This article explains how chronic inflammation impacts health and highlights simple dietary tips to help reduce inflammation through an anti-inflammatory eating pattern.

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Inflammation is one of the ways the body protects itself from harm. It is an important body process, but if it goes unchecked, it can lead to health problems.

Following a more anti-inflammatory eating pattern can help manage chronic inflammation. Below is some information on inflammation and tips for better anti-inflammatory eating habits.

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What is Inflammation?

Acute inflammation is our body's rapid response to an injury or infection, such as a cut to your finger. Redness, swelling, and pain are outward signs of acute inflammation. These are signs that the body is beginning the healing process.

Chronic inflammation is typically low-grade but is persistent and can last for months or years. Chronic inflammation has been linked to a variety of different health conditions, like:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Certain cancers
• Chronic pain
• Type 2 diabetes
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Certain autoimmune conditions
• Dementia

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What Causes Inflammation?

Many factors can contribute to chronic inflammation. Some factors we have control over, and others we do not. These include:

• Dietary choices
• Smoking and tobacco use
• Exercise habits
• Sleep quantity and quality
• Alcohol use
• Persistent viral or bacterial infections
• Allergens and environmental pollutants in our air, water, and food
• Stress

As you can see, you can make lifestyle choices that lower chronic inflammation rather than fueling it. In particular, our food choices have a significant impact on our health. Your diet as a whole has a large effect on the level of chronic inflammation in the body.

There is no specific anti-inflammatory diet, but eating healthy foods can help reduce inflammation.

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Foods that may Help

1. Fruits and Vegetables: Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.
2. Whole Grains: Choose brown rice, whole-meal bread, and oats.
3. Plant-based Protein: Choose leaner animal protein sources and plant-based options like beans and lentils.
4. Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
5. Olive Oil: It contains healthy fats that can help reduce inflammation.
6. Leafy Greens: Spinach, kale, and collard greens are packed with antioxidants.
7. Fermented Foods: Yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut contain live bacteria that benefit your gut.
8. Spices: Try adding anti-inflammatory benefits like rosemary, garlic, oregano, ginger, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne.

Other Tips

• Limit or avoid alcohol
• Avoid or limit food and drinks with added sugars
• Stay away from "ultra-processed" foods
• Consider taking supplements like fish oil and curcumin
• Exercise regularly
• Get enough sleep
• Reduce stress
• Stop smoking

Anti-inflammatory Foods - One form of these powerful inflammation fighters is found in fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, tuna, striped bass, and anchovies. You can benefit from eating fish or taking fish oil supplements. Vegetarians and vegans have options, too.

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Healthy Eating Tips to Help Reduce Inflammation

1. Eat Plenty of Fruits and Vegetables

Try for at least six 1/2 cup servings each day. Include as much vibrantly colored produce as you can. Different colours have different benefits.

2. Choose High-fibre Carbohydrates

1. Limit highly processed, low-fibre carbohydrates – like many white flour products (pasta, white bread, English muffins, bagels, crackers, and muffins), instant rice, instant potatoes, and most cold cereals.
2. Choose higher-fibre carbohydrates. This includes whole grains like brown rice, whole wheat products like bread and pasta, barley, oats, quinoa, buckwheat, and farro. You can also look for starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squashes, beets, corn, beans, and peas.
3. Learn the health benefits of winter squash and ways you can cook them (Good Food Is Good Medicine)

3. Eat More Fibre

Fibre is essential for our gut health and, therefore, our overall health. Most Americans only get about 50% of the recommended daily amount of fibre. Try for 25 grams per day (for women) or 38 grams per day (for men).

Fibre comes from plant foods. There are two types of fibre, and most fibre-containing foods are a combination of both types.

1. Insoluble fibre does not absorb any water and provides bulk to the stool. This helps your digestion by keeping things moving and making your bowel movements soft and easy to pass. Examples of insoluble fibre are the skins, seeds, and stringy parts of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and the bran of whole grains.
2. Soluble fibre absorbs water and forms a gel. This helps keep your blood sugar stable after a meal and keeps you fuller for longer, making meals more satisfying. It also helps lower cholesterol, promotes hormonal balance, and supports healthy bowel movements. Examples include beans and other legumes, flax or chia seeds, and whole grains like oats.

Both types of fibre are important, so include a variety of whole-plant foods to help you get the recommended amount each day.

