5.6 Anti-inflammatory and Auto-immune Diet
We have discussed in detail different dietary approach/ nutrition plans. Each of the named plans and ways of eating have subtle differences but at their core they follow the same notion of reducing processed foods, refined sugars and increasing more whole foods including vegetables and good quality fats and protein. This is far removed from the advice of only a couple of decades ago that low fat diets (i.e. low calorie) diets are best for health.
The reason that manipulating the diet towards whole foods and not focussing solely on calories is so successful in tackling a range of diseases and symptoms is due to the impact on the immune system and levels of chronic inflammation within the body. In Part 1 we explored the global health issues of chronic inflammation and the health burden this places on individuals manifesting as a variety of disease processes including:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Neurodegeneration (e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease)
- Cancer
For many people, simply reducing down allergenic foods and foods known to stimulate the immune system such as wheat (especially processed wheat products like bread), dairy and processed food additives, can make a dramatic difference to the inflammatory burden in the body. Please read the following article, which makes up part of the course content:
Vegetables and foods with negative PRAL score (i.e. high alkaline load – section 5.1) are the best types of anti-inflammatory foods. Other specific foods that reduce inflammatory markers include specific herbs and spices like turmeric (curcumin), which we will be discussing in module 6.
Figure 5.3 shows the foods and proportions for an anti-inflammatory diet – you will notice the great similarities between this and the Mediterranean diet.
Of course not everybody can process wheat/gluten, as suggested in certain foods like bread and pasta included in the anti-inflammatory pyramid (Figure 5.3). For other people, an exclusion or rotation diet might be needed, alongside functional testing, to identify the offending allergenic foods. We will discuss functional testing in Module 8 of this course. Part 1 of the Advanced course discussed rotation diets so please refer to your notes if you are interested in this revisiting this area.
Simply put, the Palo diet, vegetarian and vegan diets, as well as low GI diets are all examples of anti-inflammatory diets. At nutrihub we see “anti-inflammatory” diets as a bit of an umbrella term. It’s about selecting the right nutrition plan for the individual and their circumstances; for example some people will do better removing grains and increasing protein in their diet, such as following a Paleo-style diet, whilst others will do better with more vegetarian nutrients and nutritionally balanced plant based food sources. We will compare and contrast each programmes advantages and disadvantages in section 5.10.