The pervasiveness of inflammation foods in today’s diet

Anti-inflammatory foods can combat disease, researcher says
Anti-inflammatory foods can combat disease, researcher says

Almost 60% of Americans have pro-inflammatory diets, increasing the risk of health issues such as heart disease and cancer, according to a recent Omega 3 for chronic pain, by Dr Andrea Furlanstudy utilizing a tool designed to assess inflammation in the diet.


The study also found that specific populations, including Black Americans, men, and people with lower incomes, were more likely to consume a diet high in pro-inflammatory foods.

“Overall, 57% of U.S. adults have a pro-inflammatory diet and that number was higher for Black Americans, men, younger adults and people with lower education and income,” said lead author Rachel Meadows, visiting faculty in The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health.

The research team used the dietary inflammatory index, a tool developed a decade ago that includes 45 dietary components to examine the diets of more than 34,500 adults included in the 2005–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 

Based on self-reported diets, they used the tool to assign inflammation values ranging from −9 to 8, where 0 represents a neutral diet. About 34% of those in the study had anti-inflammatory diets, and the remaining 9% had neutral dietary inflammatory levels


Older dietary measures look at the intake of certain food groups (such as fruits, vegetables and dairy) or macronutrients (such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats) that align with national diet recommendations or certain diets like keto or paleo.

“But inflammation is an important element to consider and the overall balance of diet is most important,” Meadows said.

“Even if you’re eating enough fruits or vegetables, if you’re having too much alcohol or red meat, then your overall diet can still be pro-inflammatory.”

Meadows said she’s less interested in labeling foods as “bad” and more interested in thinking about anti-inflammatory foods as tools people can employ to boost health.

“There’s a potential here to think about positive interventions, such as adding more garlic, ginger, turmeric and green and black tea — which are all anti-inflammatory — to your diet,” she said.
“Moving toward a diet with less inflammation could have a positive impact on a number of chronic conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even depression and other mental health conditions.”

Other examples of anti-inflammatory foods are mostly unprocessed including whole grains, green leafy vegetables (such as spinach), legumes (such as beans and lentils), fatty fish (such as salmon) and berries.
Challenges to eating a less inflammatory diet include poor access to fruits, vegetables and other foods that can contribute to better health — and even when those foods are available, they can sometimes be more costly, creating a barrier for those with low incomes, Meadows said.

Many people also have elevated chronic inflammation due to non-dietary factors including stress and adverse childhood experiences, she said.
“There are a lot of factors that contribute to chronic inflammation, and they all interact – even sleep is a key component. Diet can be used as a tool to combat that,” Meadows said.

Keto vs vegan: Study of popular diets finds over fourfold difference in carbon footprints

Keto and paleo diets were found to be the least sustainable -- and have the lowest diet quality scores -- of the six popular diets examined
Keto and paleo diets were found to be the least sustainable — and have the lowest diet quality scores — of the six popular diets examined

This may be tough to swallow for those on keto or paleo diets.

A new study from Tulane University which compared popular diets on both nutritional quality and environmental impact, found that the keto and paleo diets, as eaten by American adults, scored among the lowest on overall nutrition quality and were among the highest on carbon emissions.

The keto diet, which prioritizes high fat and low carbs, was estimated to generate almost 3 kg of carbon dioxide for every 1,000 calories consumed. The paleo diet, which eschews grains and beans in favour of meats, nuts and vegetables, received the next lowest diet quality score and also had a high carbon footprint, at 2.6 kg of carbon dioxide per 1,000 calories.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutritioncompiled diet quality scores using data from more than 16,000 adult diets collected by the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Individual diets were assigned point values based on the federal Healthy Eating Index and average scores were calculated for those eating each type of diet.

The study’s senior author Diego Rose, professor and nutrition program director at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said that while researchers have examined the nutritional impact of keto and paleo diets, this is the first study to measure the carbon footprints of each diet, as consumed by U.S. adults, and compare them to other common diets.

“We suspected the negative climate impacts because they’re meat-centric, but no one had really compared all these diets – as they are chosen by individuals, instead of prescribed by experts – to each other using a common framework,” Rose said.

On the other end of the spectrum, a vegan diet was found to be the least impactful on climate, generating 0.7 kg of carbon dioxide per 1,000 calories consumed, less than a quarter of the impact of the keto diet. The vegan diet was followed by vegetarian and pescatarian diets in increasing impact.

The pescatarian diet scored highest on nutritional quality of the diets analyzed, with vegetarian and vegan diets following behind.

The omnivore diet – the most common diet, represented by 86% of survey participants – sat squarely in the middle of the pack of both quality and sustainability. Based on the findings, if a third of those on omnivore diets began eating a vegetarian diet, on average for any given day, it would be equivalent to eliminating 340 million passenger vehicle miles.

Notably, however, when those on omnivorous diets opted for the plant-forward Mediterranean or fatty meat-limiting DASH diet versions, both carbon footprints and nutritional quality scores improved.

“Climate change is arguably one of the most pressing problems of our time, and a lot of people are interested in moving to a plant- based diet,” Rose said. “Based on our results, that would reduce your footprint and be generally healthy. Our research also shows there’s a way to improve your health and footprint without giving up meat entirely.”

A 2021 United Nations-backed study found that 34% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system. The major share of those emissions come from food production, with beef being responsible for 8-10 times more emissions than chicken production and over 20 times more emissions than nut and legume production.

While the environmental impacts of specific foods have been studied extensively, Rose said this study was important because “it considers how individuals select popular diets that are composed of a wide variety of foods.”

Going forward, Rose still has questions about how to encourage eating habits that are better for people and the planet.

“I think the next question is how would different policies affect outcomes and how could those move us toward healthier, more environmentally friendly diets?” Rose said.

Interview with John Durant – “The Paleo Manifesto” – Could this diet help with Multiple Sclerosis?




Image result for Interview with John Durant - "The Paleo Manifesto"

Interview with John Durant – “The Paleo Manifesto” – Could this diet help with Multiple Sclerosis?




 

For more on the paleo diet please have a look at this blog.

More below




Debunking the paleo diet from Christina Warinner




Debunking the paleo diet | Christina Warinner | TEDxOU

Debunking the paleo diet | Christina Warinner | TEDxOU




TED Fellow Christina Warinner is an expert on ancient diets. So how much of the diet fad the “Paleo Diet” is based on an actual Paleolithic diet? The answer is not really any of it.

Dr. Christina Warinner has excavated around the world, from the Maya jungles of Belize to the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, and she is pioneering the biomolecular investigation of archaeological dental calculus (tartar) to study long-term trends in human health and diet. She is a 2012 TED Fellow, and her work has been featured in Wired UK, the Observer, CNN.com, Der Freitag, and Sveriges TV. She obtained her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2010, specializing in ancient DNA analysis and paleodietary reconstruction.

Very useful for people with multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia.




Paleo Diet Reviews: Should I Eat Like a Caveman?




If you have ever asked yourself, “Should I eat like a caveman?” or considered becoming a Paleo Dieter read this article and then go back and ask yourself the same question again

For more info please have a look at our previous blog on the paleo diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis




From Visually.