Making sure to consume some anti-inflammatory foods and diet to combat aging is critically important if you want to look younger.
If you are not familiar with all the concern today about inflammation and how it can affect your health, then you need to find out by reading this post. People with chronic inflammation issues are at epidemic proportions today. Some of the causes are poor diet, toxins, little or no exercise, certain medications, stress, poor sleep habits and more. This chronic inflammation leads to problems such as heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune disease, liver disease, and other serious health conditions which then increase the aging process even more.
Aging gracefully means being as healthy as you can be for as long as possible. It is time for you to take charge of your health. Your dietary and lifestyle choices play a big role in that. Even though you make the effort to exercise and eat right, you should always be looking for ways to fight aging through eating anti-inflammatory foods.
All of the anti-aging philosophies, promises, and products can be daunting. You may wonder whether or not eating anti-inflammatory foods is helpful to you. It turns out that the body’s aging process can be accelerated by inflammation in the body. You may need to talk to your doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist to find out more about this.
What is inflammation and how can it affect your body?
The immune system responds to injury and diseases by providing you with inflammation. This is a normal process that is important for healing. One the other hand, not all inflammation is healthy for you.
When inflammation gets out of hand, it can attack the normal cells of your body and the process that is supposed to heal you becomes self-destructive. It is now well known that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many serious illnesses, especially those related to the aging process.
Eating anti-inflammatory foods and diet need to become a lifestyle choice.
The good news is that there are some lifestyle choices that can help this process. Following an anti-inflammatory diet is one way to control the aging process. While it sounds like a good idea, be wary. The anti-inflammatory diet is an eating plan you follow through on throughout your life in order to combat the aging process. It isn’t technically geared for weight loss but rather helps improve your overall long-term health.
The Anti-Inflammatory Diet
The anti-inflammatory diet places a focus on whole foods that are whole and unrefined, high in anti-inflammatory spices, high in healthy fats, and high in omega 3 fatty acids.
Some things to include in an anti-inflammatory diet include the following:
- Fermented soy products, such as tofu, soy milk, tempeh, an edamame
- Healthy fats found in high quality extra virgin olive oil, beans, avocados, seeds, and nuts
- Vegetables and foods that are brightly colored, such as dark berries, fruits, and vegetables
- Clean water and green tea as a beverage
- Spices that are anti-inflammatory, such as cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger
Just as important if not more so is to decrease or eliminate inflammatory food consumption.
It is also important to decrease your intake of foods that cause inflammation. Highly processed foods are inflammatory as are carbohydrates that are quickly digested, such as sugar and sugary snacks. You need to stay away from foods containing vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated oils, and polyunsaturated oils, such as soy, corn, safflower, and sunflower oils. Instead, two of the healthy oils to cook with are extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil.
It may be difficult to know if you are eating any of these foods, which is why you need to read the food labels to see if any of these inflammatory foods are in them. Also avoid all GMO grown foods which include many of the common grains used in a wide variety of products today. Not only are they genetically modified but they are most often sprayed heavily with cancer-causing herbicides. When you’re not sure, you should buy raw unprocessed foods and cook them yourself. Foods that are labeled “raw” or “organic” can be seen as good foods to choose in an anti-inflammatory diet.
Does an anti-inflammatory diet work for everyone?
According to the expert dietitians, there is good evidence to show that monounsaturated oils and omega 3 oils can fight inflammation. On the other hand, some of the information is off when it comes to taking anti-inflammatory foods to combat aging. One study indicated that heredity can play a role in who gets the disease and who doesn’t.
While diet is important, genetics also plays a role in the aging process. You can decrease the effects of chronic diseases by eating an anti-inflammatory food diet. Don’t make big changes all at once. Start introducing anti-inflammatory foods gradually into your diet and take away inflammatory foods so that eventually your diet represents an anti-inflammatory diet as much as is possible.
Are there risks to an anti-inflammatory diet?
According to experts, there are no known risks to eating an anti-inflammatory diet. You should, however, take precautions if you have food allergies. You should talk to your doctor about finding ways to use this type of diet to your advantage.
Just a few comments about the above information to get you pointed in the right direction.
Now you know the seriousness of inflammation and the damages it can do to your health and your speed of aging. If this means big changes for you, start slow and make the changes at a pace that suits you. It really boils down to creating new habits as far as choosing healthy, non-inflammatory foods or not. It is time for you to take control of your health.
Also, don’t look at genetic facts and let it get you all worried that you can’t do anything about it such as the health of other family members because most of the time genetic tendencies can be overcome if you are dedicated to a lifestyle of healthy eating and moderate exercise. Secondly, don’t be too dependent upon your health care provider for giving you a good plan. Most doctors have very little or no training when it comes to nutrition. Also, many dieticians and nutritionists have been trained to follow the government recommendations such as those published by the agriculture department which is beholden to big agriculture companies who don’t have your best interests in mind.
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