Anti-inflammatory diet
 

Arthritus, diabetes, visceral fat are all related to inflammation. So I've been researching and trying an anti-inflammatory diet. Some of it is easy. Other parts not so much. I've always leaned toward cooking from scratch. This makes it easier.

One of the hard parts is avoiding "artificial" because I can't eat sugar and want sweet now and then. As in coffee.

I have less body pain when I stay on it.

I have a terrible sweet tooth, always have. I want to eat all the sugars and carbs and breads and pasta and on and on, but it is not good for my body, especially my blood glucose but also inflammatory type stuff. Husband feels on his ketovore eating that what inflammation issues he was having before are gone now.

TMI: I had a long period of terrible awful digestive issues, and that was after the post gall-bladder issues that lasted for years. My general doctor suggested that I try a no artificial anything diet for awhile, but particularly no artificial sweeteners of any sorts. At the same time, my sleep doctor had me go off caffeine for a year. LOL and I was eating super low carb and all in all -- that was a miserable year. But the no artificial sweeteners took care of the gut biome and stopped the constant rumbling and diarrhea. With my biome protected, I can now handle a can or two of soda a day which is a treat for me, but if I go past that my innards start protesting again.

We have both found that we can tolerate the sugar alcohol sweeteners. Is sort of a misleading term, is chemical composition -- there is no alcohol in them as we think of it. In Seattle it was pretty easy to get Coffee Syrups, here in Peoria not so much. We order a couple times a year from Skinny Syrups. The "simple syrup" is basic sugar flavor. We use them in coffee, we use them with carbonated water (we are thinking of getting a Soda Stream sort of thing), I'll even do a little squirt of something like English Toffee on my oatmeal!
https://www.skinnymixes.com/collecti...y-mixes-syrups

Yikes! Shipping is $12.95!

Especially if you have Amazon Prime it might be a lot easier/cost effective to try a bottle that way. A local "discount freight" merchandise place often has them in stock there -- no cheap price, still the $7.99 or whatever a bottle is now. HomeGoods often has them. Tuesday Mornings (since closed) was another non-shipping source for us. I think we started buying at discount price of 3.99 and regular of 5.99 -- long ago enough to get hooked on it.

We order by the case or whatever the current deal is for free shipping. With rising prices, it isn't quite as painless a thing as it was before, but now we have a couple of neighbors hooked on their own special flavors and we know what we like and how much we go through, so it is a couple cases per year. It used to be buy 12 bottles for the price of 10 and get free shipping but those days are gone...

I decided a picture is worth a 1000 words so this is an almost live shot of the coffee corner. We don't have many guests but there have been a couple "never would have guessed you were from Seattle" comments :p We typically have at least 4 bottles open, the picture is just the coffee corner, on the other side of the sink is my tea stuff and Simple Syrup and Chai over there. Hubby usually has Vanilla Carmel Creme, he also uses it to fix his keto friendly whipped cream he freezes for ice cream. There is also Chocolate Truffle for coffee, and a Candy Apple for soda water.

Here is what I use and it only takes one to two drops, Zero-Cal Liquid Sweetener .4 Drops = 1 Tablespoon of Sugar my last order of the two bottle pack was Jan 2023. That is how long it lasts for me. I still have 1/4 bottle left. I buy it from Amazon.

I had a long period of terrible awful digestive issues, and that was after the post gall-bladder issues that lasted for years.

I had my gall bladder removed and the surgeon at my post op visit told me to take an enzyme like Beano before each meal and that will help with digestive issues. I could tell the difference when I didn't take one before a meal.

I did an anti inflammatory diet for years. Now I do a modified one. One of things the nutritionist I worked with told me about was coconut sugar. It's lower on the glycemic index. I also use the Minimalist Baker website. She has great recipes that are very healthy. You can search by different parameters, like gluten free, vegan, dairy free and other things which makes it nice and she uses healthy ingredients with few artificial ingredients. Those might help you.

Forks Over Knives has an article about sweetners in Fall 2025. Date (paste, sugar and syrup) are given favorable reviews. Think I'll try the syrup (it's already in my cupboard).

PS. The article includes information on nutrition, sweetening strength, color/appearance, baking properties, etc.

Thanks for the website.

pet- thanks for bringing this important topic up. I believe we are a nation inflamed. And everyone, thanks for the links. I want to see a functional medicine doctor. My anxiety is surely in part due to inflammation, at least it seems so.

I'm sure it is, Susie. When my food sensitivities were bad and I did have inflammation, I had sort of random anxiety for no reason at all. That has changed since I've gotten on a diet that limits my reactions to food.

