Inflammation – is it good or bad? Depending on what your body is trying to do, it can be both. Good inflammation is your body’s way of protecting when injured or sick. Your body will send inflammation to the affected area to protect it from further damage. However, chronic inflammation can result in severe medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, to name just a few.
What can be done to help your body keep inflammation at a minimum? One way is to watch what you eat. What you eat greatly influences your body. We have listed several foods that are notorious when it comes to increasing inflammation:
- Sugar and High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Overeating sugar and high-fructose will result in an over production of cytokines. Which are directly linked to inflammation in the body.
- Fried Food
Advanced Glycation End (AGE) is the byproduct when food is fried in vegetable oil. Studies have shown that the more AGEs your body has, the inflammation levels are high. But reducing amount of fried foods brings the AGE levels down.
- Alcohol
A heavy consumption of alcohol cause the bacteria to move out of the colon and into the rest of the body; this is also known as “leaky gut.” With bacteria gone from the colon, inflammation will spread and cause organ damage.
- Refined Flours
There is a link between how fast food is digested and high levels of inflammation. Refined flours pass through the digestive system extremely fast.
- Dairy Products
Dairy is full of lactose and casein. These two proteins are hard for your body to digest. If consumed frequently, a rise in inflammation is certain.
Overall, there are times when you can’t control inflammation in your body but to stay healthy, minimize the consumption of the foods that will surely trigger inflammation. Sadly, there are many more than listed here but we feel these are the most common offenders.