Anti-Inflammatory Diet: What is it and How Does it Work?

Inflammation is a natural response of the immune system to fight off infections, injuries, and other harmful stimuli. However, chronic inflammation can lead to various health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. As a result, there has been a growing interest in anti-inflammatory diets, which aim to reduce inflammation in the body and promote overall health. In this article, we will explore what an anti-inflammatory diet is, how it works, and some of the foods that are recommended on this type of diet.

Scientists have already found out that our beauty, health and even life expectancy depend on the intestinal microflora. Keeping her healthy is our main task. But in our body there are many inflammatory processes that accompany us throughout life and affect our well-being, and we do not even suspect them. The fact is that not all of them are accompanied by a rash, redness or other abrupt changes in the condition of the skin. The “silent” form of inflammation that occurs in the intestines, as a rule, is not accompanied by painful symptoms, but it can seriously affect our health in general.

If you often feel lethargic, sleepy 24/7, and have recently begun to suffer from colds and live with chronic autoimmune diseases, then you should try an anti-inflammatory diet. This is not a nutritional system that needs to be adhered to for several weeks, but a complete reboot of the usual diet.

An anti-inflammatory diet is a protocol for eliminating and reintroducing potentially allergenic foods from the menu. After eliminating virtually all possible allergens, you inject each product one at a time every three days to eliminate any negative reactions. Staging and being mindful of how you feel are important in this process: if you start eating everything while you still have symptoms, you won’t be able to determine what exactly triggers the reaction.

If you notice unwanted symptoms when you reintroduce certain foods, avoid them. And wait for the symptoms to subside before expanding the diet again. Symptoms can vary and may include indigestion, mood changes, fatigue, pain, trouble sleeping, drowsiness, skin rashes, or trouble breathing.

How to run an anti-inflammatory nutrition protocol? We are gradually and gradually introducing the basic rules for nutrition and daily regimen.

Stage1. For 3-4 days we stay on chicken or fish broth from cafes or restaurants or cook homemade. You need to drink it 3-5 times a day, you can combine it with a small portion of meat or fish.

Stage 2 lasts 14 days.

Foods to avoid altogether:

• Sugar, sweeteners, honey, sugary drinks and juices, sugar substitutes other than stevia;
• Gluten;
• Cereals;
• Dairy;
• Eggs;
• Seafood;
• Soy;
• Alcohol;
• Solanaceous (tomatoes, potatoes);
• Canned foods, processed foods;
• Foods with a high glycemic index;
• All dried fruits;
• Carrot;
• Beet.

You can add to the diet:

• Quail eggs;
• Meat;
• By-products;
• Halibut;
• Tuna;
• Seafood;
• Salmon;
• Green vegetables;
• Greens (arugula, watercress, iceberg, dill, spinach);
• Cruciferous (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.);
• Olive oil;
• Coconut;
• Lemon;
• Cranberries, lingonberries, sea buckthorn, red currants, lime.

Stage 3 also lasts 14 days. Little by little we add buckwheat, millet, barley, rice to the diet. Rabbit, goat or sheep dairy products can be added. Fruit – one a day, watching for a reaction. Black tea.

Stage 4 – more than 2 months. We add the remaining foods to the diet and look at the body’s reaction. If after re-introduction there is any negative reaction, we minimize this product in the diet.

Basic nutritional rules:

1. Eat strictly no more than three times a day, no snacks. After switching from broth to a denser menu, the nutrition schedule can be built according to the 16/8 scheme. That is, 16 hours of hunger and 8 hours – a window for food, which includes three main meals.

2. Eat slowly. You can learn this, in particular, if you eat with a “non-working” hand: left for right-handers, right for left-handers. It helps train neurons plus slows down the absorption of food.

3. Choose foods that saturate for a long time.

4. Include vegetables at every meal.

5. Plan your last meal 2-3 hours before bedtime.

And here is an example of the diet after a few days of broth:

For breakfast – scrambled quail eggs with green vegetable slices. Or baked salmon in parchment with avocado.

For lunch – beef cutlets with broccoli puree with spices. Or halibut steak with cauliflower.

For dinner – beef steak with vegetable salad. Or cod with cranberry sauce and a mixture of broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

After several weeks of anti-inflammatory diet, you can already feel the dramatic changes:

• Weight stabilization;
• Normalization of sleep and causeless anxiety during the day;
• Relief of allergic disorders, such as asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis (manifested by difficulty swallowing solid food, sad pain, periodically occurring vomiting);
• Reducing high cholesterol and blood sugar;
• Relief of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.

And in addition, the anti-inflammatory diet will affect your appearance: such a diet “cleanses” the skin and stimulates the production of its own collagen and hyaluronic acid.