Why we need anti-inflammation?
Do you know inflammation is classified into two types – acute and chronic? Chronic inflammation is even present in most of the urban people! And it is the common link to commonly seen diseases!
Let’s learn about inflammation, the link between inflammation and chronic diseases, and how you can prevent inflammation with diet!
What Is Inflammation
Inflammation comes from the Latin word, inflammare, which means to ignite or burn. You can imagine having ‘ignite’ a fire in your body.
Controlled fire is good if it is confined to a certain area only and last for short period of time. This is called acute inflammation. This is part of the body’s defence mechanism to remove harmful, unwanted and foreign substances, and begins the healing process of repair,
regrowth and regeneration.
However, the fire becomes harmful when it keeps on burning or spread like wildfire – turn into chronic inflammation and harm other tissues and organs.
Signs of Chronic Inflammation
Below are some common signs and symptoms of
chronic inflammation. Do you have any of them?
• Body pain, joint pain, muscle pain
• Sleepless nights, constantly feeling tired
• Depression, anxiety and mood disorders
• Constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Frequent infections
Major Cause of Diseases
Although chronic inflammation is not a specific disease, it is a significant process that related to many commonly
seen chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, arthritis, allergic asthma, Alzheimer's disease, autoimmune diseases, etc.
Chronic diseases do not pop out overnight. They involve a long term lifestyle and habit to develop. And chronic inflammation is found to be the major cause and common link among them. It is estimated that 15% of cancers are related to chronic infection and inflammation.
Prevention is better than treatment!
Prevention is the best approach to chronic inflammation and diseases! Lifestyle changes can effectively lead to reduced inflammation and improved health.
Pro-inflammatory Diet?
Diet can directly influence the occurrence and level of inflammation within the body. What you put into your mouth matters!
Having a pro-inflammatory diet makes the body to be constantly at a low-grade inflammation state. This state is a favourable environment for many chronic diseases to occur, such as myocardial infarction and cancer.
A diet filled with Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is even worse as it increases the risk of overweight and obesity,
metabolic syndrome, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Pro-inflammatory Food
Food that promotes inflammation are those high in refined starches, sugar, saturated and trans-fats, sodium, while low in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, natural antioxidants and fibre.
Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is a typical type of pro-inflammatory food. UPF are those products that usually have long shelf life at room temperature. They have long list of ingredients, are ready-to-eat, highly palatable, and usually inexpensive.
UPF are high in added sugars, especially simple sugars like high-fructose syrup, saturated and trans fat and sodium. They are low in protein, fibre and micronutrients including potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin B12 and niacin. They are also usually loaded with additives and chemicals, such as flavourings, emulsifiers and sweeteners.
Long-term exposure to all the food additives and chemicals, together with the pesticides from non-organic agriculture, these mixtures can even result in cumulative and synergistic effects, and be a source of toxicity. As a result, your body become constantly inflamed.
Examples
Below are some examples of food that promote
inflammation:
refined breakfast cereals,
sauces with high-fructose syrup,
red and processed meats,
ready-to-eat meals,
confectionery products,
sugary drinks like bubble tea or Taiwanese
milk tea,
vegetable oils like corn, sunflower,
safflower that is rich in omega-6.
Anti-inflammatory Food
To put off the ‘fire’ in your body, a healthy diet that is low in saturated fat and refined sugars, and high in complex carbohydrates, fibre, protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids is very beneficial.
Simply put, a healthy diet shall comprise of mainly natural ingredients and wholefoods.
The micronutrients and anti-oxidants in vegetable and fruits are fundamental ‘fire-fighters’!
Examples
Below are some examples of anti-inflammatory food:
Vegetables
Fruits
Whole grains
Legumes
Fish
Together with regular exercises, no smoking, spending more time in the nature, let wellness becomes your way of
life!
Don’t be the Boiling Frog
Some may say, ‘oh but I cannot feel this ‘fire’ burning in my body. Despite all that mentioned above, do I really have chronic inflammation?’
To answer this question, you must first understand the sensation of ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ is a relative description. If your
house (body) is consistently burning with fire (having low-grade chronic inflammation), you may not be well aware of it.
Like the story of the boiling frog, the frog was not able to detect and escape when the water was being slowly boiled.
Time to start being mindful on what you put into your mouth each day before it’s too late!
References
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