Is Your Diet Causing Inflammation – And What Foods To Avoid
Is your diet causing inflammation? There are many triggers to chronic inflammation and an improper diet is near the top of the list. Inflammation is a natural process that your body uses to protect itself from harm. When you become injured or ill, inflammation naturally occurs to help your body heal and fight off infection. However, chronic inflammation can have serious health consequences if left unchecked. Unhealthy eating habits can cause inflammation in the body, leading to a number of serious health issues.
Chronic Inflammation Leads To Disease
Chronic inflammation leads to serious health problems such as heart disease, depression, IBS, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis.1 In fact, inflammation is so harmful, it is responsible for causing more than 50% of preventable deaths all around the world.2 This means that you must get chronic inflammation in check if you want to live a long and healthy life.
Is Your Diet Causing Inflammation?
Eating a diet that is high in processed foods, sugar, and polyunsaturated fats can cause inflammation. Processed foods are often stripped of important nutrients, leaving your body unable to fight off infection or heal properly. Sugar causes an increase in chronic inflammation which increases your risk for serious diseases like heart disease and stroke. Polyunsaturated fats can also cause inflammation and can lead to high cholesterol, which increases your risk for heart attack and stroke.
Processed Foods Cause Inflammation
In recent years, processed foods have become increasingly common in our diets. While convenient, they contain high levels of unhealthy fats, sodium, sugar, and chemicals that are bad for your health. Studies have indicated that these ingredients may contribute to inflammation in the body, which is linked to many chronic diseases like IBS, heart disease, and stroke.3 4
Sugar
Sugar has been linked to a number of health issues, including inflammation. Research shows that when people consume too much sugar, it can activate certain pathways in the body that trigger inflammation. Additionally, research suggests that diets high in added sugars are associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein.5 6
In contrast to this evidence, some studies have found that sugar does not always cause inflammation. Different types of sugars can have different effects on the body. For example, natural sugars from fruits are usually less likely to cause inflammation than added sugars found in many processed foods, sweets, and snacks.7
Fructose
Recent studies have begun to explore the potential connection between fructose consumption and inflammation. High fructose intake has been linked to a number of health issues, including obesity, and cardiovascular disease.8
One recent study found that consuming drinks sweetened with fructose can increase levels of inflammatory markers in the body.9 Another study looked at the effects of fructose consumption in overweight and obese individuals with coronary artery disease. The researchers found that higher levels of fructose intake were associated with increases in markers for inflammation, such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha.10 11
Fructose consumption is also linked with insulin resistance, and the inability to lose fat.12 13
Polyunsaturated Fats And Inflammation
Polyunsaturated fats have been linked to inflammation. Specifically, certain types of polyunsaturated fats, especially those found in vegetable oils, can increase inflammation. For example, animal studies have found that diets high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fat found in many vegetable oils and grain-based foods, lead to increased inflammation.14
Food Additives And Preservatives
Certain food additives and preservatives, such as nitrates and sulfites, have also been linked to inflammation.15 16 By minimizing our exposure to these toxins and avoiding foods that contain them, we can help reduce inflammation in the body.
Diet Causing Inflammation – Commercially Farmed Food Is To Blame
Commercially farmed food is linked to diet-causing inflammation. This is because herbicides, fertilizers, and pesticides, which are the mainstay of modern farming techniques, are causing chronic inflammation.
Other Crucial Factors That Cause Inflammation – Toxins
Apart from physical and nutritional causes, toxins are another significant factor that can trigger inflammation in the body. A toxic environment and food chain can cause our cells to become overwhelmed and overloaded with damaging substances, leading to a cascade of inflammatory responses.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and para-dichlorobenzene (PCB), are examples of environmental pollutants that can increase inflammation.18 19 20
Heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium, have also been linked to inflammation in the body due to their ability to disrupt important biochemical processes.21
Read more about common toxins that cause inflammation as well as hormone resistance like thyroid disorder, weight loss resistance, and insulin resistance.
Food Containers Indirectly Result In Diet Causing Inflammation
Food containers that we often take for granted as inert objects are actually loaded with chemicals that cause inflammation. The aforementioned endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPA, phthalates and PCBs are commonly found in food containers.
