Foods That Trigger Inflammation
By Sara Butler
Inflammation is an important process for your body. It uses it to protect itself when you're sick or injured and can help stimulate healing. But sustained, chronic inflammation can increase your risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
One way you can impact your body's levels of inflammation is by the foods you choose to eat. Some foods are great for reducing inflammation while others make it much worse. Here are a few of the foods you should avoid in your diet to help reduce chronic inflammation and keep yourself healthy.
Sugar
Sugar, as well as high-fructose corn syrup, are prevalent in the foods in the Western diet. Added sugars can work to increase inflammation. It's also been linked in studies to insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, diabetes, kidney disease, obesity, and heart disease.
Foods you should work to reduce in your diet are any that are high in added sugars. These include:
- Candy
- Baked goods
- Chocolate
- Soda
- Cereals
Always look at the nutrition label for added sugars and give anything a pass that has a high concentration of the sweet stuff added in.
Trans Fats
Trans fat may one of the unhealthiest things you can eat. These fats are created to stabilize foods and give them a longer shelf life, often labeled on packaging as partially hydrogenated oils. Many highly processed foods are high in trans fats and should be avoided at all costs. Foods that you should avoid in order to avoid trans fats include:
- Fried foods
- Margarine
- Vegetable shortening
- Packaged baked goods
- Microwave popcorn
- Anything that has partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on the label
Consuming trans fats will only increase inflammation in your body and make your risk of developing a chronic disease higher.
Refined Carbohydrates
For the most part, carbohydrates have gotten a bad and unfair rap. The truth of the matter is that not all carbohydrates are bad for you, but there are certainly some that are. Refined carbohydrates are the types of carbs that will drive inflammation in your body up. These carbohydrates have had most of their fiber removed, which means they will cause your blood sugar to spike and throw off the balance of good bacteria in your gut.
Refined carbs include foods such as bread, pasta, cookies, soda, candy, and pastries. The carbs in your diet should be the type that is unprocessed and high in fiber.
If you're worried about inflammation and wonder how you can improve your diet, then talk to the chiropractors at The Joint Chiropractic today.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Downey, Calif.