Changing long-standing dietary habits is difficult, so here are some easy hacks to start you consuming an anti-inflammatory diet.
Consuming an anti-inflammatory diet is one of the most powerful ways you can control the inflammatory load within your body.
Inflammation is an integral part of your body’s immune response. Without inflammation, wounds wouldn’t heal and we couldn’t overcome infections.
However, if inflammation persists longer than necessary it can lead to a variety of chronic conditions from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease and hormonal imbalances to allergies and endometriosis.
Even fatigue, mental health disorders, irrational behaviour, poor cognition, joint pain, abdominal pain, rashes and weight gain can be associated with and exacerbated by inflammatory diets.
If you change the way you eat, you will change your life.
An anti-inflammatory diet focuses on increasing your consumption of plant fibre, antioxidants and plant polyphenols in the form of copious amounts of brightly-coloured vegetables and legumes, with a minimum of processed foods.
Foods that contribute to inflammation and increase your risk of chronic disease
- Processed with additives (flavours, colours, stabilisers, preservatives);
- Highly-refined carbohydrates (bread, pasta, biscuits, chips, baked goods);
- High in refined sugar;
- Sweetened with artificial sweeteners;
- High in oxidised fats (deep-fried foods, charcoaled meats, margarine, processed baked goods);
- Sugar-sweetened beverages;
- Alcohol;
- Gluten-containing;
- Dairy-containing.
Anti-inflammatory diet cheatsheet: how to make your diet less inflammatory
Changing long-standing dietary habits is difficult, so here’s a quick anti-inflammatory diet cheatsheet to get you started. Simply make these food swaps to immediately upgrade your diet for healthier, anti-inflammatory options.
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to pasta
Legume or pulse pasta
Spiralised noodles made from zucchini, carrot or sweet potato
Spaghetti squash
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to commercial pasta sauce
Puréed vegetables
Vegetable bolognaise (home-made)
Pesto (home-made)
Tomato passata
Grated zucchini and red lentils can be added to sauces to improve the nutrient content and disappear completely with cooking
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to white rice
Cauliflower “rice” (finely minced cauliflower)
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Brown rice
Black rice
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to bread
Seed bread (homemade)
Sprouted grain bread (available in good supermarkets)
High-quality sourdough made with long fermentation times
Fill out your plate/bowl with more vegetables to take bread’s place
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to pizza bases
Cauliflower pizza bases
Almond meal as a substitute for flour in pizza dough
Chickpea flour pizza dough
Eggplant slices
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to noodles
Spiralised zucchini, carrot, sweet potato and other vegetables
Konjac noodles
Kelp noodles
Edamame noodles
Anti-inflammatory improvements to quiche
Almond meal pastry
Cooked millet pressed into a dish as a base
Cooked brown rice pressed into a dish as a base
No pastry base
Add extra vegetables to the filling
Anti-inflammatory improvements to wraps or burritos
Nori sheets
Lettuce leaves
Rye mountain bread
Homemade egg crepes or wraps
Coconut flour wraps
Buckwheat flour wraps
Anti-inflammatory alternatives/improvements to crackers
Carrot and celery sticks with dips
Cucumbers sliced into rounds
Brown rice cakes
Ryvita (if not gluten-intolerant)
Commercial gluten-free seed crackers such as Mary’s Gone Crackers
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to dairy milk
Unsweetened almond milk (Nutty Bruce brand has few additives)
Homemade nut milk
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to cakes, biscuits, ice-cream, chocolate
Raw cacao-based dairy-free dark chocolate
Cacao-avocado mousse
Fresh fruit
Nuts lightly roasted in olive oil, rosemary and sea salt (coconut sugar optional)
Protein balls
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to butter as a spread
Avocado
Hummus
Tahini (with a drop of honey mixed in is nice too)
Nut butter
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to canola, sunflower, soybean or rice bran oil
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Anti-inflammatory alternatives to red meat
Fatty fish (mackerel, wild-caught salmon and trout, sardines)
Legumes: kidney beans, black beans, mung beans, adzuki beans, chickpeas, lentils, tempeh, broad beans, black-eyed peas, edamame
Eggs
Nuts and seeds