Most of us are familiar with the type of inflammation we get when we have a scrape or a swollen knee. However, inflammation can occur outside and inside the body and can be both beneficial and harmful.
Think about a time when you’ve experienced a severe cut. Your body reacts with redness, swelling, and warmth around the area. This type of inflammation is desired. Swelling of the area keeps bacteria out, while redness and warmth result from increased blood flow, which boosts the area with white blood cells.
On the other hand, inflammation can also occur inside of your body, and this kind of inflammation can be dangerous to your health. Inflammation inside your body comes from cell damage. Cell damage can result from physical trauma, high blood pressure, poor glucose control, high cholesterol, and even from the foods you eat.
Inflammation in the body has been linked to cancer, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and obesity, but most specifically to heart disease and heart attacks. Research has found that people with inflammation in their arteries may be less likely to survive a heart attack. Think of it this way, when the inside of your artery is damaged or “scraped” that inflamed spot allows for substances like cholesterol to invade the damaged area and harden or form clots. Having said that, there are some natural techniques to help avoid inflammation in your body through your diet.
When it comes to reducing inflammation, HOW you cook your food may be just as important as WHAT you cook. Cooking foods quickly at high heat (a common method in our fast-paced culture) creates inflammatory chemicals within the food. For example, grilling, barbecuing, broiling, and pan frying are all more likely to produce these chemicals than baking or roasting. Liquid cooking, such as boiling, steaming, poaching, or stewing, may be your best bet. With liquid cooking, no inflammatory chemicals are generated because the temperature never tops the boiling point of water.
If you are cooking on the grill, try pre-cooking your meat in the oven before placing it on the grill, removing all charred or burnt portions before eating, and keeping portion sizes small (they need less time on the grill).
Cooking with the right oil may also help to cut back on those damaging inflammatory chemicals. While oils are heart healthy and high in unsaturated fat, each oil has a smoke point. An oil should never reach its smoke point because once it does, the nutritional value is compromised and free radicals are released (which can cause cell damage and inflammation). Because of this, be sure that you are using the right oil for what you’re cooking. For example, olive oil has a smoke point of 325 degrees, which makes it a great option for lightly coating pasta or tossing it over vegetables, whereas canola oil has a smoke point of 425 degrees, allowing it to be used in higher temperature cooking and baking.
Finally, practice including anti-inflammatory foods in your diet. Anti-inflammatory foods are those foods high in omega-3 fatty acids (fish and walnuts), and foods packed with antioxidants such as citrus fruits, vegetables, garlic, and onion.
