Inflammation

Inflammation / Anti Inflammatory Food List

Your body is made up of trillions of cells and each cell is composed of thousands of nutrients, enzymes and chemicals that allow it to perform its job, maintain its structure, or repair and replicate when necessary. The cell is the fundamental unit of life and must stay healthy in order for you to remain healthy. When your cells are damaged, for example by infection, physical injury or toxicity, they release chemical messengers that signal your immune system to come check out the problem. Your white blood cells will fight the infection, address the physical injury and in some cases the cell will die or be killed. In a healthy person this happens on a daily basis without you even being aware. But in a person who eats poorly or is under a lot of stress the signs and symptoms can vary greatly from headaches to joint pain, muscle soreness and fatigue, weight gain and hormone imbalance, depression and anxiety and much more. Chronic inflammation underlies most degenerative diseases.

Let’s be clear, inflammation is not bad. It is your body's natural and necessary response to trauma, infection, or a foreign substance, in which cells are damaged and lose their ability to function. This is a protective process, however, when the triggering mechanisms are chronic, inflammation may lead to the many degenerative diseases we see in our society today. Some of the most common triggers of inflammation are in the food we eat every day.

A healthy diet chocked full of powerful antioxidants and nutrients can go a long way to reduce inflammation and protect cellular integrity from damaging free radicals. That is why Dr. Bastidas and I created a list of anti-inflammatory foods to guide you in making better choices to promote and protect your health every day. The goal of the anti-inflammatory list is to feed your cells vital nutrients to support their function and avoid those foods that are toxic and poison your cells.

Here are our general guidelines for the “A” list:

• The majority of foods should be eaten fresh, raw or as close to their natural state as possible, avoiding processed and packaged foods.
• Choose locally grown, organic and non-GMO to avoid harmful chemicals
• Select wild caught seafood and game, free range poultry and beef that has been grass fed, without the use of growth hormones or antibiotics
• Eat natural fats from nuts, seeds, avocado, olives and fish

For our complete list, guidance and consultation to learn how to have a healthier diet and lifestyle call today………