Many of us have heard of the benefits of a “anti-inflammatory diet”. It can affect the health of your cardiovascular, endocrine and neurological systems. This healthy way of eating also can be a powerful way to help manage chronic pain.
An Anti-inflammatory diet consist primarily of healthy, non-processed foods. It involves healthy oil such as olive oil, tomatoes, darkly colored fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, or cherries. It encourages healthy amounts of fatty fish such as free range salmon, herring, mackerel,or tuna.The consumption of redmeat is limited to approximately once per week. Healthy nuts, particularly almonds and walnuts are a snack that you can indulge in frequently.
An Anti-inflammatory diet consist of foods high in omega-3 fatty acid’s. In general, these include flaxseed and oily fish as noted above as well as dark green leafy vegetables or broccoli. Herbs and spices such as ginger turmeric and garlic may also alleviate inflammation.
An anti-inflammatory diet is an important way to reduce pain. As an added bonus, there are no negative side effects. Inflammation is a natural response to imbalances in our system that our body uses for defense. Chronic inflammation can occur in response to lack of exercise, consumption of processed food, and a lack of exercise. If unchecked it may lead to multiple disease processes including cardiovascular, neurologic, and endocrine diseases as well as chronic pain.
So listen to your mom and eat your vegetables! We are what we eat.
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