We are definitely a nation inflamed. Processed foods cause inflammation and a lot of other problems. They also aggravate a lot of current problems. I use a functional medicine doctor and she's awesome. She's expensive and medicare and insurance doesn't cover my functional medicine visits with her, but it's worth it. She's the one that figured out what was causing my food sensitivities and thus how to treat them. I love her!

@SusieQOH and @cashs_mom ... are a Functional Medicine Doctor and s Naturopath, one and the same?
Or what really is a FMD? Thanks!

Never heard of functional medicine doctor. What is it?

Daughter has a lot of food sensitivity relief from acupuncture.

My functional medicine doctor is an MD. She uses as many natural products as she can. Her go-to is not prescription meds. She has a different approach than most doctors and looks at things differently. She was one that figured out that my food sensitivities are based in a reaction to some toxins (much like an allergy) and don't come from my gut as the nutritionist I went to had originally thought. She spends a lot of time with me and asks lots of questions and watches closely when I answer. I think it's more intuitive and more whole body rather than treating things as isolated problems. Its also based more in figuring where the problem is originating and working with that rather than just treating the symptoms. There is a lot more participation on my part and not just the 'take this pill' approach.

Edit: Okay, here's the definition that the Institute for Functional Medicine gives "Functional medicine provides a framework to systematically identify and address the underlying processes and dysfunctions that are causing imbalance and disease in each individual. By understanding a patient’s genetic, environmental, and lifestyle influences, functional medicine clinicians create personalized interventions that restore balance, health, and well-being."

I can't necessarily be trusted with things like date sugar (much less dates) or even dried fruit, but for those that can, a dried apricot or mango slice can give a nice sweetness to a cup of tea. You just want the dried versions, not candied.

You can read up about it, I had good results adding Mexican/Canela cinnamon to my diet for glucose control. You want the correct type of cinnamon, most "American" is a different variety, like Costco is Saigon cinnamon and not right. For me it was easy to get in the Hispanic spices section of the grocery store/produce section. It was especially easy to add in coffee, I was using the coffee pot and not the Keurig and I would add in a stick or so to the pot. It didn't make it overly cinnamon for me, but added a richness and gave a flavor to coffee that was good instead of sugar. A teaspoon in a non-sweetened single serving applesauce could be a bit abrupt but gave me another way to supplement it when I was testing for personal effectiveness.

Thanks CashsMom ....so sounds kind of like both an MD and Naturopath combined??

Years ago I did go to a naturopath, and was impressed with how much time she spent with me.
I went for awhile, but with not seeing progress and somewhat feeling like I was an "experiment" ... I stopped!

All that in the rearview mirror, I keep feeling like I need something more or perhaps different from conventonal medicine !!

I know that feeling. I definitely needed something more than I was getting when I started on this journey. I spent over 2 years just trying to get help from a doctor and didn't get any. That's when I got a reference to a nutritionist who then recommended the functional medicine doctor I got to now. The nutritionist was very helpful and was, thankfully, knowledgeable enough to know when she wasn't getting to the root of my problems and recommended the doctor.

It takes a bit to get used to the way doctors that works outside the standard medical community work. It's a very different approach.

Natural is definitely healthier than synthetic and/or chemical
Chemical/synthetic foods that became popular within my lifetime
1. Coolaide
2. Soda
3. Gatoraide
4. Jello
5. Popsicles

What products do you think of?

Artificial sweetners are the first things that come to mind for me. Also, processed foods. Although they did exist back in the day, I don't think they were as common or as toxic as they are today.

Appreciate this discussion
 

Thanks for all this info and links. I am in a dietary overhaul right now.

I think the most toxic is "artificial" and "chemical". Followed by ultraprocessed.
Artificial color and flavors. Or any collective word about flavorings.
Chemical: if you can't pronounce it, it's probably chemical.
Ultraprocessed is natural foods that have been stripped down to "white" then nutrients added back.

Natural plant products have fiber. If no fiber it's probably ultraproccessed.
Another ultraprocessed is hydrogenated fats, think shortening.

RE; Artificial and Chemicals and Such

We have to realize that each of us is different, each of our bodies is different and what works for us can be different.

In my case, despite losing over 100 pounds, despite making massive dietary changes, despite being able to control my glucose by diet alone (it was extremely difficult) and my body still reacts strongly to sugar. This isn't pre-diabetes, this is living at a blood glucose in the upper 400s without medication. So is medication chemicals? Is there a difference in medication between Insulin and Metformin? In my case, I believe for quality of life some controlled amounts of artificial sweeteners are MUCH better than me taking more medications. I have already cut out so many other things, there aren't many more things I can take out... when oatmeal once a week is a treat, is sort of sad :(

My body (at least currently) can't tolerate sugars, not even natural sugars. While I can eat fruit, I have to plan for it and I have to limit it. Yet I desire to live... so I can change what I eat, when I eat. I have always believed in eating seasonally and locally. I eat very little packaged foods. I am continuing to make choices that make me better, because each mouthful does matter. But I have to do this for the rest of my life. I think that is the biggest advice I have to people -- diet isn't something you go on and off -- it is what you eat.

