Reducing inflammation can be easily done with a few tweaks to your diet!
Vitamins
Vitamin D and vitamin C have both been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. Finding a type of food/ ingredient that is high in either vitamin can help reduce swelling which in turn can help to reduce pain.
Here are a few ingredients that you can try to incorporate into your next meal to help with that:
Vitamin D:
- Mushroom
- Seafood
- Tuna
- Salmon
- Sardine
Vitamin C:
- Orange juice
- Strawberries
- Bell peppers
- Broccoli
Example Meals
- Salmon, rice, broccoli
- Strawberries and orange juice
- Sliced bell peppers as a snack
Ginger
Ginger is made up of a ton of antioxidants, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. This makes it a great option to reduce internal inflammation.
The best part of ginger is how versatile it is.
You can find ginger in tea and drink it. You can add ginger powder to your cooking season your favorite meals with it. Or, if you have ever had sushi, you can simply use it as a pallet cleanser that has added benefits!
Example Meals
- The folks at Brit+Co have some great meals that use ginger!
Green Tea
Green tea is a great liquid to introduce into your diet if you are looking for some anti-inflammatory properties. Tea has an ingredient called catechin that is anti-inflammatory in nature so any tea will work.
The reason we chose green tea is that it contains the most powerful version of catechin. Making it have the most anti-inflammatory properties out of all the teas.
You can substitute your second cup of coffee with green tea and start feeling the benefits in no time!
Fruit and Vegetables
We all have distinct memories of our parents or loved ones yelling at us,
“Eat your vegetables!”
Or
“Eat some fruit!”
And even if they did not know the real science behind it, they were right. Bright orange and yellow colored fruits and vegetables contain beta-carotene, which is an organic pigment with anti-inflammatory properties.
The main benefit of beta carotene is that it helps your visual health. But that added benefit of being an anti-inflammatory is enough to be mentioned on our list!
Putting it All Together
Now that we have an overview of what types of food can help with inflammation, the only thing left to do is substitute. Instead of a bag of chips for a snack look to have some fruit. Instead of having that afternoon coffee, try looking for a cup of green tea. And while cooking, add a dash of ginger to spice up your meals.