Anti inflammatory foods

I was lucky enough to speak to our team this week about anti inflammatory foods, and the growing body of evidence there is around these.

At the suggestion of Rob Russo, I created a quiz, that everyone then participated in, followed up by case studies. It generated some great discussion and questions!

Thanks to free digital photos for picture

So, what foods did we discuss? See a summary below:

Mediterranean diet – has been shown to have an excellent effect on reduction of the inflammatory bio-markers CRP, Il-6 and Il-1. This diet is based around fish, legumes, olive oil, vegetables and bread.

Legumes – shown to again positively effect inflammatory biomarkers, along with reduce weight and provide plant rather than animal based protein.

Sesame seeds – a recently released study indicated that these little seeds were able to slow cartilage degeneration, reduce oxidative stress, and improve inflammatory biomarkers. Very cool stuff for people with OA!

Turmeric – contains the substance curcumin, which is also found in ginger and cumin. A recent review found this little spice was able to effectively work as a TNF-alpha blocker, the same action of many of the drugs people are prescribed for inflammatory arthritis. Now this is definitely NOT a recommendation to stop your meds, but it may work well in conjunction with them.

Fish oil – The research behind these beauties is solid in relation to rheumatoid arthritis; 2.7g per day will reduce inflammation. Remember to aim for 2.7g of EPA and DHA, not just of ‘fish oil’.

This is such an exciting, and quickly growing area of science, that I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of. Food as medicine, or anti inflammatory foods - I love it!