Alkaline Diet: 4 Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Foods to Work into Your Diet
If you suffer from chronic inflammation and you’ve seen a doctor, in most cases, you would have already been advised to take a close look at your diet and make the necessary changes. However, these changes can often be drastic and therefore difficult to stick to. While trying to cope with your anti-inflammation diet, here are 4 foods that you can easily work into your daily meals to effectively reduce inflammation.
1. Purple Carrots
There’s a good chance that you already consume carrots freely – all you need to is switch out the orange for the purple. Records from about 1000 years ago show that originally, wild carrots were white or purple. 600 years later, after the carrot was fully domesticated, the Dutch bred an orange variety mainly because it made a plate look better and brighter. Purple carrots are rich in antioxidants and particularly good for our nerves. When there too many free radicals in our system, they mob the nerves, stripping them of their protective sheaths, and leaving them vulnerable to inflammation. This can lead to indescribable neuropathic pain. The antioxidants in purple carrots fight off free radicals and keep your nerves safe and healthy. Indeed, all purple fruit and vegetables have similar benefits and are fabled in Ayurvedic medicine.
2. Red cabbage
You’ll notice that red cabbage is actually a shade of purple. So, the benefits are the same as those derived from purple carrots. This is another easy fix. Love your coleslaw? Use red cabbage instead of white. Be careful with the dressing as it may contain sugar, which provokes inflammation. You can also make a delicious, healthy salad with red cabbage and a Japanese dressing made of rice vinegar, Japanese soy sauce, olive oil and a touch of raw honey.
3. Ginger
Turmeric’s rise to anti-inflammatory fame brought with it its equally potent cousin, ginger. It may not seem a natural part of your current diet, but ginger is so versatile that it can easily be included in your diet. You can buy ginger teabags, or you can just as easily make ginger water yourself. Get a piece of old (matured) ginger root and slice off a 1-inch long piece. Either grate it or mash it and then boil it in plain water for about 10 minutes. Once you can taste the pungency, take it off the burner. Add a little raw honey and drink a glass of your ginger water warm. You can boil a slightly larger piece of ginger for about 20 minutes to get a strong flavor. Add a tablespoon or two to regular tea or your morning smoothie for some wake-up zing.
4. Tuna
For many, chronic inflammation decreases in the face of Omega-3 acids that are commonly found in fatty fish like tuna, sardines, etc. Make a good, healthy tuna sandwich for lunch, using sprouted or gluten-free bread. Or you could toss some pan-seared tuna into a red cabbage salad for a meal seriously loaded with formidable anti-inflammatory ingredients. You can even make a tuna dip with walnuts; the latter is also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Managing chronic inflammation requires major changes to your diet. They are necessary, and you’ll need to work hard to stick to them. But, there are also simple ways to raise the number of natural anti-inflammatories you ingest. Try out these 4 tips and once you experience how good you can feel, you’ll never look back.