We’ve all heard the word inflammation before, but what does it really mean? What changes can we make to give ourselves the best chance to decrease our risk of disease? What foods do we eat to decrease inflammation?
We recognize inflammation within the body as redness, heat, swelling and pain. It is a natural healing response to bring nourishment and immunity to an injury or infection, but when the inflammation serves no purpose and refuses to go away, it causes illness.
How does that happen?
Unnecessary inflammation is caused by the quality and types of foods you’re eating. When we are inflamed our body cannot perform its functions properly - metabolize, detox, absorb nutrients and minerals, or stay hydrated.
Your level of inflammation is indicated through the pH scale, which is a scale that ranges from 0 to 14. Anything below 7 is acidic (low on oxygen) and anything above 7 is considered alkaline.
One of the biggest contributors to having an acidic pH is eating too much acidic food, causing your body to work like crazy to bring it back to an alkaline state. For optimal results your diet should be within the range of 60-80% alkaline and 20-40% acidic.
The other downsides to acidity is our skin tends to be red, dry and inflamed, we feel sluggish, exercise yields no results, cravings are out of control, and we feel irritable. If any of these symptoms sound familiar, you can make small changes in your diet to get better rest, have more energy, and recover faster from intense exercise, surgery, and treatments.
Best Foods for Alkalinity
almonds
amaranth
apples
asparagus
avocados
bananas
beans
beets
bell peppers
blueberries
brazil nuts
broccoli
buckwheat
cantaloupe
carrots
cauliflower
celery
chlorella
chocolate (dark, uncooked)
coconut
cucumbers
extra virgin olive oil
flax seed
garlic
ginger
green tea
hemp seed
kelp
leafy greens
lemons
limes
mangoes
melons
millet
papayas
peas
pomegranates
quinoa
sesame seed
sprouts
strawberries
sweet potato
turmeric
watercress
white chia seed
zucchini
Foods That Create Acidity
alcohol
coffee
dairy
eggs
fried foods
isolated soy protein
isolated whey protein
margarine
poultry
red meat
refined grains
roasted peanuts
sugar-sweetened beverages
sugar
None of this is about perfection, I believe that every little bit counts and there are varying degrees of what works for people from a holistic standpoint. The biggest thing you can do is apply the principle of crowding out by focusing on adding in as many anti-inflammatory foods as possible, which will naturally scales back the inflammatory foods. About Sarah
Sarah Dade is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and received her Certified Integrative Nutrition and Health Coach designation and training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (“IIN”) in 2012. Sarah is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance and received her training from Yoga Vida NYC.
Sarah studies include holistic nutrition, preventive health, dietary theories, hormonal imbalances, supplement therapy, food psychology, one-on-one counseling, lifestyle management techniques, relationship coaching, asana yoga, and many spiritual practices from around the world.