Eating to reduce inflammation

If you’ve been concerned with inflammation in your body, it’s time to start eating to reduce inflammation. Here are some suggestions on how to stop consuming those foods for better health.

Common symptom of inflammation

One of the most common symptoms of inflammation in the body is migraines. Many women suffer from them. According to the migraine research foundation, 28 million women in the US suffer from migraines each year. That’s a huge number and a lot of times, it stems from the foods we eat. If you’re in tune with your body, you may actually feel the migraine ‘coming on’.

Migraine headache — Photo credit: astrosystem

For example, I notice that when I have a glass of red wine, I almost instantly feel something. That something turns into a headache – actually a migraine. And, while there is controversy as to what is in red wine that causes the headache / migraine, I can tell you that I do tend to get migraines after consuming certain foods / drinks. So, I tend to stay away from those that do. I mean, why would I purposefully suffer? That’s also when I decided that eating to reduce inflammation is vital.

Stop your suffering

I recognize that we may not all notice what foods are causing the problems for you and so eating to reduce inflammation can be tricky. It can be quite difficult to pinpoint sometimes. The only reason I’ve gotten quite good at it is because I’ve spent time using a food log, including any symptoms I’ve felt, as well as eliminating certain foods over time to see how I felt. Incidentally, I’ve discussed a blood sugar log previously and you can read that article here. In any case, there are things you can do today to start eliminating inflammatory foods aside from starting a food log. Here are my top tips!

4 Tips to Get rid of Inflammatory foods

Eat in. And, by eat in, I don’t mean that you get Uber Eats and eat inside. I mean, make your meals and they should be made from healthy ingredients. That means, nothing processed (i.e. in a box!) Buy foods from the produce section and the meat section (if you eat meat). Nutrition is key for your health and even your skin.
Purge your cupboards / pantry. Go through your shelves and throw anything away that you know isn’t good for you. While you may not get it all right (don’t feel bad, it takes time), you do know that those packaged cookies shouldn’t be eaten. Throw anything away that you instinctively know isn’t good for you.
Plan a menu. Each week, I plan my meals for the following week, and I make my grocery list from it. In this way, I am able to stick to more healthful eating habits because I have already planned out the next week. It does take some discipline, but you will get into the habit of doing it and you will start to feel better – not only because you are eating better but because you are actually saving money by making dinner and eating at home.
Start a food log so that you can see what you are eating each day. It’s amazing how we can actually forget what we ate or how much we ate. Writing everything down (or using an app) can be eye opening.
Be kind to yourself. It really is hard to make changes, especially when these changes take away some of our ‘comfort foods’. So, step by step do better. If you’re committed to changing your life and bettering your health, you can do it. Just keep trying and don’t get discouraged if you mess up. Why? Because we ALL mess up! Every one of us! It’s not just you! So, remember this next time you feel ‘weak’ and eat that cookie you know you shouldn’t. Learn from it and do better next time.