Anti-Inflammatory Diet

[Ultralight]

Haha, I laughed at this--my DH accuses me of eating flavorless food--my diet is naturally pretty unprocessed without a lot of added stuff...he's huge into a ton of salt, which he proclaims is the "right" way to eat, thanks to the Food Network chefs who criticize contestants who don't "season" enough. But I looked at a list of anti-inflammatory foods, and that's pretty much what I eat and love.

An anti-inflammatory diet, or any healthy diet, shouldn't have to be flavorless. First of all, if you've cut out the unprocessed foods (like packaged, canned and convenience foods), IMHO you're allowed to put some salt on your unprocessed food, because it's the processed stuff that overloads us. As Yppej said, you need SOME salt.

I think you'll learn to appreciate things like whole-grain vs white. I also think that adding spices, herbs and lemon help a lot with flavor.

Also, I think it's important for you to make sure you have enough "good" fats--we also need fat in our diet, but it's been demonized for 20 years. If you don't get enough good fat, you're going to crave something unhealthy, and you'll probably be miserable. One time DH went on an awful Optifast liquid diet. And he found himself craving hot dogs--so rather than go off his diet, he chewed the hot dog and then spit it out. It was gross--but speaks to how badly our body will tell us "I want fat!"

Kudos to you for eating healthfully! I support this.

Whole grains are not bad, they taste okay sometimes. But I just eat mostly yams or potatoes. But I do have some brown rice or a little barley and I do eat popcorn. Occasionally I have eaten whole grain corn tortillas.

I get plenty of fat from olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, and fish (salmon or sardines). I also eat peanut butter and almond butter.

[Ultralight]

If you eat a whole-foods diet, you'll get a lot less salt than you would with manufactured foods. (I think the target is 5000g a day, IIRC.) A minority of the population is salt-sensitive--maybe 25%. I don't use common table salt with additives, but I take Iodorx tablets or swab some iodine on my skin occasionally.

Yes--we need fat. And saturated fat is one of the healthiest kinds--if you look at its chemical makeup, you'll see that it's very stable. And humans have thrived on it forever. It's the highly processed industrial seed oils, along with transfats, that are problematic.

I always said they probably serve unseasoned food in hell...

There are all kinds of books that promote anti-inflammatory regimes, from vegan to carnivore. Whole 30 and Wahl's Protocol are two. You shouldn't resign yourself to flavorless food. Bleah.

Fresh fruit tastes good. Eggs are still pretty good, I guess. Nut butters ain't bad.

[danna]

Iodine deficiencies lead to goiter, AKA under active thyroid....my understanding is we need a
Grand total of about a TBSP of iodine in our lives. The problem lays in the fact that we need a tiny bit
of it every day for the thyroid to function properly.
So NOT to think you need tons of salt....lol... a couple of shakes a day of iodized salt should be good.
I put a few shakes on the grounds of my morning coffee just make sure I get some each day.
This is important to your health.

[Ultralight]

I take multi vitamins, like a Centrum.

[rosarugosa]

Some of our recent favorite seasonings are pretty healthy: turmeric, cumin, & smoked paprika. Freshly grated black pepper in an old favorite.

[Rogar]

Sounds like a reasonable diet to me, if you're into something anti-inflammatory. I think the food manufacturers sneak enough salt into our canned goods, peanut butter, and whatever else to give us the minimum. I've never quite bought into the technicalities of sugars from fruits and other more simple sugars, but that's probably biased opinion. I assume you still eat meat? I'm sold on a plant based diet without meat, but we all have to make our own choices and everyone is different.

I'd also second the suggestion for turmeric. Other than a multivitamin it is the only supplement I take, and mostly for it's purported anti-inflammatory properties.

[dado potato]

ApatheticNoMore,

I don't have joint problems, but DW has had problems with a knee. She took a lot of ibuprofen, and at her last visit to the doc they said she had to cut that out, because her blood pressure was too high. So, I have begun making a daily cuppa turmeric & ginger tea for her. I like how cheery it looks (bright yellow) in a clear glass Bodum teacup on a stainless steel saucer.

I have a dedicated tea kettle I keep on top of the stove (because I brew turmeric inside, and it leaves a residue). Since I only use that kettle for that tea, I can get by with simply rinsing it after use.

My method to make 2 cups:

Fill liquid measuring cup with 2 cups filtered water. Pour same into kettle, turn on the stovetop under the kettle.
Add one-half teaspoon of ground turmeric into kettle.
Slice 5-6 thin slices off a fresh ginger root. Add same into kettle.
Bring kettle to the boil, then turn off stovetop and allow tea to brew for 10 minutes.
Slice a fresh lemon a big enough chunk to express a tsp of juice.
Add a tablespoon of white sugar to the bottom of the measuring cup and fit a strainer over top of the cup.
Squeeze the lemon juice, letting it drip through the strainer & dissolve the sugar in the bottom of the measuring cup.
Leave the squeezed lemon rind in the center of the strainer.
When the brewing time is up, pour the tea through the strainer, over the lemon rind, into the measuring cup.
Remove the strainer, stir with a spoon.

It is ready to pour...

[Yppej]

The salt in processed/restaurant food is often not iodized.

[frugal-one]

The salt in processed/restaurant food is often not iodized.

Make your own assumptions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/w...ized-salt.html

[Yppej]

Many restaurants use kosher salt since iodized salt leaves an aftertaste when cooking. Some processed foods use sea salt since it is viewed by some as healthier. I have seen a lot of this on food labels. Iodized salt has become less common in recent years.