In the world of wellness, inflammation has become the ultimate supervillain. Anything that promotes inflammation is immediately thought to be bad, while anything that fights it is good. There are well over a thousand anti-inflammatory diet cookbooks on Amazon聽and several thousand more anti-inflammatory supplements, teas, and even creams. There鈥檚 sound reasoning behind some of these products, but not all inflammation is bad. It鈥檚 necessary, actually. And聽while a healthy diet is one thing that can help minimize the harmful type of inflammation, the idea that certain foods are anti-inflammatory is flawed.
What Is Inflammation, Anyway?
Inflammation is the immune system鈥檚 response to any traumatic event that happens in the body鈥檚 tissues. Blood (carrying immune cells) and intracellular fluid (carrying plasma proteins) flow to the affected area, which can lead to redness, extra warmth, and swelling. Sometimes聽this process stimulates nerves and can cause soreness and pain. All of this is part of the healing process, with varying聽degrees and duration of inflammation based on the stimulus.
鈥淎cute inflammation is a protective response of the body鈥檚 defense system to fight pathogens, remove damaged tissue, and aid in healing. This type of inflammation starts quickly and lasts for a short time, typically one to a couple days,鈥 says聽, associate lab director of the聽 at . This response is key to nearly every reparative process, including recovering after a workout, fighting off illness, and healing wounds.
While acute inflammation helps resolve problems in our bodies, chronic inflammation聽can cause聽them. Unlike localized acute inflammation, chronic inflammation can affect entire body systems, like your lungs, skin, or joints. The symptoms tend to be milder but longer lasting. Inflammatory byproducts like cytokines, reactive proteins released by the immune system, get cleared up quickly in acute inflammation but can build up during chronic inflammation and eventually cause harm, since they disrupt聽the normal function of your blood and immune cells.
鈥淐hronic inflammation is increasingly recognized to be a risk factor for many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative diseases, depression, and even some cancers,鈥 Wu says. It鈥檚 also the root cause of like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn鈥檚 disease, in which the immune system mistakes normal cells for harmful ones聽and needlessly attacks them.聽
Can You Eat Your Way Out of Inflammation?聽
A person鈥檚 overall diet pattern can impact levels of chronic inflammation, but there鈥檚 no agreed-upon anti-inflammatory diet聽out there. If you look through a few anti-inflammatory cookbooks or guidelines, you鈥檒l notice some common themes. A diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats might help protect your body against inflammation鈥攁long with a host of other health issues.
Preliminary research suggests that processed foods like refined carbs, sugary soda, trans fats, and deli meats聽might promote chronic inflammation, says Wu. (Heavy alcohol consumption, too.) Wu also notes that excess calorie intake might lead to inflammation, even if you鈥檙e sticking to these recommended foods. Calorie needs vary based on age, gender, genetics, and activity level, but you can get a rough estimate for how much you should eat to maintain your body weight聽.
On the other hand, whole,聽plant-based foods聽and fatty fish are thought to help reduce chronic inflammation. that phytochemicals in plant-based foods reduce the number of cytokines in our blood, which indicates less inflammation overall. There鈥檚 also聽 suggesting that certain unsaturated fats have a similar effect.
Still, you should take this all with a grain of salt. 鈥淎lthough many studies have reported that diet and certain foods and food components are associated with reduced levels of inflammation markers, a majority of that evidence is generated in animal studies,鈥 Wu says. More clinical trials are needed before we can say whether specific foods or diet patterns have the same effect in humans.
No Superfood Will Save You
If someone is trying to sell you on the anti-inflammatory properties of a certain food or supplement, you should be skeptical. 鈥淐urrently, there鈥檚 no list of magic foods or magic diets that are clearly supported by solid scientific evidence,鈥 Wu says. The jury鈥檚 still out on whether any specific foods or compounds are particularly helpful.聽
There鈥檚 also no conclusive evidence that supplements can reduce inflammation, Wu says. Even if a plant extract or a pill contains high amounts of certain vitamins and minerals聽that are thought to help, it鈥檚 not guaranteed that all of these micronutrients are聽available聽for our bodies to use. Plus, too high a dose of certain micronutrients might actually cause harm over time. And聽while trendy superfoods聽like pomegranate, turmeric, ginseng, or acai are typically healthy, it鈥檚 impossible to say for sure that they鈥檙e any better at curbing inflammation than any other whole, plant-based foods.
It鈥檚 also important to note that food isn鈥檛 the only factor when it comes to chronic inflammation. Stress is certainly a factor: a聽 published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that chronic stress weakens the body鈥檚 ability to regulate inflammatory response, increasing the likelihood of chronic inflammation and the buildup of harmful inflammatory byproducts. Wu also cites chronic disease, aging, smoking, and pollution as other significant risk factors, although there isn鈥檛 conclusive research that quantifies their impact.
If you want to minimize chronic inflammation, seek out stress-reducing activities, avoid smoking, and minimize your exposure to air pollution if possible. When it comes to diet, Wu recommends eating something聽similar to the popular聽Mediterranean diet: lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains, plus fatty fish, other healthy fats, herbs, and spices. Most importantly, the best anti-inflammatory diet is one that emphasizes whole foods but doesn鈥檛 place anything totally off-limits, since restrictive diets聽鈥攁nd lead to more chronic inflammation.