Top Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Herbs,
and Spices
February 02, 2015
Story at-a-glance
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The thread linking a wide variety of common health
problems—from obesity and diabetes to heart disease
and cancer—is chronic inflammation
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The key to reducing chronic inflammation starts with
your diet. Being liberal in your use of high-quality
herbs and spices is one simple way to boost the
anti-inflammatory quality of your food
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Four herbs and spices found to quell the
inflammatory response most effectively are cloves,
ginger, rosemary, and turmeric
By Dr. Mercola
Herbs and cooking spices contain a wide variety of
antioxidants, minerals and vitamins, and help maximize the
nutrient density of your meals. Every time you flavor your meals
with herbs or spices you are literally "upgrading" your food
without adding a single calorie.
In fact, on a per gram fresh weight basis, herbs rank even
higher in antioxidant activity than fruits and vegetables, which
are known to be high in antioxidants. Many studies have also
shown that most spices tend to have unique medicinal qualities.
In the featured study,1
researchers from three Universities devised an experiment to
evaluate the “true world” benefits of herbs and spices, by
feeding them to people in quantities that are typically consumed
simply by spicing up your meals. As noted by Dr. Michael Greger
MD, who produced the video above:2
“The researchers could have taken the easy route and
just measured the change in antioxidant level in one’s
bloodstream before and after consumption, but the assumption
that the appearance of antioxidant activity in the blood is
an indication of bioavailability has a weakness.
Maybe more gets absorbed than we think but doesn’t
show up on antioxidant tests because it gets bound up to
proteins or cells. So the researchers attempted to measure
physiological changes in the blood.
They were interested in whether absorbed compounds
would be able to protect white blood cells from an oxidative
or inflammatory injury—whether herb and spice consumption
would protect the strands of our DNA from breaking when
attacked by free radicals.”
Four Spices That Pack a Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Punch
For one week, 10 to 12 subjects in each of 13 groups consumed
a small amount of a particular spice each day. For example,
those in the oregano group ate just half a teaspoon of oregano
daily for seven days. Blood samples were drawn one hour prior to
consumption, and at the very end of the experiment.
The participants’ blood was then analyzed for antioxidant
capacity. The researchers also analyzed how well the blood could
dampen an induced inflammatory response in white blood cells.
This was done by placing the participants’ blood onto white
blood cells that had been damaged by oxidized cholesterol
(commonly found in fried foods). Even at the “everyday” dosage
amounts given, four spices were found to be significantly
effective at quelling the inflammatory response:
- Cloves
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Ginger
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Rosemary
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Turmeric
As noted in the featured article: “[T]he results
represents what might happen when cells in our body are exposed
to the levels of spices that circulate in our bloodstream after
normal daily consumption—not megadoses in some pill. Just the
amount that makes our spaghetti sauce, pumpkin pie, or curry
sauce taste good.”
Other Potent Anti-Inflammatory Spices
An earlier study published in the Journal of Medicinal
Foods3
found a direct correlation between the antioxidant phenol
content of spice and herb extracts and their ability to inhibit
glycation and block the formation of AGE compounds (advanced
glycation end products), making them potent preventers of heart
disease and premature aging.
Here, cloves were ranked as the most potent of 24 common
herbs and spices found in your spice rack. In all, the following
were found to be the top 10 most potent anti-inflammatory herbs
and spices:
- Cloves
- Cinnamon
- Jamaican allspice
- Apple pie spice mixture
- Oregano
- Pumpkin pie spice mixture
- Marjoram
- Sage
- Thyme
- Gourmet Italian spice
Inflammation Is at the Heart of Most Chronic Diseases
It’s important to realize that chronic inflammation is the
source of many if not most diseases, including cancer, obesity,
and heart disease, which essentially makes it the leading cause
of death in the US.
While inflammation is a perfectly normal and beneficial
process that occurs when your body's white blood cells and
chemicals protect you from foreign invaders like bacteria and
viruses, it leads to trouble when the inflammatory response gets
out of hand. Your diet has a lot to do with this chain of
events.
While among the most potent, ounce for ounce, herbs and
spices are certainly not the only anti-inflammatory ingredients
available. A number of foods are well-known for their
anti-inflammatory properties, and making sure you’re eating a
wide variety of them on a regular basis can go a long way toward
preventing chronic illness.