Typically, these chemicals leach out when a food container is heated, usually in the microwave.22
Diet Causing Inflammation – Mercury
Mercury is a highly toxic element and exposure to it can cause inflammation. Mercury accumulates in the body and becomes more concentrated over time, making it particularly dangerous for long-term exposure. Ingesting or breathing in mercury can cause inflammation of tissues in the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs.
Chronic exposure to mercury has been linked to an increased risk of developing autoimmune diseases and other inflammatory conditions. Reducing your exposure to mercury can help reduce inflammation in your body.23
This can be accomplished by avoiding foods that may contain mercury, such as certain types of seafood, using proper protective measures when dealing with materials that may contain mercury, and being aware of products that may contain mercury.
Read more about the connection between mercury and autoimmune conditions.
How To Prevent A Diet Causing Inflammation
Eating a diet rich in whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grass-fed meat, grass-fed dairy, nuts, seeds, fish, and olive oil is key to reducing inflammation.24 25 Additionally, consuming turmeric on a regular basis reduces inflammation.26 Simply put, if you stick with whole foods that are relatively high in fat, moderate in protein, and low in carbs, like I define in my Cellular Healing Diet, you will soon notice profound improvements in your overall health.
Is Your Diet Causing Inflammation – Turn To The Carnivore Diet
In cases of severe inflammation, limiting all avenues of dietary inflammation is the best course of action. The carnivore diet removes all potential sources of inflammation from toxins that are contained in plants.27 By consuming exclusively a carnivore diet for a period of time, inflammatory diseases like IBS can quickly be reversed, as the lining of the intestinal tract is allowed to repair itself, as it isn’t exposed to inflammatory foods.28
Many people swear by the carnivore diet and have consumed it for decades with no noticeable deficiencies. Typically, consuming the carnivore diet for a month results in a significant improvement in inflammatory conditions, giving the body a chance to reset itself.
Fasting Is An Anti-Inflammation Miracle
Research has shown that fasting can reduce inflammation in the body. Intermittent fasting, which involves eating only during certain times of day and then abstaining from food for an extended period of time, has a positive effect on reducing inflammation.
Studies have demonstrated that short-term fasts can effectively reduce levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are the molecules responsible for creating an inflammatory response in the body. Additionally, fasting has been shown to affect the activity of certain types of cells that produce cytokines, resulting in lower levels of cytokines overall.29
Read more about the health benefits of fasting.
What Else Causes Chronic Inflammation?
Eating the right foods is only part of the equation when it comes to reducing inflammation. Getting regular exercise, managing stress, and getting enough sleep is also important in fighting inflammation. Exercise helps to reduce stress hormones and increase endorphins, which can help reduce inflammation.30
Managing stress is essential for reducing inflammation as it increases cortisol levels in the body, which can lead to increased inflammation.31 Lastly, getting enough sleep plays an important role in maintaining your overall health and well-being.32
Putting An End To Inflammation
After the inflammatory cycle has been set in motion, whether from an improper diet or toxins like heavy metals, it must be downregulated to witness relief from inflammatory conditions. This discovery, by a man named Dr. Martin Pall, shed light on the inflammation cycle from start to finish.33
In short, even after the causes of inflammation are removed, inflammation continues, and therefore, autoimmune conditions and hormone conditions also continue. Fortunately, there is a protocol for downregulating inflammation that will give you lasting, true health, as inflammatory-based conditions simply disappear.
Read more about downregulation inflammation.
Diet Causing Inflammation
Is diet causing inflammation? Yes, diet is certainly a factor so it is important to eat a diet like my Cellular Healing Diet or even the carnivore diet to reverse inflammation. Additionally, intermittent fasting and water fasting can drastically reduce inflammation.
In any case, avoid processed foods, sugar, seed-based oils, food additives, preservatives, commercially farmed food, and foods high in mercury. Additionally, avoid heating food in containers that possess chemicals that cause inflammation.
Furthermore, limiting exposure to toxins that cause inflammation and removing certain toxins like heavy metals from the body with a heavy metal detox protocol is the first step to reducing inflammation. After that, downregulate the inflammatory cycle back to normal and a wide range of conditions that are a result of inflammation will quickly subside.
Read more about how to detox your body and regain your health.
References
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