6 Highly Inflammatory Foods

Chronic inflammation can manifest in the body in a number of ways. We chalk it up to old injuries or blame it on our jobs and busy family life, getting so used to feeling tired or in pain that we think it’s normal and just a part of aging. But what if I told you the pain and fatigue you are experiencing daily, is actually a sign of chronic inflammation and that you can get it under control by simply removing or reducing the very foods that are contributing to it.

Why should you care about chronic inflammation? Well—you should care because it not only makes you feel miserable, fatigued and in constant pain, but it quite literally effects every single system in your body and can eventually lead to serious disease. This includes auto immune diseases, cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Being chronically inflamed leads to the damage of healthy tissues, cells and organs.

There are many obstacles when it comes to changing the way we eat—ranging from cost and accessibility, to simply not having the education surrounding the food we eat. I think we can collectively agree that we all want to get through the day feeling energized and pain free.

If you find yourself in a position where you don’t have the resources or you’re not ready to take the leap in changing your eating habits just yet, here are 6 inflammatory foods to reduce or avoid all together to help manage pain, improve brain health and add valuable years to your life.

1. Soft Drinks & Fruit Juices

Companies like Coca cola and Pepsi have been around for a long time and they are able to pour millions of dollars into advertising for their products, which appeal to people of all ages. They also own and control A LOT more than just soft drinks. Their tactic is to get people addicted to their products so they can continue to make money.

Why are they so bad?

1 can of coke contains 39 grams of sugar and has zero nutritional value. This is fuel for bad gut bacteria, inflammatory to the intestinal lining, harmful to the liver and causes severe spikes in blood sugar which can lead to diabetes. The same applies to concentrated fruits juices (which these companies also own).

Wait there’s more! These drinks also contain carbon dioxide and phosphoric acid which have shown to demineralize bones, robbing them of calcium.

But before you reach for the diet soda—you should probably know that they aren’t any better as they contain harmful chemicals that again, our body doesn’t recognize as actual food. Some experts even suggest that if you can’t resist a soft drink craving, go for the classic and not the diet product.

Products Owned by Coca Cola:

https://www.cokesolutions.com/products/list.html?

2. Refined Vegetable Oils

Cooking oils are something that we all have in our kitchens, but there seems to be a lot of confusion around which are the best to buy. As it stands, we know that refined vegetable oils are extremely inflammatory to the body and these oils are also almost always found in processed foods.

What does refined oil mean?

Refining cooking oil is done to extend the shelf life of the product and it is much cheaper. They do this by using a chemical solvent to extract the oil. In this process they will also use bleaching methods to alter the colour to appear clearer and deodorize it making it more appealing and palatable to consumers. Not only does this process eliminate the healthy nutrients and benefits of the oil, but it also chemically alters the structure of it.

When searching for a cooking oil we want to look for oils that are labelled first cold pressed or expeller pressed. If it is not labeled either of these, it’s safe to assume it has undergone a refining process. These terms mean that the oil was extracted by mechanically crushing the vegetable and didn’t use high temperatures that can damage the oil and its constituents.

Fun fact: First pressed simply means— that company was the first to extract oil from that specific vegetable. For example; a company will crush a barrel of olives and then sell the already crushed olives to another producer. That producer will then extract what is left over by using chemical solvents and create their own olive oil and then sell it to consumers.

Oils to avoid:

palm
sunflower
vegetable
canola soybean
corn
safflower
cotton seed

3. Processed/Refined Sugar

Sugar that is extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets and then refined through a chemical process, eliminating any sort of nutritional value. Unfortunately processed sugar is found in nearly everything as it is used as a flavour enhancer, browning agent for baked goods and as a preservative.

There isn’t just one reason refined sugar has been shown to cause inflammation in the body, there are actually a few so i’ll just hit you with the basics.

The liver has many jobs—one of them being to store glucose in the form of glycogen for when the body needs it. When we have an excess amount of sugar in our diets and our glycogen storage is full, the liver will take that glucose and turn it into fat.

Sugar is fuel for bad gut bacteria, reducing the amount of beneficial bacteria. This can cause inflammation in the small intestines allowing the lining to weaken, leading to leaky gut. The term “leaky gut” refers to the weakening or loosening of the intestinal walls, allowing toxins and bad bacteria to break through eventually ending up in the blood stream. These toxins end up in circulation to organs and tissues causing inflammation anywhere in the body.

There are currently around 61 different names for added sugar that manufacturers put on their labels to confuse consumers. Becoming familiar with the sugar synonyms is a step in taking control of your own health and taking power back from these companies.

Some common names for added sugar:

High fructose corn syrup
Glucose-Fructose (different name for high fructose corn syrup)
Molasses
Dextrose
Maltodextrin
Sucrose
Caramel

4. Processed Meats

Meats that go through processing to enhance flavour or preservation, containing chemical preservatives.

Common Processed Meats:

hots dogs
Deli meats: ham, salami, turkey, etc.
Sausages
Bacon
pepperoni
Beef Jerky (there are ways to make your own without being harmful)

Did you know that the World Health Organization has classified processed meat as a group 1 carcinogen? This means that enough evidence has been collected through studies and research, showing that eating processed meats has been shown to cause colorectal cancer. This is because they are so inflammatory and causes severe damage to the small and large intestines.

Red meat has also been added as a “potential to cause cancer in humans”. However it’s really important to understand that it’s widely thought to be the quality of the meat that’s the problem. Grass fed, pasture raised meat can have a lot of nutritional value.

5. Refined Grains

This is done through a process called milling, to remove the germ and bran which is what contains the beneficial nutrients. They literally remove the most important part. This is to give it a finer texture and longer shelf life. Bleaching is also often included in this process to give it a consistent white colour making it more appealing to consumers and seen as “blemish free”. The beneficial vitamins, minerals and fibre are lost during this process, leaving no nutritional value.

They will then take synthetic vitamins and add them back into the finished product. But they are often vitamins that never existed in that product in the first place or are added in at very different measurements than what they would have been naturally. Fibre however, is usually completely lost.

The body does not recognize this as actual food and releases inflammatory markers in the blood.

6. Alcohol

Alcohol is a funny topic to bring up as some people get really offended when you try to talk about the adverse effects. But I’m not here to lecture or shame anyone for their alcohol consumption. Believe me—I drank like a fish in my twenties, i’m only here to provide information on how alcohol affects the body.

We’ve known for quite some time that alcohol has all kinds of negative effects on the body. The simplest way to put it is that alcohol is toxic and highly inflammatory, especially when consumed often and in large quantities. There are so many ways alcohol behaves in the body, but I really just want to stick to a few basics for easier understanding.

When we drink, our liver converts the alcohol into an extremely toxic and cancer causing chemical called acetaldehyde and then is later converted into acetate. The lining of the small intestines become weakened (this is where you absorb all of your nutrients). Like I mentioned above, when this becomes weakened or inflamed, it allows the toxic material to break through that barrier and into your blood stream which then reaches every organ, including your brain. These toxins cause cellular death which can eventually lead to serious diseases.

When you start to reduce your alcohol intake or avoid it all together, you will start to see huge changes in your weight, energy, sleep cycles and mood stability. Being sober curious has only positive outcomes!

After reading through this list, I’m sure you’ve been able to figure out the theme. It’s safe to say that the consumption of processed foods is a major player in inflammation.