Acute inflammation in response to an injury is a helpful, normal and necessary process of the human body. When inflammation becomes chronic it is a lower level, harmful response and is thought to be an underlying cause of many common conditions and diseases.
Following are some changes you can make in your diet to reduce that chronic inflammatory response which may be responsible for your aches and pains, weight gain and premature aging.
- Increase your water intake. We have all heard that the body is made up mostly of water. In fact, water is the single most important nutrient for the human body and to function optimally and control inflammation we require 60-80 ounces per day.
- Stop eating foods/drinks with artificial sweeteners. More and more research is coming out to implicate these synthetic compounds as inflammatory agents.
- Make dark green vegetables part of your regular diet. Foods like broccoli, spinach and kale are loaded with anti-inflammatory nutrients.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Excess fat cells produce inflammatory chemicals which can promote further weight gain.
- Be sure to move your body. While exercise is great, any type of physical activity works to increase circulation and healthy cell function. Do not sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time and enjoy gardening, housecleaning, and walking the dog as well as going to the gym or playing sports.
- Decrease consumption of processed foods. Loaded with man-made chemicals, these foods can confuse the body and can be difficult to properly digest as we were never intended to consume the artificial additives contained in most of these foods.
Adopting these changes in your diet can go a long way to fighting chronic inflammation and helping your body feel and function its best.
