A Comprehensive Guide to an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Before you can fully grasp why an anti-inflammatory diet may be helpful and one of the most buzzed-about diets right now, it helps to understand what inflammation is in the first place. When you hear the word “inflammation,” you might immediately think about the swelling or redness that comes from stubbing your toe, for instance. Those are definitely two external signs of inflammation, but there’s more to it.

Inflammation occurs naturally in the body as part of the body’s immune response. When your body is fighting an infection or injury, it sends inflammatory cells to the rescue. The result is those classic signs — swelling, redness, and sometimes pain. That’s completely normal and natural. (1)

So long as the body stays in control, anyway. The story changes when inflammation lingers without fully going away. This chronic inflammation means your body is always in a state of high alert, and it can trigger some major health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer. (1)

Thankfully, your inflammation levels are somewhat in your control. Factors like smoking, being overweight or obese, and drinking excessively can increase your risk of inflammation. (1) Diet also plays a role, and some experts say adjusting the foods and drinks you take in could be a better route to lowering inflammation levels than relying on medication. (2) Taking medication for chronic pain only when necessary may also be a good thing, since many come with unpleasant side effects, like fogginess, sleepiness, and memory loss. (3)

Interested in learning which foods make up the anti-inflammatory diet and how it may be able to help you ward off certain diseases?



Some Insight on How an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Works
There isn’t a formal diet plan that outlines exactly what to eat, how much of it, and when. Rather, the anti-inflammatory diet is about filling your meals with foods that have been shown to fight inflammation and — just as important — cutting out foods that have been shown to contribute to it. (3)

Brittany Scanniello, RD, a nutritionist based in Boulder, Colorado, says to think of the anti-inflammatory diet as a lifestyle rather than a diet. “An anti-inflammatory diet is an eating plan that works to reduce or minimize low-grade inflammation within our bodies,” she says.

Ideally, you would eat seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies per day, limit your intake of red meat and dairy, choose complex carbohydrates over simple ones, and swear off processed foods. (3)


Scanniello says eating this way is a good idea for everyone because many of the foods with the potential to lead to inflammation aren’t healthy anyway. “I believe everyone can benefit from limiting or eliminating sugar and highly processed foods and choosing unsaturated fats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and lean proteins,” Scanniello says.

She says the anti-inflammatory diet could be especially helpful for someone who’s dealing with chronic inflammation as a result of a health condition. Athletes and people who exercise at a high intensity and are looking to lessen their baseline inflammation could also find it beneficial, she says.

What the Research Says
There’s plenty of research showing the negative effects of inflammation. It’s associated with health issues from diabetes and Alzheimer’s to cancer and obesity. (6,7)

Several other studies have looked at the effect eating a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods can have on certain health conditions. For instance, a November 2017 article published in Frontiers in Nutrition shows that choosing anti-inflammatory foods may help people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). (8) Following a diet like this won’t necessarily cure you, but it may help reduce the disease’s impact, delay progression, reduce how much medication is needed, and reduce joint damage.

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