Inflammation

I went to another class at PCC this past week and the subject was ‘Cooling Inflammation with Food.’ I was particularly interested in this subject after hearing about it in a biopsychosocial course. It appears – due to current scientific research – that a great deal of disease is actually the body’s response to chronic and systemic inflammation. What is fascinating to me is the link that they are making between certain kinds of foods with inflammation in the body. It doesn’t surprise me that the increase in heart disease, diabetes, allergies and other known diseases are linked to inflammation of arteries and organs. Wouldn’t it naturally follow that a diet high in foods that cause inflammation would possibly be part of the problem?

Pro-Inflammation Foods: Corn fed meats; saturated fats (shortening and meat fats); fried or grilled foods cooked at high temperatures; partially hydrogenated fats; cooking oils that are exclusively corn, safflower, sunflower or soy based; soft drinks; excess sugar (High fructose corn syrup); white flour; and known allergenic foods.

Well right there we have the typical American diet, right? Highly processed foods contain a lot of the above ingredients. Anything that helps a product stay on the shelf indefinitely probably has some of these things.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Fish (omega 3 fatty acids-DHA and EPA); flaxseed, hempseed and walnuts; onions; garlic; homemade broths (both beef and chicken); dark green vegetables, healthy fats (olive oil, virgin coconut oil, avocado oil – cook with refined oils, toss with unrefined oils); herbs (turmeric, oregano, green tea and ginger); Vitamins E and C; Vitamin D; supplements such at Probiotics.

What I took away from the class was a better understanding of what current research is beginning to debunk about older research. It surprised me to learn that coconut oil is actually quite healthy compared to other oils. The link between cholesterol and heart disease is giving way to the link between inflamed arteries and how cholesterol reacts to that situation in the blood.

And so, while the recipes were not really all that fabulous – the information was awesome for me. I have to add that while the focus of the class was on a dietary response to inflammation, it was also said more than once that stress is a huge factor in our bodies inflammation levels. I know more about that link now than I ever did but I certainly appreciated having my dietary choices validated as being good for me right now.

It makes me wonder, really, how anyone can doubt why Americans are suffering from that national eating disorder. How can anyone not wonder about the correlation of our current state of health and the amount of processed foods that permeate our diet? How can any scientist scratch their head and wonder why Italians – or the French – who eat such lower levels of processed foods yet seem to eat quite rich - don’t suffer from the same levels of heart disease or obesity that we do here in the states. We have received such different messages about how and what we should eat. It is confusing. It is also disquieting that the newer research is not receiving the press that other health messages receive.