4. Choose Plant-based and Leaner Animal Protein Sources

1. Plan to eat more plant-based sources of protein. This can include soy products (tofu, tempeh, edamame, soy milk), beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. Choose lean animal proteins like fish, chicken, and turkey.
2. Try to limit red meat, avoid processed meats, and choose low-fat dairy products. When barbecuing or cooking meat, avoid charring, as this creates compounds that can trigger inflammation.

5. Be Conscious of Your Fat Sources

1. Cook with unsaturated fats like extra virgin olive oil most often. Use neutral-tasting oils for higher-heat cooking, like avocado oil, expeller-pressed canola, or sunflower oil.
2. Stay away from trans fats. These are present in deep-fried foods and anything with partially hydrogenated oils. Also, try to limit your intake of saturated fats. These include butter, fatty meats, poultry skin, processed meats, cheeses and other high-fat dairy products, coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter.

6. Reduce the Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio in the Diet

1. Work in more omega-3-rich foods into your diet. These include omega-3 enriched eggs and wild-caught fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring. Plant-based sources include flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and walnuts.
2. Limit your intake of omega-6-rich oils. Typically, these oils are mainly present in ultra-processed foods, including soybeans, safflower, corn, grapeseed, and cottonseed oils.
3. Explore this guide to healthy seafood and why you should eat more (Good Food Is Good Medicine)

7. Reduce Your Sugar Intake

1. The average American consumes 17 teaspoons (68 grams) of added sugar daily, which is 2-3 times greater than the recommended limit. Keep your added sugar intake to less than 6% of your total calories. For men, that means no more than nine teaspoons (36 grams) per day. For women, limit added sugars to less than six teaspoons (24 grams) per day.
2. Check the labels of the foods you're buying for sugar amounts. Keep in mind that 1 tsp of sugar equals about 4 grams of sugar.
3. Avoid sugary drinks like soda, lemonade, sweetened teas, juices, and sweetened coffees. Limit eating desserts, pastries, candies, and other sweets. Other foods that often contain added sugars that you may not expect include bread, salad dressings, condiments, cereals, yoghurts, pasta sauces, crackers, and chips. Honey and maple syrup are less refined forms of sugar, but they still count as added sugars.
4. Get tips to reduce added sugar in your diet and the health risks if you don't (Good Food Is Good Medicine)
5. Find out if fruit juice is really bad for you and your children (Good Food Is Good Medicine)

8. Limit or Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol disrupts the gut microbiome and can contribute to chronic inflammation. If you want an alcoholic drink, keep your average to one drink or less per day.

Learn about the health benefits of cutting alcohol (Good Food Is Good Medicine)

9. Add Tea and Spices with Anti-Inflammatory Benefits to Your Diet

Black, white, and green teas are rich in antioxidants and polyphenols, which can help combat inflammation. Some herbal teas also have anti-inflammatory benefits. Many herbs and spices also contain compounds that can help combat inflammation. Examples include rosemary, garlic, oregano, ginger, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne.

Learn more about the health benefits of tea and its effects on obesity (Good Food Is Good Medicine)

Keep in mind that the whole of your diet is greater than the sum of its parts. One meal will not make or break a healthy diet – it is consistency over time that matters. By keeping these tips in mind, you'll be adopting a healthy eating pattern that can help manage chronic inflammation and some of its associated health problems.

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What’s an Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

An anti-inflammatory diet is when you eat more foods that are naturally anti-inflammatory and avoid foods that trigger inflammation. If you have a condition that causes chronic inflammation, it may ease some of your symptoms. An anti-inflammatory diet is generally considered safe, but you’ll want to work with your doctor to figure out what's best for you.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet Types

Mediterranean diet

This plan focuses on:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Whole grains
• Beans and legumes
• Nuts and seeds
• Olive oil as your main fat source
• Fatty fish
• Low-fat or fat-free dairy products
• Seasoning with herbs and spices

And fewer of these:

• Added sugars in food and drinks
• Ultra-processed foods
• Refined carbohydrates (like white bread or flour tortillas)
• Tropical oils like coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils
• Saturated fats
• High-fat red or processed meats

DASH Diet

Short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, this eating plan is similar to the Mediterranean diet. It has a greater focus on limiting salt and including more low-fat dairy products.

