The Truth About an Inflammatory Diet

What’s the deal with inflammation, and why are so many people attributing their health problems to an inflammatory diet?

I recently was providing nutrition counseling to a father whose daughter has leukemia. While her prognosis is good, she is still actively receiving chemotherapy treatment. When asked about how his daughter’s appetite/eating has been going, he made sure to emphasize the fact that he and his wife have been avoiding giving her any “inflammatory” foods like cupcakes or goldfish and rather have opted for “healthy” foods like fruits and vegetables.

While I didn’t argue the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables vs. cupcakes and goldfish, I stood there amused. This young girl is receiving chemotherapy - one of the most “inflammatory” treatments the human body can endure, yet her parents are concerned about giving her some sugar and snack food?

Inflammation is complicated and often misunderstood. Inflammation is your immune system at work, and it’s essential for protecting you from things outside the body that are not supposed to be inside the body like a virus, bacteria, or, in this young girl’s case, chemotherapy. 

When you cut your finger or get a cold, your immune system works hard to trigger a strong inflammatory response. This type of inflammation is acute, meaning that it lasts for a short time. On the other hand, inflammation in the body that lasts for a long time - or chronic inflammation - can lead to health conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure.

Although food choices can contribute to chronic inflammation, oftentimes people put a bit too much emphasis on an “inflammatory diet” and not enough emphasis on other lifestyle factors like: consuming alcohol, poor sleep quality, prolonged stress, and lack of physical activity.

Before you decide to cut the cupcakes and goldfish out of your diet, take a look at the bigger picture that encompasses your life. A diet that is diverse - that occasionally includes “inflammatory” treats - is going to be a lot less detrimental to your health than some of the other lifestyle factors mentioned above.