Nutrition and Inflammation
Chronic vs. Acute Inflammation
Not all inflammation is bad, in fact it is natural process that is essential for healing to take place. When your body recognizes an invader or injury, an inflammatory response is triggered to take care of that invader or repair the present damage. There are different types of inflammation, short term and long term also known as acute and chronic inflammation. Acute inflammation happens when you get a cut, have an infection or after you lift weights and create small muscle tears that need to repair themselves. Chronic inflammation can be the cause of many common diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, irritable bowel disease, and allergies. Chronic inflammation can occur as a result of dietary choices, living environment, stress, and lack of physical activity.
Essential Fatty Acids
Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential for humans to consume through their diet because your body cannot make them. These fatty acids are not the only essential fatty acids but are often talked about because of the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 that is consumed in a traditional American diet.
Omega-6 is found in foods that contain oils such as grapeseed, sesame, coconut, sunflower, peanut, corn, palm and safflower. These oils are often found in processed foods and could be one reason many Americans consume more than enough omega-6 fatty acids. Remember omega-6 fatty acids are essential and I am not stating that these oils should never be consumed, I am saying the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in a person’s diet should be looked at.
Omega-3 is found in foods that contain hemp seed, flax seed or oil, fish oil (cold water fatty fish), walnuts, chia seeds and raspberry seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids can also be found in grass fed and finished beef and even in eggs based on the chicken’s diet. Foods that contain these may be considered anti-inflammatory due to how omega-3 fatty acids impact inflammatory reactions. A great way to aim for a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is to replace foods you currently consume with omega-6 in them with foods that contain omega-3. The adequate intake* amount for omega-3 is 1,100 mg - 1,600 mg per day which can look like:
3 oz wild caught salmon
1 oz walnuts
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1.5 Tbsp hemp seeds
1 Tbsp flax seeds
Eat Your Plants!
Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains can be a great way to decrease inflammation in the body. Plants contain pigments (colors) that play different roles within our bodies. Certain vitamins can also have an anti-inflammatory effect when consumed such as vitamin A, E, and C (antioxidants). Increasing your intake of plants will also increase the amount of fiber you consume. When we eat fiber the bacteria in our large intestine can ferment it and give off short chain fatty acids as a byproduct. Short chain fatty acids are known to help regulate inflammation in the body.
Seed Oils and Refined Sugar
A hot topic right now is seed oils and several social media influencers have hopped on the bandwagon of demonizing these oils. Let’s digger deeper into why industrial seed oils are being talked about so much. Pick up a packaged food from your pantry and look at the ingredient list. A protein bar box I picked contained “palm kernel oil” and as mentioned above palm oil has more omega-6 fatty acids in it. You may so any or multiple oils that are listed as being high in omega-6 essential fatty acids and therefore if we are consuming many packaged foods that contain these oils, out omega-6 to omega-3 ratio will be low (for example 25:1). When we include less packaged foods and more omega 3’s that ratio can increase!
Refined sugar is also brought up when discussing chronic inflammation in the body. Foods that contain high amounts of refined sugars tend to be low in fiber. If your diet is low in fiber (fruits, vegetables and whole grains) then the bacteria in your gut can begin to change because the beneficial bacteria strains are not getting fed the fiber that they need. As I mentioned in the section “Eat Your Plants!”, bacteria in your gut can produce short chain fatty acids that help regulate inflammation. If those bacteria die off due to lack of fiber, then short chain fatty acid production decreases. Refined sugar, when consumed in large amounts and without a balanced diet, can lead to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is something that happens when your cells are exposed to high levels of sugar in your blood (often) and insulin (the hormone that opens the cell to let sugar in) does not work as effectively. If sugar cannot get into the cell and remains in the bloodstream, then overtime this can lead do conditions such as type 2 diabetes, nerve damage, slowed digestion, increased risk for infections and even damage to your arteries. This can be prevented by decreasing your intake of concentrated sweets, increasing intake of fiber, replacing packaged foods with whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, managing stress levels and finding a daily movement routine that you enjoy!
Want to learn more about ways you can improve your diet to help prevent chronic diseases from developing? Speak with a registered dietitian today!
Sources
Foods that fight inflammation - Harvard Health
Chronic Inflammation - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
Functional Roles of Fatty Acids and Their Effects on Human Health - PubMed (nih.gov)
*Adequate intake is defined as the recommended daily average intake for healthy individuals.