Foods for Inflammation

CaityP27

Hey all,

I'm struggling pretty badly with whole body joint pain. Have done for many years. I have multiple spinal issues but haven't found a cause for the rest of the joint pain. I've got Doctors again in March.

What foods should I be avoiding? Are there any that seem to help with inflammation?

Thanks x

sollyn23l2

Focus on whole foods and eating a variety. Losing weight is really the primary thing you can do for inflammation. Adipose tissue is highly inflammatory.

yirara

What the lady above me said. Also, have you been at a doctor to figure out what your joint pain is? Something rheumatic? Gout? too little use? age and degradation? What you can and can't do depends on what the reason is.

CaityP27

@sollyn23l2 thank you. I am actively trying to lose weight through healthier food choices and calorie counting/portion control. I already walk 6000-10000 steps a day. I will try to add more whole foods.

@yirara I'm 31yrs old if it makes a difference.
I've got 2 bulging discs in lumbar spine with arthritic changes, partial congenital fusion through my entire thoracic Spine, and Arthritic changes in my cervical spine. I also have right side nerve damage in my sciatic nerve from a botched epidural 10 years ago. My doctor hasnt investigated why ive got pain in shoulders, knees, neck, elbows, wrists, ankles and hands, other than bloods that came back fine. I'm also chronically iron deficient anaemic, and have an intolerance to both dairy and soy.

I'm on my feet most of the day, passive walking 6000+ steps a day. I've been trying to add in some treadmill time at least 3 days a week w/HR at 120-130bpm.

neanderthin

In the context of food and biology as it relates to chronic inflammation, carbs are the main culprit.

The key players in inflammation are AGE's (advanced glycation end products) which basically signal a cascade of inflammatory signaling pathways which produce cytokines which are very pro-inflammatory and ROS (reactive oxygen species) which work exactly the same way except these are as well, very corrosive and cause cell death and damage DNA......these are very nasty and contribute of our aging process, well everything contributes to aging, but these accelerate that process, a lot, especially when they contribute to all the non communicable diseases chronic inflammation causes as well.

Of course it depends on the type of carbs we eat. Refined carbs mostly from wheat, sugars and artificial sweeteners would be the worst and should be avoided when possible. As well as refined seed oils when consumed in excess which they are also causing systemic chronic inflammation.

Of course we hear ad nauseum that whole grains fruit and vegetables help reduce inflammation, which is true, but in the context of what they're replacing, and those studies are always compared to the participants that consume mostly the Standard American Diet which as we know include lots of processed and ultra processed foods and in that context they reduce inflammation.

Bottom line a whole food diet is less inflammatory and why this line of logic is used but do these whole food carbs like whole wheat products, potatoes and fruit ect reduce inflammation in all dietary intervention? If someone is on a ketogenic diet for example and these types of carbs are added like whole grain, root vegetables and fruit to replace the macro's in that ketogenic diet calorie for calorie, then inflammation rises, which goes back to my original statement that it's carbs that cause inflammation, it's just the biological reality, and it's why low carb/ketogenic diets are so successful at reducing chronic inflammation.

Basically a whole food diet where someone is focusing on protein and keeping starchy carbs to a minimum with a focus on low glycemic fruits like berries is probably the best course of action without going low carb or ketogenic and using olive oil, avocado instead of seed oils like canola, corn or soy. imo.

CaityP27

@neanderthin I've actively been trying to reduce Carbs since I read your reply. I've struggled so hard with the sugars though. They're in everything from pasta sauces (which I use without the pasta), to salad dressings to packet meal bases.
Cutting pasta, breads, wraps, potato etc has been easy for me.

My Diet right now consists mostly of a cup of coffee in the morning, chicken salads for lunch and a heavier protein based meal in the evenings, usually with steamed vegetables.

We do admittedly use vegetable oil to cook with, so I'll attempt to make the switch back to olive oil.

Thank you so much for your reply

neanderthin

CaityP27 wrote: »

@neanderthin I've actively been trying to reduce Carbs since I read your reply. I've struggled so hard with the sugars though. They're in everything from pasta sauces (which I use without the pasta), to salad dressings to packet meal bases.
Cutting pasta, breads, wraps, potato etc has been easy for me.

My Diet right now consists mostly of a cup of coffee in the morning, chicken salads for lunch and a heavier protein based meal in the evenings, usually with steamed vegetables.

We do admittedly use vegetable oil to cook with, so I'll attempt to make the switch back to olive oil.

Thank you so much for your reply

Ok, good for you. /

Without injecting too much science, which I guilty of doing ad nauseum I'll just say there's other factors that influence our inflammatory state like physical inactivity, stress, our sleep quality but the main one is associated with diet. The inflammation shows up as increased visceral fat, which is stored within the abdominal cavity around vital organs and releases hormones like cortisol and adipokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines and shows up primarily as triglycerides in the blood, basically if a person has high trigs they have more visceral fat and when we remove carbs, the starchy, sugary and refined kind trigs are removed and inflammation is reduced, pretty basic biology.

The subcutaneous fat which is the fat beneath our skin is our energy reserve, provides insulation, and cushions the body against physical trauma unlike visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat is generally less harmful and back in the day, a survival mechanism and without it we would never have survived as a species. Of course too much of it in todays world can lead to increased health issues but basically this type of fat is harmless in the big picture.

Anyway, sugars are for some people a problem which generally for these people, me included, it's more of an hormonal situation that drives hunger, much has to do with insulin, but if we can in this demographic remove certain types of carbs (refined) and replace those with more protein and specifically animal protein it's easier for the body to absorb generally and they also contain very few carbs which helps reduce the insulin response and the cascade of events that happen. Also fat is important and when it's too low on this type of diet it can effect hormones and our overall health and when removing carbs and is important that a person doesn't try to avoid fatty cuts of meat or is not neglecting fats like butter, ghee, duck fat et al as well as some fruit oils like olive oil.

I'd suggest try to consume as much whole food as possible with a focus on animal protein and proper fat consumption with vegetables the main source of carbs and as it relates to fruit and without me getting into fructose metabolism and it's effect on visceral fat and it's effect on insulin let me just say that consuming berries is the better option in this scenario and most fruit today is not anywhere the same as it was even 40 years ago. the fruit available in most supermarkets are just engineered candy. I consume a fair amount of berries weekly generally with my full fat yogurt and when I wore a continuous glucose monitor, which I do periodically showed no measurable increase in an insulin response.

To really be on top of your progress you should get a pull blood panel so you can see progress going forward, I get blood work done twice a year which has influenced me to make some adjustments. Good luck and if you can even do half of what your thinking it'll still be progress and you will be lowering your inflammation.

totameafox

The only thing I will add here is keep moving. I was born with a skeletal condition. The first things the doctors told me was that if you stop moving, you lose the ability to move. I hope the doctor that you are seeing will be an orthopedic one.

varianval

Focus on fatty fish and berries