When treating a problem we weigh the benefits vs the complications. Lots of research goes into our choices for treatment. It's our body and we live with it, complications included, 24/7. We are intimately aware of the reactions. And what we're willing to do at this moment.

I have my stash of brown sugar-I love it. When I have a glycemic low, I use brown sugar. That's my concession.

I am reading your stories - and have to admire your motivation and willingness to do what works for you.

And sometimes learning what works seems to be a major challenge.

It definitely has been for me. I spent 2 years just trying to get a diagnosis and then another couple years finding out where the problems were coming from so it's been a journey.

My symptoms were so mild and generalized, I thought it was inefitible with age. My daughter had severe symptoms that were very much like mine. She started researching and not through conventional medicine. Some of her discoveries are helping me.

Inflammation is caused by more than diet. Much of mine is emotional stress. And one stress condition (diabetes) causes more inflammation. Using an insulin monitor/pump has decreased the mental excersize of monitoring and fluctuation in BG decreasing some stress. In the midst of this, husband died, changing the stress. I'm searching a new normal while trying to maintain healthy habits.

Life is a journey. One baby step at a time.

Maybe I should clarify that I do take medications for my diabetes in addition to the lifestyle changes. I just don't want to take more than I currently do. I've known many people who would rather just up their doses than change their preferences.

My balance of physical and mental health has been a life-long walk. In many ways, right now I am better than I've ever been. That's the goal, to feel and maybe be better.

There are many paths to that, vegan to ketovore. I am convinced that we are part of nature including things to our gut level and I add "localvore" to that. Just because we can make or grow something across the world, should we really? Part of our move was to be closer to our food sources and become part of the biome. If localvore is a new concept, Barbara Kingsolver's non-fiction book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a good intro.
http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

Back to the original topic of anti-inflammatory diet.

To discuss other types of diets, please start a different thread.

/shrug they all tie in with each other, some are just different approaches. There are reasons on why eating local is good for anti-inflammatory especially when you go down to the microbial and below levels. Is like why the locals can drink the water but the tourists don't fare so well. Or why different cheeses come from different places, is bacteria and yeasts and things in the air.

If someone is trying an anti-inflammatory diet like the link below, and it isn't working as well as you'd like, take away things like coconut and replace with locally produced nuts. Same thing with acai or fruits, use local. If sweetness is something you want and you can tolerate the sugars, maybe try local honey.
https://www.healthline.com/health/rh...-day-meal-plan

We make our own Kefir now since we started getting our local raw milk. Quite a bit of the linked sample diet is already in our keto/anti-inflammatory diet, and I still do use spices from all over the world. Not much turmeric produced locally!

While it is true that not all diets fit all people, there is a starting point or definition of what anti-inflammatory diet is so we can talk about the same issue. Keto is a recognized diet that is not at it's core anything like anti-inflammatory diet.

There is some medically established definition for inflammatory problems.
From John Hopkins research, coberated by other national research facilities these dieseases are related to inflamation.Chronic, systemic inflammation is a factor in diseases such as:

• Obesity
• Metabolic syndrome
• Prediabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• Some forms of cancer
• Arthritis
• Alzheimer’s disease

Individuals may find that the diesease they personally have may respond to treatment for inflammation they are not listed by John Hopkins. If an individual gets some relief from a diet that's great, but it doesn't translate into defining it as anti-inflammatory.

Also, many diesease processes don't have definitive diagnosis and/or treatment. And often there are multiple disease problems happening in a single individual that complicate treatment.

Again from John Hopkins and other national research facilities:

Inflammatory Foods

What causes inflammation? It can result from exposure to environmental toxins, a lingering virus, aging or chronic stress. But what you eat contributes, too.

What foods cause inflammation? Unfortunately, a lot of them. In particular, experts recommend avoiding these inflammatory foods:

• Red meat, such as steak and hamburgers
• Processed meat, such as bologna, bacon, sausage and lunchmeat
• Commercial baked goods such as snack cakes, pies, cookies and brownies
• Bread and pasta made with white flour
• Deep fried items such as French fries, fried chicken and donuts
• Foods high in added sugar, such as candy, jelly and syrup
• Sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, bottled or canned tea drinks, and sports drinks
• Trans fats, found in margarine, microwave popcorn, refrigerated biscuits and dough, and nondairy coffee creamers

Cooking methods can make a difference

When you want to reduce inflammation, baking, steaming or fast stir-frying are preferable to deep frying or grilling.

