The Infammatory Effect of Food

Your Diet May Be Causing Your Pain...

Are Processed Foods Destroying Your Body?

Pain is triggered by inflammation and the American diet is inundated with inflammatory foods. Processed foods are the primary culprits.  Anything in a box, bag or package is more than likely inflammatory by nature. Most processed foods have some version of partially hydrogenated corn or soybean oil. Most processed foods have some sort of sweetener, in the form of sugar, high fructose corn syrup or artifical sugar. And more importantly, most processed foods have one, if not many chemical additives and preservatives. All of these are highly inflammatory, triggering the release of hundreds of inflammatory chemicals that "turn on" pain signals and can keep you in a chronic inflammatory, pain cycle. Sugar and flour are two of the most overly consumed inflammatory, processed ingredients. Not only will processed foods cause inflammation and pain, they will destroy your internal organs, digestive tract and brain. It is important to limit or eliminate processed foods from your diet in order to live a normal, healthy, pain-free life. This list also includes fast foods and most frozen foods.

A common mistake that many people make is eating a salad with a mayonaise-based dressing.  Stick with olive/vinegar or fruit or berry-based dressing with some olive oil. Mayonaise is one of the most highly inflammatory foods you can eat. So, how do to make the change?  Simply adding more natural, fresh, whole foods to your diet is the key. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are a great way to eliminate inflammation and pain from your body. Fresh fish contains omega 3 fats which destroy inflammatory chemicals in your body, as well. We recommend "One Ingredient Foods" for a healthy life.  Generally speaking, the more ingredients there are in a food product, the worse it is for you. When you shop for food, shop the perimeter where the perishable items are. Follow the 90/10 rule where 90% of your items should be selected from the perimeter of the market and 10% from the inner isles.