Fight Inflammation

Fighting inflammation with Food

When it comes to inflammation we talk a lot about what to take away - reduce your intake of unhealthy fats, monounsaturated oils, eliminating food sensitivites, and reducing your stress levels. These are all quite crucial in reducing your inflammatory load, but let's talk about some of the delicious foods you can add into your life to help tackle excess inflammation in the body and on the skin.

Water
As simple as it seems, getting enough water into your body is super important for reducing inflammation and improving your overall health. Add a squeeze of lemon for some extra cleansing support.

Greens
Dark Leafy Greens, notably kale and spinach, are very high in inflammation-reducing antioxidants and carotenoids, vitamin K and vitamin E. A lack of vitamin K in the diet can contribute to excessive inflammation in the body so eating kale is a great way to get your vitamin K and reduce inflammation.

Along with it's high antioxidant and nutritional value, not many people know that spinach is a great source of vegetarian protein that contains the full spectrum of amino acids (building blocks of protein in our bodies). These amino acids are important for supporting collagen growth, which is crucial in the maintenance of healthy skin.

Berries
Be sure to eat a range of colourful organic berries, anything from deep red, purple, blueberries, blackberries, rasberries, strawberries and more. These help your body build one of the most powerful antioxidants, superoxide dismutase (SOD). Berries are also rich in flavanoids that reduce imflammation and repair cellular damage.

Omega-3s
Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as wild salmon, sardines, anchovies, flaxseed, hempseed and walnuts are great allies in the fight against inflammation. Adding more healthy oils into your diet such as extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, and hempseed oil are simple ways to ensure you're getting a good amount of omega 3s each day.

Herbs and Spices
You can't go wrong with ginger and turmeric. Ginger is not only a potent anti-inflammatory, but is also an extraordinary carminative (a substance that helps reduce the formation of intestinal gas) and anti-nausea agent. Add freshly grated ginger root to stir-frys, and try ginger lemonade made with grated ginger, lemon juice, honey and water.

In Ayurvedic Medicine, the five-thousand year old natural healing system of India, turmeric is used as a cleansing herb for the whole body and as a rememdy for poor digestion, arthritis, inflammation and pain.

Stay well,
xx Whitney