MIND Diet

 This diet mixes parts of the Mediterranean with the DASH diet. It’s considered a “brain-healthy” eating plan because it may guard against Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

• The MIND diet emphasises:
• Whole grains
• Vegetables, especially leafy greens
• Nuts and beans
• Berries
• Poultry and fish
• Olive oil

At the same time, try to limit items such as:

• Pastries and other foods with added sugar
• Meat made from beef, pork, or lamb
• Cheese and fried foods
• Butter or margarine

 Vegetarian and Vegan Diet

These are plant-based diets that don’t include meat, fish, poultry, or seafood. A vegan diet goes further and avoids everything that comes from animals, including eggs, dairy products, and honey.

Studies suggest long-term vegan and vegetarian diets may be associated with lower levels of body-wide inflammation compared to people who eat meat, as long as you swap highly processed goods for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other nutrient-rich foods.

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What Conditions Can an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Help?

There’s ongoing research in this area, but an anti-inflammatory diet may help with:

Autoimmune Diseases

Anti-inflammatory foods may lower certain kinds of inflammatory proteins associated with health conditions where the immune system attacks healthy tissue. Examples include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and psoriasis.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

An anti-inflammatory diet for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease may ease symptoms of IBD.

Cardiovascular Disease

 Heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and stroke are less common in people who eat plenty of anti-inflammatory foods.

Allergies and Aasthma" target="_blank">sthma

 Genes and the environment play a big part. However, an anti-inflammatory diet may curb your immune response to allergens, which lessens the severity of your symptoms.

Alzheimer’s Disease and other Dementias

Anti-inflammatory diets that lower your odds of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer may also protect the brain.

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Anti-Inflammatory Foods

So, what’s the fastest way to ease inflammation in your body?

There’s no single superfood that’ll work overnight. But you may lower inflammation over time if you can eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods every day, including:

Fruits and Veggies: Colourful fruits and vegetables contain natural antioxidants and polyphenols. These are chemicals in plants that guard against inflammation. Research shows that vitamin K-rich leafy greens like spinach and kale, berries, and yellow and orange fruits and vegetables may be particularly protective.

Whole Grains: The fibre in oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat bread, and other whole grains may help with inflammation.

Beans: They're high in fibre. Plus, they're loaded with antioxidants and other anti-inflammatory substances.

Tofu and Tempeh: Soy-based products are high in polyunsaturated fat, fiber, calcium, and vitamins but low in saturated fat. Studies suggest people who eat soy-based foods have lower odds of inflammation-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

Nuts and legumes: Tree nuts like almonds and walnuts, along with peanuts, are rich in unsaturated fats, along with anti-inflammatory vitamins and minerals.

Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines are packed with anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

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Anti-Inflammatory Herbs and Spices

People have used plants as medicine for thousands of years, and some research suggests herbs and spices may target pathways that lead to inflammation. There’s ongoing research in this area.

Curcumin, the active compound in the spice turmeric, has the most anti-inflammatory research behind it. Studies show that 1,000 milligrams a day of this plant compound may ease pain and inflammation from osteoarthritis and protect the bones of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Examples of other anti-inflammatory herbs and spices include:

• Black pepper
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Cumin
• Fenugreek
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Onion
• Rosemary

You can add flavour to your meals with dry or fresh herbs and spices. Some come in teas, oil extracts, powders, and pills. Talk to your doctor first before trying any of these plant compounds as high-dose supplements.

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Anti-Inflammatory Drinks

Along with the foods you eat, what you drink may impact your health. Examples of anti-inflammatory drinks include:

Tea: Green, white, and black teas have polyphenols, a strong antioxidant. Opt for green or white teas if you want the most anti-inflammatory effects. (Avoid drinking tea shortly before bedtime. Most have caffeine, which can interfere with sleep.)

Coffee: Like tea, coffee contains antioxidants and caffeine. Studies suggest people who drink it are less likely to have ongoing inflammation. Chemicals in coffee may also protect against other conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Too much caffeine can make you feel anxious or impact your sleep. But it’s generally considered safe for most people to drink 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day with a maximum of 400 milligrams of caffeine. Work with your doctor to find what’s best for you.

Green smoothies: Drink your fruits and vegetables. Blend berries along with leafy greens like spinach and kale with ice and non-dairy or low-fat milk to get an anti-inflammatory boost.

