Daily Health Center

The Diet-Inflammation Connection

Over the years, the increasing contamination of our food supply has concerned me, as I have attempted to feed my family as healthy and organic a diet as possible, and give you my best advice on high-quality, healing foods.

To this end, I was thrilled to discover Monica Reinagel, a gourmet chef and health writer who wrote a fascinating book called The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan (McGraw-Hill). The book provides for the first time a comprehensive assessment of potential inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects of the various foods you eat.

As you know, inflammation is now regarded as a leading contributor to illnesses ranging from hay fever and arthritis to diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Monica has done exhaustive research on the nutritional components of 1,600 common foods, and rated them according to scientifically validated factors related to inflammation.

Among the factors are: the amount and type of fat; the level of essential fatty acid, vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant content; the presence of anti-inflammatory compounds; and the glycemic index of carbohydrates (meaning how quickly a carb breaks down into sugar and triggers a pro-inflammatory insulin release).

After calculating these factors, individual foods are given a rating based on their inflammatory effect within your body. The higher the rating, the more anti-inflammatory the food, while a lower rating indicates that the food has more of an overall inflammatory impact on the body.

This unique rating system offers an invaluable tool that enables you to construct a healthier diet aimed at reducing disease-producing inflammation.

All Fish Are Not Created Equal

Not surprisingly, farm-raised salmon score poorly, while wild-caught salmon rate high on the anti-inflammatory scale. Many people are surprised at this revelation, because we often think of all salmon as full of healthy, omega-3 fatty acids, even with the myriad of contaminants found in farmed salmon.

As it turns out, the reason for this discrepancy is that wild salmon feed on small fish and algae, while farm-raised salmon are fed fishmeal (think cornmeal), a mixture that converts into arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid that is highly inflammatory.

This finding certainly got my attention—and should get yours as well. Almost all of the salmon you buy—whether at the supermarket or in restaurants—is farm-raised. From this perspective, all salmon are definitely not created (or assimilated) equally.

As I’ve said many times, unless you eat wild salmon, you are better off not eating salmon at all. To this point, Monica’s rating system gives a +518 for wild sockeye salmon—meaning it is very anti-inflammatory—and a moderately inflammatory –180 for farmed Atlantic salmon.

So, if you like salmon and want to avoid the PCBs, mercury, and inflammation, here’s yet another reason to choose pristine, wild salmon.

Surprises Around Every Corner

Among the interesting facts Monica uncovered during her research was that chicken and turkey (especially dark meat) were more inflammatory than beef. How can that be, you may ask?

Poultry is particularly high in arachidonic acid—again, a result of their diet. Beef, on the other hand, contains a fair amount of monounsaturated fat, which helps offset the inflammatory effects of its saturated fat content.

For example, a broiled, lean hamburger patty has less inflammatory potential than the hamburger bun you eat it with. The bun, made with refined white flour, has a high glycemic index rating and triggers a release of inflammatory insulin.

Not so surprising was the very positive score of spinach. So Popeye was strong and smart. His preferred food is high in anti-inflammatory vitamin K.

A New Tool for Your Kitchen

Monica’s approach is a great tool to combine with my PAMM diet when planning your meals, and provides a superb boost for healthy eating awareness and a practical tool to reduce the inflammatory content of your diet. This is not information you can find on food labels, but you can find more details at Monica’s Web site.

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