Cooking meat, especially red meat, on the grill creates compounds associated with cancer. Meat on the grill can drip fat onto the flames and release these compounds, which can end up in the food on your plate. The same is not true of grilled vegetables or low-fat fish, which are safe (and delicious) on the grill.

And don’t feel bad about resorting to the microwave when you’re short on time. Microwaving cooks and heats by activating water molecules, and it is actually healthier than frying or grilling at high heat.

Also, bear in mind that the benefit of healthy items like fish and vegetables can be reversed if you are not careful with sauces and dressings. Many of these condiments and extras are high in inflammatory ingredients such as sugar and trans fat as well as sodium.

Processed Foods: Read the Label

It’s important to check the ingredients list of prepared or processed foods. Many prepared foods contain hidden sugar. It can be hard to tell, since sugar tends to assume aliases: By some estimates, there are over 50 names for added sugar in prepared commercial foods, such as “cane crystals” and “crystalized cane juice,” syrups and many ingredient names that ends in “ose” (chemical shorthand for sugar).

Reading food labels is important. For instance, any food that lists partially hydrogenated oils as an ingredient should be avoided since these are trans fats.

Thank you so much for the info, Pet. I knew some of these things but not all. Good information.

Sorry, I'm late to this thread, but I want to recommend Monk Fruit Powder for those who want their coffee sweet, but don't want to use sugar or other sweeteners. Monk Fruit is a melon that is dried and powdered. It's highly concentrated, so you only need to use a tiny tip of a teaspoon in your coffee. It's not a bad taste, IMHO and it's not artificial. While it seems expensive when you buy it, it goes a long, long ways, so it's cost effective. I buy mine at nuts.com...usually once, maybe twice a year. I haven't tried baking with it. I just use it in my morning coffee.

This is an excert from Eating Well

"Foods to Focus On

"When it comes to anti-inflammatory eating, you have loads of choices. If you’re wondering where to start, these foods provide an excellent foundation.

"Fruits and Vegetables

“The best foods to include that are high in antioxidants would be fruits,” says Dustin Moore, Ph.D., RDN, assistant director of graduate programs in applied nutrition and dietetics at California State University, Long Beach.

"100% Whole Grains

"Incorporating 100% whole grains alongside other Mediterranean foods can help reduce chronic inflammation over time, says London. Not only do whole grains offer dietary fiber and protein, they also contain inflammation-fighting antioxidants called polyphenols.2 One study found that consuming whole grains improved gut health and aided in glucose and lipid metabolism, which may help support a healthy heart and body weight and manage diabetes.3"

The foundation of the diet is whole grains, whole fruits and whole vegetables. This translates to planning a meal around whole grains, vegetables and fruits.

Typically, when asked about what will you have for supper, people reply which meat and how cooked. Example: BBQ salmon. Switch that answer to which grain, vegetable and fruit you'll have. An example:
I'll have salsa made from fresh pineapple, onion and cubanella chili. Over quinoa.

It's a total paradigm shift from the American way of thinking about meal planning to healthy habits.

The DH and I were mostly vegan for quite a few years. We still ate eggs and ate whatever we wanted when we went out to a restaurant because it was just so difficult and limited to try to order anything "vegan." We felt great and my eight went down and I was more active. We got off track during Covid and were starting to get back to it when my son came to live with us. His diet is almost entirely junk food and refuses to eat anything that is remotely vegan. Now, my diet is not that good and I lament that. I'm slowly introducing healthier foods into the house and I let him buy his own junk food with his own money. With each shopping trip, one, by one, a junk food item is eliminated. We're not there yet, but we're getting better.

..."salsa made from fresh pineapple, onion and cubanella chili. Over quinoa" sound interesting and wonderful! I'll have to try that! We can't grow pineapples here, but I can come up with a nice substitution. Quinoa is a wonderful grain that I don't utilize enough.

I'd like to mention the obvious that I have not seen on this thread yet:
Drink more water
Get your body moving more
Lose some weight

There are lots of various reasons for inflammation, but if arthritis is one of them, then the above will really help reduce the pain and swelling.

gosh that is so true. Barring ailments to preclude, this is necessary to feel good. Of course we don't always "feel like it". But, do it we must.

I'd also mention quit smoking, but I don't want to get too preachy.

Alyce, I'm going to quote you and use that as my personal mantra. "We don't always "feel like it" But, do it we must."

Inflammation diet
 

Just chiming in from a new perspective. My husband is supposed to be eating a plant-based diet with little to no protein, or at least 60 grams per day. He has kidney issues and heart issues, too! His ankles swell as well.

I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and was told to increase my protein intake to 150 grams a day. Skip the salt, which we know contributes to inflammation. I will be having a double mastectomy next week, and the protein requirement is still on the table. The surgeon says I will have lots of inflammation during the healing process.

I'm researching like crazy to prepare meals that we can both enjoy.