Keep it cool: Why you should follow an anti-inflammatory diet

Nutrition

Oct 16

Three salmon filets on lettuce and cucumber slices

Anti-inflammatory is all the rage in wellness today. But what does it mean, and does it matter to you?

Today I want to look at the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet – for your skin, and your overall well-being.

An anti-inflammatory diet is one that contains lots of foods that have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body, as well as eliminating foods that can cause inflammation.

Why is inflammation bad?

Well honestly, a little bit isn’t – it’s good for you. Inflammation in the short-term is beneficial and helps your body to heal itself.

But the type of inflammation that we experience today is generally low-grade and chronic, and is a contributing factor to hundreds of health conditions, including those that impact on your skin.

An anti-inflammatory diet offers a solution to chronic inflammation, helping you to get your health back under control.

Benefits for general health

An anti-inflammatory diet can protect all of the systems of your body – some known ways it can help include:

Reducing heart disease risk and associated factors
Reduced risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke
Helping the body to heal after a heart attack or stroke
Reducing risk of cancers such as breast, prostate and colorectal cancers
Longer life span – living longer and healthier than the average person
Reduced risk of obesity
Better control of type 2 diabetes and blood sugar levels
A healthier alternative to a low-fat diet when trying to lose weight
A lower chance of a neuro-degenerative disease such as dementia
A reduction in inflammatory markers such as C reactive protein and interleukin-6

So really, when it comes to general health and well-being, there’s very few reasons to NOT take an anti-inflammatory approach to your food!

Benefits for your skin

Can it make a difference to your skin though? That’s the real question you want to ask.

You bet it can – inflammation is a key component of pretty much every skin condition out there, whether it’s a cause or just something that exacerbates it.

Every time your skin feels hot, or tender, or swollen – that’s inflammation happening, right there on the surface. So it makes sense that an anti-inflammatory approach can help.

When inflammation is low, your skin can feel firm, plump and well moisturized. Everything from acne to rosacea and auto-immune conditions like eczema can benefit from the anti-inflammatory effect gained from this way of eating.

Common anti-inflammatory ingredients

So what is in an anti-inflammatory diet? There’s no one set diet plan, but generally they all involve anti-inflammatory foods that have been proven to relieve inflammation on a cellular level in the body.

The most common foods thought to have anti-inflammatory effects include:

Oily fish such as salmon and sardines
Olive oil
Avocado
A variety of seasonal vegetables
A variety of fresh fruit
Herbs and spices
Nuts and seeds
Dark chocolate
Green tea

An anti-inflammatory diet will often exclude inflammatory foods, such as wheat and dairy, either for short or long-term – it depends on what you are trying to achieve. It will also generally have a low GI overall, using only whole-grain carbohydrate sources, as well as plenty of fibre from plant foods.

Sample diet plan

Want a bit of a glimpse into what an anti-inflammatory diet might look like on a day-to-day basis? Here’s a simple 1 day sample diet to get you thinking.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast bowl – oats or quinoa flakes in almond milk, topped with nuts, seeds and berries and a pinch of nutmeg
A cup of green tea

LUNCH

Super Salad – a mix of dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, rocket and spinach, mixed with pumpkin seeds, diced avocado and blueberries, drizzled with olive oil and Italian herbs
Serve with protein of choice, such as leftover roast chicken or kidney beans