Water: The amount of hydration you need depends on many factors, including your body size and activity levels. But in general, drink when you’re thirsty.

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Foods That Cause Inflammation

These include foods with few nutrients that are often ultra-processed, fried, and high in added sugar, salt, or saturated fat. Think potato chips instead of potatoes.

Examples of inflammatory foods include:

Sweets, Cakes, Cookies, and Soda

They aren’t dense in nutrients, and they're easy to overeat. This can lead to weight gain, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol (all related to inflammation). Sugar causes your body to release inflammatory messengers called cytokines. It’s best to avoid or limit food and drinks with added sugars, including agave and honey, if possible.

Red and Processed Meat

Red meat comes from cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. It includes things like burgers and steaks. Along with processed meat like bacon, hot dogs, and sausage, these meats have a lot of pro-inflammatory saturated fat.

Butter, Whole Milk, and Cheese

These foods tend to be high in saturated fat, unlike low-fat dairy products.

Fried Foods

Some vegetable oils like corn oil, safflower oil, and soybean oil are high in omega-6 fatty acids. You need some omega-6s, but if you get too much, you throw off the balance between omega-6s and omega-3s in your body and end up with more inflammation.

Anything with Trans Fats

These often show up on packaged food labels as “partially hydrogenated oils.” A diet high in trans fats can raise LDL cholesterol and your chances of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Gluten-containing Foods like Wheat, Rye, and Barley

They aren’t harmful to everyone. However, people who have celiac disease have an immune reaction when they eat gluten, and they have to avoid this protein completely. Gluten may also promote inflammation in folks with a non-celiac gluten or wheat sensitivity.

Alcohol

Light or moderate drinking may lower certain types of inflammation. But if you drink more than a glass of wine or beer a day, the opposite may happen. Ask your doctor how much alcohol, if any, is safe for you.

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Tips for an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

You can start by talking to your doctor. They can refer you to a dietitian or nutritionist who’ll help you fit an anti-inflammatory eating plan into your daily routine.

Other tips include:

1. Slowly add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet.
2. Swap processed snacks or desserts for whole foods like fruit and nuts.
3. Pick colourful fruits and veggies to get the most anti-inflammatory antioxidants.
4. Opt for sparkling water instead of soda or other sugary drinks.
5. Ask your doctor if supplements are right for you.
6. Related: Why You Aren't Losing Weight

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Anti-Inflammatory Diet Risks

1. If you have a low income, you may not be able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables or other anti-inflammatory foods.
2. You might have trouble making anti-inflammatory meals every day if you’re not used to cooking.
3. An anti-inflammatory diet may help you maintain a healthy body size, but it’s not a weight-loss plan. You could gain extra fat if you eat more calories than you burn.
4. Some types of anti-inflammatory foods come with health risks if you’re allergic to them, including whole grains, fish, eggs, lactose, or nuts.
5. You may have more bloating or gas if you aren’t used to eating high-fiber foods like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
6. If you follow an anti-inflammatory vegan diet, it can be more of a challenge to get all of your vitamins and nutrients. A dietitian can help you round out your eating plan.

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Risks of Chronic Inflammation

Inflammation is a natural process that helps you fight germs and heal from an injury or infection. But inflammation that never goes away can hurt your body or make you sick.

Chronic inflammation is linked to several diseases, such as:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol)
• Type 2 diabetes
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
• Autoimmune conditions
• Arthritis
• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)
• Chronic kidney disease
• Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia
• Depression
• Osteoporosis

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Remedies to Reduce Inflammation

Along with a nutrient-rich diet, there are other steps you can take to guard against long-term inflammation. An anti-inflammatory lifestyle includes the following healthy habits:

1. Treat health problems that cause chronic inflammation.
2. Maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI).
3. Try to exercise 30 minutes a day, most days of the week.
4. If you smoke, quit.
5. Limit alcohol to 1 drink a day or less.
6. Manage stress with meditation or other relaxation techniques.
7. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep each night.

Tell your doctor if you have trouble adopting anti-inflammatory habits, especially if you can’t manage stress or get good sleep. They can refer you to health professionals who can help.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.

About the author of this article:  Pallavi Dubey has done a Master's in Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics and is currently working as a Senior Clinical Nutritionist at Recoup Health, Bangalore.