Anti-inflammatory snacks
You probably already have heard of the anti-inflammatory diet. It can promote overall body health, maintain your skin and even help with weight loss. But it should not be limited to just being a diet. It is more a way of choosing products and preparing your meals based on scientific knowledge about how these products can help the body maintain optimal health.
Let’s have a deeper look at what inflammation means, where it comes from and what are some triggers for it.
You might be familiar with the meaning of acute inflammations. Conditions such as arthritis, acne, gastritis,asthma just to mention a few examples cause pain and bring suffering and illness.
However, there are other types of inflammation. Although less obvious, they quietly attack the body, causing numerous diseases over time. These conditions are most commonly caused by chronic inflammation, also called silent inflammation. They can exist in the body quietly, almost imperceptibly, for many years, until they develop into something more serious.
Chronic inflammation is associated with the deposition of cholesterol in the arterial walls, which long term can lead to heart diseases, strokes, heart attacks, etc.
Chronic inflammation of brain tissue can lead to Alzheimer’s disease, inflammation in the blood – to diabetes. Even depression can be traced back to inflammation, in particular, inflammation of the gut.
The anti-inflammatory diet emphasises that, by eating fast food and unnatural, overly processed food, people bring their body into a state of constant inflammation. In general, inflammation is a normal reaction of our immune system to infection or tissue damage. It is the result of the interaction of different body systems with each other. In a healthy body, all these systems are in harmony, constantly interacting with each other. When the inflammation designed to protect the body becomes permanent, the normal connections between them gradually break down and stop working.
Chronic inflammation poisons the body and can lead to premature ageing, and can create conditions for the onset of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and even cancer.
The secret weapon against inflammation is the right diet.
An anti-inflammatory diet, of course, does not work immediately it has a long accumulative effect. The main task is to remove the load from the body in the form of constant use of products that provoke inflammation. By the way, you can also significantly reduce the level of inflammation by changing your lifestyle. For example, do daily physical activity or (if possible) reduce the effects of stress on the body.
So, what might be some anti-inflammatory food recommendations?
The essence of an anti-inflammatory diet is to include food with low glycemic index. The glycemic index or GI is an indicator of the effect of food after consumption on blood sugar levels. GI is considered to be a comparison of the body’s response to a product with the body’s response to pure glucose (sugar), which has a GI of 100. For all other products, it varies from 0 to 100 or more, depending on how quickly they are absorbed.
When a product has a low glycemic index, this means that when it is consumed, the level of sugar in the blood rises slowly. The GI of the product depends on several factors the type of carbohydrates and the amount of fiber, which the product contains, the method of heat treatment, the content of proteins and fats. Instead of eating refined and processed simple carbohydrates, found in white bread, pasta and baking, include more whole-grain products – bread, brown rice, barley, oats, buckwheat, lentils, and beans. The list of lifeguards also
includes such vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, blue cabbage, eggplants. Among the berries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, cherries, cranberries are good choices for anti-inflammatory support.
Some other products that receive special attention are sugar and its analogs, like palm sugar, maple syrup, agave syrup, sweeteners, etc. They are considered as extremely harmful and inflammatory foods that should be removed or at least minimised in the diet.
Among fats, it is shown that healthy fats such as monounsaturated (olive oil, avocado, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, and seeds) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (fatty fish, flax seeds, Brazilian nuts, sunflower seeds) have anti-inflammatory properties. It is to emphasize that unfortunately most of the diets nowadays are rich on omega-6 and lacking omega-3 fatty acids. It is more of the fact that people are consuming too much omega-6 rather than having a low intake of omega-3. An omega-6 to omega-3 ratio that is too high may contribute to excess inflammation in the body, potentially raising the risk of various diseases. Therefore reduce the intake of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids, found in large amounts of processed seed and vegetable oils and increase your consumption of anti-inflammatory omega-3s, found in wild salmon, flax and chia seeds, walnuts for example.
Add some anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric, cayenne, chilli, ginger, or cinnamon to your food. Spices are such an easy way to be incorporated into cooking and promotes so many health benefits.
Let me give you one simple, but delicious anti-inflammatory snack idea. Have you ever tried a savoury spiced trial mix, with nuts and dried fruits? If not, then it is time to try it. It is nice to have it at home, or in the office on hand, when the little hunger kicks in. It is full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids from the nuts and seeds and has some heat from the spicies that makes it so delicious and special. Be careful with the chilli pepper as it might get too spicy easily. But I promise, that might be your new favourite snack!
S P I C E D T R A I L M I X
P R E P T I M E
5 mins
C O O K T I M E
15 mins
S E R V I N G S
6 portions
I N G R E D I E N T S
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pumkin seeds
1/2 sunf lower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup cranberries
1/4 tsp turmer ic
2 tsps cumin powder
1/2 tsp chi l l i powder (add more i f you can handle i t ! )
Sal t to taste
2 tbsps coconut oi l
I N S T R U C T I O N S
1. Toast nuts and seeds in a pan on medium low heat .
Watch out as they can burn easily!
2. Heat the oi l in a big pan.
When warm,remove from the heat , add the spices, let sizzle and mix well .
3. Toss in the toasted nuts, seeds and dried fruits. Mix well until the spices
are wel l and t ruly dispersed.
4. Sample and adjust the spicing as you wish!
