You’ve probably heard lots of wellness-y folks bang on about inflammation. Before I started studying it, I didn’t know a thing about it – other than it’s bad. Or so I thought. Turns out our bodies need inflammation, it’s a natural reaction. It’s when there’s too much that we have issues.

What is inflammation?

It’s what happens when your body responds to injury or illness, it’s the signal your body sends to your immune system to say, “hey, let’s get cracking over here, something has gone awry.”  We need enough inflammatory reactions for our bodies to heal themselves, but not so many that the body starts to attack itself.

It’s chronic

Chronic inflammation causes all kinds of things you don’t want. Weight gain, sickness, ageing, and it’s associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, asthma, allergies, and almost everything ending with -itis.

What to do, what to do?!

Ok, so food compounds that add to the problem are omega-6 and saturated fats – you get those from processed foods mainly, and foods that help reduce inflammation are omega-3s and polyphenols – which you get from plant-based foods and clean proteins like salmon etc.

Balance it out

The best diet to deal with inflammation is a balanced one. You need a bit of everything to trigger the right balance of hormone responses. For example, too few carbs will trigger the production of the stress hormone cortisol which sends the body into panic and makes it start to eat your muscles; but too many carbs trigger insulin production, which is the hormone that stores fat. So, as you can see – it’s all about some. Not a lot, not too little. 

What should my meals look like?

As a basic rule, to avoid inflammation in the body your meals should be ⅓ low fat protein the size of your palm, and ⅔ colourful carbs like fruit and veg. Add a good dollop of omega-3 fats like olive oil, nuts, or avocado and you’re golden.

To chat more about balancing your meals and avoiding inflammation, book your free consultation now.