According to the statistics from the WHO, about 12.9 million people across the globe died from a form of cardiovascular disease in 2004. Each year, the Global Fund for Cancer Research estimates that some eight million Of people died of cancer. Continue reading Top 5 Inflammatory Foods to Avoid Plague
Cancer and Heart disease, the lethal manifestation of the chronic inflammation, has expected to stay the leading causes of death in the developed countries for many years to come.
But study after study shows that the risk of heart disease and cancer are modifiable by our lifestyle choices, which include the foods we choose to eat each day.
With every bite we take, we balance pro and anti-inflammatory compounds in the body or rock the ladder at one end.
To move balance in your favor, in addition to incorporating more natural anti-inflammatory foods into your diet, it is equally important to avoid or reduce foods that are known to promote inflammation.
Here we examine the top ten foods that have prepared bases for inflammatory diseases:
Table of Contents
1. Sugars
SugarPro refined inflammatory agent: excessive sugar intake causes tooth decay and has been linked to increased risks of obesity, inflammation and chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Been proven that sugar, as well as dairy products, are the causes of acne.
Replacing Inflammation-Dousing: Do you have a sweet tooth? Opt for natural sweeteners such as stevia, honey or blackstrap molasses to modestly treat drinks and food.
Natural sugars in fresh and dried fruit and canned fruit without added sugar are also good choices. Not only do they give you the sweetness you desire, but the fruits provide you with vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber that you will not find in sweet foods and drinks.
Dates, kiwis, persimmons, tangerines, figs and different types of berries are some of the healthy natural snacks you can push your teeth into.
2. Common Cooking Oils
Pro-inflammatory agent: Common vegetable cooking oils used in many homes and restaurants have very high omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids.
A diet including of the highly unbalanced omega-6 to the omega-3 ratio promotes inflammation & engenders inflammatory disorders such as heart disease & cancer.
Find them in Polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, corn and sunflower oils. These vegetable oils are also simply used to make most processed foods & takeaways.
Inflammation-dousing Substitute: Replace your omega-6-saturated cooking oils with macadamia oil, extra virgin olive oil, or other cooking oils with a more balanced omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids ratio.
Macadamia oil, for example, has an almost unique ratio of omega-6: 3 fatty acids, and it is also rich in oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acid.
3. Trans Fats
Pro-inflammatory agent: Trans fatty acids are notorious for their double effect: they increase levels of “bad” cholesterol while reducing levels of “good” cholesterol. But that’s not all they can do.
They have also been found to promote inflammation, obesity and insulin resistance, providing for the development of degenerative diseases.
Find them: fried foods, fast foods, baked goods and those made with partially hydrogenated oil, margarine and/or shortened vegetables. Note that items that list 0g of trans fat on the label may still contain a certain amount of these toxic fats.
This is because, in the US, the government allows items containing less than 0.5 g of trans fats to be declared without transgenics. Commercially prepared peanut sweet is a good example. Your best bet is to read the list of ingredients and make sure that partially hydrogenated oil or vegetable shortening is not used.
Substitute for inflammation-dousing: Look for alternative products that do not contain trans fats and do not contain partially hydrogenated oil or shortened vegetables in the list of ingredients. If in doubt, assume that all commercially prepared foods contain trans fats unless otherwise noted.
4. Dairy Products
Pro-inflammatory agent: Approximately 60% of the world’s population can not digest milk. In fact, researchers believe that being able to digest milk beyond childhood is abnormal rather than the reverse.
Milk is also a common allergen that can trigger inflammatory reactions such as stomach distress, constipation, diarrhea, rash, acne, hives and difficulty breathing in sensitive people.
Find them: Milk and dairy products are as ubiquitous as foods containing partially hydrogenated oil or omega-3-deficient vegetable oil.
In addition to obvious dairy products such as butter and cheese, foods containing hidden dairy content include bread, biscuits, crackers, cakes, cream sauces and cooked cereals. Digitizing the list of ingredients is still the safest way to produce milk.
Inflammation: Kefir and unsweetened yogurt are acceptable in moderation for those who are not allergic to milk. They are softer on the stomach than proteins and lactose in milk have been split down by helpful bacteria &/or yeast.
5. Feedlot-Raised Meat
Pro-inflammatory agent: Commercially produced meat is animal feed such as soybeans and corn, a diet that has a high content of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids but low in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Because of the small and narrow living environment, these animals also gain an excess of fat and end up with high saturated fats.
Worse yet, to make them grow faster and prevent them from getting sick, they are also injected with hormones and fed with antibiotics. The result is a piece of meat that you and I should not eat.
Find it in: Unless otherwise stated, most, if not all, of the beef, pork and poultry that you can find in supermarkets and restaurants come from fattening farms.
Inflammation Substitute: Natural, and fed animals with the natural diet, such as grasses instead of grains & hormones, consist of more omega-3 fat. Having extra room to travel freely, they are further leaner and contain less saturated fat.