18 Health-Improving Anti-Inflammatory Foods (And Some Pro-Inflammatory Foods To Avoid)

According to Harvard Medical School, inflammation “plays a central role in some of the most challenging diseases of our time, including rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and even Alzheimer’s.”

But of course inflammation is not all bad, because it is part of a survival mechanism that helps us fight off hostile microbes as well as repair tissue that is damaged.

The Two Types Of Inflammation

It comes in two flavours – acute, and chronic.

Acute inflammation takes place rapidly, and resolves itself within a few hours to a few days. This is a sign that your body is working to deal with a problem, heal itself, and restore balance to your body’s systems

Some of the classic symptoms of acute inflammation are:

• heat (i.e. the affected area may feel warm to the touch)
• immobility
• pain
• redness
• swelling

Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is not a natural situation. It can be present for months or even years, which can cause white blood cells to start attacking healthy tissue (i.e. after the original problem has been cleared up).

And it’s this chronic form of inflammation that appears to be responsible for the problems listed above, and more.

Some of the signs and effects of chronic inflammation, over and above the issues already mentioned are:

• abdominal pain
• chest pain
• fatigue
• fever
• joint pain
• mouth sores
• rash
• swelling and loss of function of blood vessels (vasculitis)

Diet And Inflammation

While there are many causes of inflammation (e.g. dysbiosis, mood, obesity, pollution), there is one factor that is relatively easy to adjust, and that is diet.

There are foods that can cause inflammation, or exacerbate an existing condition, and there are also foods that can alleviate and reduce it.

This article will look at these foods, so that you can make informed choices about the foods you consume to help manage any inflammation-related health issues (or reduce the risk of them occurring).

Inflammatory Foods

Here are some of the foods and food types that can cause inflammation:

• Alcohol
• Aspartame (also sold as AminoSweet, which is a controversial artificial sweetener)
• Casein (which is found in dairy products)
• Foods high in omega-6 oils (e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, soy oil, sunflower oil, and vegetable oil)
• French fries
• Gluten
• MSG
• Processed foods (e.g. hot dogs)
• Refined carbohydrates (e.g. products made with white / bleach flour)
• Sodas
• Sugars
• Trans Fats

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

And here are some of the foods and food types that can counter inflammation and reduce it:

• Beans and legumes (e.g. adzuki beans, Ansazi beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, and lentils)
• Bone broth
• Coconut water
• Dark chocolate
• Fermented foods and drinks (e.g. kefir, kimchi, kombucha, miso, and sauerkraut)
• Fresh juice (e.g. fruit or vegetable juice that you make yourself from fresh produce only – not store-bought mass-market juices)
• Fruits (e.g. apples, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, grapefruit, nectarines, oranges, pears, pineapple, plums, pomegranates, raisins, strawberries, and tomatoes)
• Healthy fats (e.g. avocados, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, salmon, sardines, tuna, and walnuts)
• Herbs and spices (e.g. basil, chili peppers, cinnamon, cloves, curry powder, garlic, ginger, paprika, rosemary, turmeric, and thyme)
• Honey (preferably a medicinal-grade monofloral variety such as Manuka)
• Oysters
• Proteins (e.g. organic eggs, grass-fed meats, healthy cheeses, kamut / Khorasan wheat , and organic poultry)
• Raw oats
• Tea (e.g. green, and oolong)
• Vegetables (e.g. beets, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, cordyceps mushrooms, kale, onions, peas, red peppers, salad greens, sea vegetables, spinach, squashes, sweet potatoes, and Swiss chard)
• Water
• Whole grains
• Yoghourt

Caveats

Here are a few things to be aware of when buying food:

• At least 80% of the corn and soy grown in the USA is genetically modified. This may or may not be a concern to you, but if it is, make sure to check what you’re purchasing.
• In a similar vein, the range of GM foods now available in the USA is increasing. For example, you may come across apples and salmon that have been modified genetically (and which may not be labelled as such).
• Not everybody will agree with this but I would always choose organic foods over non-organic foods too.
• When buying fish, make sure it’s wild and not farmed, and be careful about contamination (e.g. mercury), which can be worse in larger fish (e.g. swordfish).

Anti-Inflammatory Supplements

Just in case some of the above “good” foods are not viable for you, there are a variety of supplements you can take that can also help with inflammation, including:

• Alpha Lipoic Acid
• Astaxanthin
• Boswellia extract
• Bromelain (which is present in pineapple)
• Chondroitin
• Curcumin (which is the active ingredient in turmeric)
• Devil’s Claw
• Fish oil
• Glucosamine
• L-Glutathione
• Melatonin
• MSM
• Papain
• Quercetin
• Resveratrol
• Selenium
• Spirulina
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Zinc

Important notes:

1. If you want or need to go down the dietary supplement root, make sure you buy a high-quality brand that contains the minimum number of inactive ingredients – you want your supplement to be as pure as possible, and not watered down with unnecessary fillers.
2. You need to do your own research (or consult an expert) to see which of the above would be most appropriate for you.
3. Needless to say, the above is not one long shopping list for you to go and buy – find one or two that work for you and stick to them.
4. And lastly, remember, if you are on any other medication, please consult your doctor before trying any supplements to ensure they are compatible with your current prescription(s).

Conclusion

You may notice, if you read some of the other articles on this site where I list foods that can help with various issues (e.g. anxiety, depression), that there is a core set of foods that seem to be good for our health.

This should come as no surprise, since all of the subsystems within our bodies are interconnected, including those that control our physical health and our mental health.

And lastly, don’t forget to check out the 25 Anti-Inflammatory Diet Recipes I’ve collated for you!

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Anti-Inflammatory Diet Cookbook
2. Liquid Glucosamine, Chondroitin & MSM Formulation (Note that while this is listed as a pet product, it is also safe and effective for humans too – I have taken it many times when suffering from joint pain and gout.)