Table of Contents
What is inflammation?
Inflammation (1) is the signs of the body attempting to protect against dangerous stimuli like damaged cells and irritants, as well as promote healing process. However, when the inflammation if the body get out of the control of immune system, it can contribute to the development of a variety of ailments and diseases, including acne, fever, asthma, celiac diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, heart diseases and other related health problems.
Symptoms of inflammation
Inflammation is categorized as acute or chronic condition. Both of them might share the same symptoms like redness, swollen joints, joint pain, fever, fatigue, headaches, muscle stiffness, and so on.
What cause inflammation?
There are various causes leading to inflammation including physical, biological, chemical and psychological factors:
- Physical injuries, ionizing radiation
- Foreign bodies
- Stress
- Hypersensitivity
- Toxins
- Alcohol
To protect your overall health and prevent severe diseases, you’d better take a good care of yourself and control the condition as soon as you notice the symptoms of inflammation. However, it doesn’t mean that you need storage of medicines in your house in case inflammation occurs. You can simply use the powerful materials in nature to not only prevent but also treat the condition of inflammation.
Let’s explore top superfoods for inflammation.
1. Olive oil
Olive oil is believed to have the ability to fight against inflammation in various body parts. This is due to the beneficial elements in olive oil, in which the compound called oleocanthal inhibit the causes of inflammation, including COX-1 and COX-2.
The extra-virgin olive oil is highly recommended to use over the common one as it has the greater impact on inflammation, which leads to diabetes, joint diseases, arthritis or muscle cramps
- Make use of olive oil in culinary
- Warm up some olive oil and use it to gently massage your body
2. Tart Cherries
Many researches have found a connection between the consumption of juice from tart cherries with the improvement of inflammatory condition in various body parts.
- Try to have the juice from tart cherry or fresh fruits at least once a day to minimize the inflammation effect on the body
- If you notice the appearance of side effects like diarrhea, stop using it
3. Turmeric
Like ginger, turmeric has a great impact on the condition of inflammation as it contains not only anti-inflammatory properties but also powerful antioxidants. In detail, the curcumin in turmeric is able to inhibit various molecules causing inflammation so that the yellow spice can help to reduce the condition in arthritis or muscles sprains
- Add more turmeric into your daily dishes
- Consume turmeric tea or milk 1-2 times a day
- Make a paste of turmeric and sesame oil to apply on the affected areas to ease the symptoms
Read more 10 Benefits of Turmeric that You Might Not Know About.
4. Ginger
Gingerol, an element with he anti-inflammatory properties in ginger are the ones that effectively deal with inflammation at cellular levels in body parts. By regularly consuming ginger, you can help yourself reduce the chance getting acute and chromic diseases as well as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis. Also, with people suffering from these severe conditions, ginger also helps to ease the annoying symptoms like swelling and pain.
- Try to add more ginger into your daily diet like consuming ginger tea or using it in culinary
- Massgae the inflammatory areas with ginger oil
Read more Ginger – A Versatile Natural Home Remedy.
5. Garlic
Another material that can help you to prevent and treat inflammation is garlic, which possesses sulfur-containing compounds used to prevent inflammation.
To make use of garlic to treat inflammation:
- Eat 2-3 raw garlic cloves that are finely chopped or crushed in the empty stomach
- Add garlic into your daily meal
- Directly apply raw garlic onto the affected areas to reduce the pain and other symptoms
Read more Garlic – The World’s Healthiest Food.
6. Spinach
Spinach is strongly effective in preventing and treating inflammation thanks to its rich in carotenoids and vitamin E. A regular consumption of spinach will directly lead to a reduction of cytokines. Also, the vegetable is preferable for its content of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which can reduce pain and inflammation.
Make salad or juice from spinach and enjoy it. Alternatively, you can add spinach into your daily meal.
Read more Health Benefits of Spinach.
7. Salmon
Omega-3 fatty acids play an important role in the treatments to reduce inflammation. Specifically, it helps a lot to reduce the levels of cytokines, a harmful compounds causing inflammation. Fortunately, salmon is rich in these substances, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
You can have salmon served in many ways like raw, baked, grilled or roasted salmon. However, the raw one is highly recommended as overcooking can cause damage to healthy fats.
Read more Health Benefits of Salmon.
8. Sweet potatoes
Another superfood used to treat inflammation is sweet potatoes that are rich in nutrients with anti-inflammatory properties. In detail, the vitamin C and E as well as beta-carotene and carotenoids alpha work well together to take effect on pain and other symptoms of inflammation.
Make sweet potatoes your favorite dishes on daily basis to get benefits from the plant.
Read more Health Benefits of Potatoes.
9. Walnuts
Walnuts are considered to be a healthy snack that you should use between meals. Among their great benefits, the ability to reduce inflammation is standing out because of the profile of omega-3 fatty acids. As a result of decreased inflammation, the risk of getting heart disease, arthritis and other related diseases would be significantly reduced.
- Consume a handful of walnut daily as a snack between meals
- Soak some walnuts in water and leave them overnight. Remove the water and have the seeds in the empty stomach in the next morning
- Add walnuts in cereals, backed goods or smoothies
10. Blueberries
Blueberries are the last superfoods to make our list completed. This fruit contains several valuable substances such as hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins, etc. that are helpful in the fight against inflammation. The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties in these compounds make a great solution for inflammation even at cellular level.
Have blueberries as much as you can on daily basis to improve the condition of inflammation without worrying about gaining fat or calories.
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Top Natural Foods for Liver Detoxification
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