Inflammation is known to be the root cause of multiple forms of disease, ranging from heart disease to diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and many digestive disorders. It’s also one of the most overlooked causes of the weight problems. Weight loss diets will come and go, and while some may work temporarily to lower the number on the scale, many create larger problems over time due to the fact they rob the body of nutrients and contribute to inflammation.
The Key to a Healthy, Happy Body-Nutritional Balance!
When it comes to managing your weight, nutritional balance and consistency are important. Various ups and downs throughout the years aren’t healthy for the body, not to mention confusing. Extremely low (or high) calorie diets are naturally inflammatory to the body; they put a strain on the cells and major organs. They can also interfere with other processes of the body ranging from heart, digestive, blood, and other functions. These problems alone also lead to inflammation, repeating a vicious cycle.
The best way to end the cycle and achieve health is to eat a diet that both treats and prevents inflammation, an in return, disease. Most people don’t consider the way this leads to a healthy weight, but it’s actually the easiest and most powerful way to stay at a lose weight and manage a healthy weight for a longer period of time. The simple answer? Eat an anti-inflammatory diet based off of whole, plant-based foods.
A healthy weight is hard to achieve if your heart isn’t in good health because the heart controls multiple aspects of metabolism and energy levels. A healthy heart can also help prevent inflammation that leads to diabetes and/or chronic inflammation that leads to heart disease. It’s also more important to focus on heart-healthy foods rather than just how many calories a food has. Some of the best heart-healthy foods include vegetables, nuts, seeds, greens, fruits, beans, legumes, and low-glycemic grains.
An anti-inflammatory diet puts more attention on healthy foods and includes no restriction on calories—when the body receives nutrients it needs, it will naturally let you know when you’re full.An anti-inflammatory diet also includes plenty of herbs, spices, and teas which are potent in their abilities to not only reduce inflammation, but also satisfy the appetite and palate naturally. Some can even reduce inflammation themselves, such as turmeric, green tea, cilantro, and parsley.
Blood sugar levels are also supported naturally through anti-inflammatory foods; some of the best are natural sources of protein such as hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, chia, flax, broccoli, spinach, kale, lentils, and chickpeas. Most all nuts, seeds, greens, vegetables, beans, and legumes support blood sugar levels. While fruits and grains may (and sometimes should) be limited to support blood sugar levels, most people who embrace moderate servings of them still experience better blood sugar levels than excessive amounts of insulin-raising animal proteins.
An anti-inflammatory diet is also balanced. It does not emphasize one food group over another, but embraces healthy fats, anti-inflammatory proteins, and low-glycemic, fiber rich choices of natural carbohydrates. Different amounts of these foods will work differently for each individual, but a balance much easier to reach when you focus on eating a variety of anti-inflammatory plant-based choices and working them in throughout the day.