Top Seven Anti-Inflammatory Foods
The following foods and nutrients deserve special mention for
their ability to quell inflammatory responses in your body:
1. Animal-based omega-3 fat |
Animal-based
omega-3 fats—found in fatty fish like
wild Alaskan salmon and fish- or krill oil—help
fight inflammation throughout your body. It’s
particularly important for
brain health. Research published in the
Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology4 in
2012 confirmed that dietary supplementation with krill
oil effectively reduced inflammation and oxidative
stress. |
2. Leafy greens |
Dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach, collard
greens and Swiss chard contain powerful antioxidants,
flavonoids, carotenoids, and vitamin C—all of which help
protect against cellular damage. Ideally, opt for
organic locally grown veggies that are in season, and
consider eating a fair amount of them raw.
Juicing is an
excellent way to get more greens into your diet. |
3. Blueberries |
Blueberries rate very high in antioxidant capacity
compared to other fruits and vegetables. They are also
lower in sugar than many other fruits. |
4. Tea |
Matcha tea is the most nutrient-rich green tea and
comes in the form of a stone-ground unfermented powder.
The best Matcha comes from Japan and has up to 17 times
the antioxidants of wild blueberries, and seven times
more than dark chocolate.
Tulsi is another tea loaded with anti-inflammatory
antioxidants and other micronutrients that support
immune function and heart health. |
5. Fermented vegetables and traditionally cultured
foods |
Optimizing your gut flora is important for a
well-functioning immune system, and helps ward off
chronic inflammation. In fact, the majority of
inflammatory diseases start in your gut, as the result
of an imbalanced microbiome.
Fermented foods such as kefir, natto, kimchee, miso,
tempeh, pickles, sauerkraut, olives, and other
fermented vegetables, will help ‘reseed’ your gut
with beneficial bacteria.
Fermented foods can also help your body rid itself of
harmful toxins such as heavy metals and
pesticides that promote inflammation. |
6. Shiitake mushrooms |
Shiitake mushrooms contain strong compounds with the
natural ability to discourage inflammation, such as
Ergothioneine, which inhibits oxidative stress.
They also contain a number of unique nutrients that many
do not get enough of in their diet. One is copper, which
is one of the few metallic elements accompanied by amino
and fatty acids that are essential to human health.
Since your body can't synthesize copper, your diet must
supply it regularly. Copper deficiency can be a factor
in the development of coronary heart disease. |
7. Garlic |
Garlic has been treasured for its medicinal
properties for centuries. It’s also one of the most
heavily researched plant foods around. Over 170 studies5
show it benefitting more than 150 different conditions.
Garlic exerts its benefits on multiple levels, offering
anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antioxidant
properties.
It's thought that much of garlic's therapeutic effect
comes from its sulfur-containing compounds, such as
allicin. Research6
has revealed that as allicin digests in your body it
produces sulfenic acid, a compound that reacts faster
with dangerous free radicals than any other known
compound. |
Your Diet Is Key for Reducing Chronic Inflammation
The running thread linking a wide variety of common health
problems—from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and
cancer—is chronic inflammation. The key to reducing
chronic inflammation in your body starts with your diet, and
being liberal in your use of high-quality herbs and spices is
one simple way to boost the quality of your food. They're an
inexpensive "secret weapon" that just about everyone can take
advantage of. Spicing up your meals is not enough, however, if
processed foods comprise the bulk of your diet.
It's important to realize that dietary components can either
trigger or prevent inflammation from taking
root in your body, and processed foods do the latter, courtesy
of pro-inflammatory ingredients like high fructose corn syrup,
soy, processed vegetable oils (trans fats), and other chemical
additives. Besides adding anti-inflammatory foods to your diet,
you’ll also want to avoid the following pro-inflammatory dietary
culprits as much as possible:
- Refined sugar, processed
fructose, and grains. If your fasting insulin level is
three or above, consider dramatically reducing or
eliminating grains and sugars until you optimize your
insulin level, as insulin resistance this is a primary
driver of chronic inflammation. As a general guideline, I
recommend restricting your total fructose intake to 25 grams
per day. If you’re insulin or leptin resistant (have high
blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, or are
overweight), consider cutting that down to 15 grams per day
until your insulin/leptin resistance has normalized
-
Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid,
such as that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)
- Foods cooked at high temperatures, especially if cooked
with
vegetable oil (such as peanut, corn, and soy oil)
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Trans fats
Replacing processed foods with whole, ideally organic foods
will automatically address most of these factors, especially if
you eat a large portion of your food raw. Equally important is
making sure you’re regularly reseeding your gut with beneficial
bacteria, as mentioned above. To help you get started on a
healthier diet, I suggest following my free
Optimized Nutrition Plan, which starts at the beginner phase
and systematically guides you step-by-step to the advanced
level.
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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