Guildelines for an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Inflammation is regulated by a group of hormones known as prostaglandins. Some of these hormones intensify the inflammatory response while others reduce it. You can affect this system by the kinds of fats you eat since the body makes prostaglandins from fatty acids. You may have to wait several weeks to notice the effects of the dietary changes listed below. But they will occur.

Decrease or eliminate pro-inflammatory foods:

• Red Meat
• Whole milk dairy products (butter, whole milk, cream cheese & yogurt)
• Margarine
• Vegetable shortening
• Fried foods
• Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
• Peanuts, peanut oil
• Cottonseed oil, soybean oil
• Vegetable oil
• Sugar
• Caffeine (coffee, cola drinks)

Increase anti-Inflammatory foods:

• Cold-water fish: wild salmon (not farmed); canned salmon (all canned salmon is wild), halibut, mackerel, sardines (canned olive oil, not soybean oil), herring, trout. Tuna is okay in moderation-large tuna contain high levels of mercury. Eat at least three servings of cold-water fish every week. For those who are allergic to fish, don't like the taste of it or are vegetarians, take a fish oil supplement with DHA and EPA. Make sure the fish is pure. It should be free of pesticides, which contain contaminate inferior brands of fish oil. We recommend Eskimo 3 (Lokahi $20) or Nordic Naturals (Kona Naturals), 1,000 mg daily, with dinner.
• Flaxseed oil (do not use it in cooking)- add it to salads, vegetables, on toast or in smoothies. It may also be combined with other high quality oils, such as pumpkin seed oil and hemp oil.
• All fresh fruits and vegetables
• Ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. Use it freely in your cooking or make a strong tea with it.
• Tumeric is the primary ingredient in curry powder and is also a strong anti-inflammtory.
• Garlic
• Onions
• Walnuts, pecans, almonds, macadamia nuts, cahews & filberts
• Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds & sesame butter (tahini)
• Extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil
• Avocado
• Green tea, black tea, herbal teas
• Filtered water-stored in #7 plastic or Nalgene bottles