Foods and Inflammation

We know certain foods can cause inflammation, but are we missing something?

Inflammation is thought to be the culprit behind a number of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and others. Inflammation is a natural reaction in the body when we are injured or sick, and it is part of the body’s natural healing process. However, there are many things that promote chronic, low level inflammation-–the type thought to be responsible of developing these deadly diseases. 

It is unsurprising that foods linked with certain types of disease are also linked with promoting inflammation within the body. Here are a few of the foods that are thought to promote inflammation within the body:

Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and Refined Carbohydrates

We all know that sugar is a killer and that it is in many of the processed foods that people consume on a regular basis. Corn syrup is essentially sugar refined from corn. An example of refined carbohydrates is a food like white flour––flour from which the germ and fiber has been removed leaving only the starch behind, or a food like sugar. Of course, these ingredients are in the overwhelming majority of processed foods that people regularly consume. These foods spike insulin and promote inflammation within the body. 

Trans Fats/Vegetable Oils

It is only in recent years that the dangers of artificial fats like trans fats have been illuminated. For years, these were touted as healthy alternatives to more natural fats like butter or lard. Similarly, some kinds of vegetable oil, such as soybean oil, for years were thought to be healthy oils for cooking, but we are finding that both of these kinds of fat promote inflammation within the body and are likely more responsible for heart disease than a grass-fed ribeye steak or eggs ever were. 

Alcohol 

We have discussed how no amount of alcohol can be considered technically safe, but if you need another reason to not imbibe: Alcohol is known to promote inflammation within the body. 

What Else Causes Inflammation in the Body?

All of these foods we know can promote inflammation within the body, but are there other things we are consuming that can do the same thing?

Interestingly, the presence of fungi in the body are known to elevate a marker for inflammation––C-reactive protein, or CRP. Therefore, we know that fungi and yeast can promote inflammation in the body. Interestingly, looking at all of the afore mentioned foods––many of these foods have intimate links to fungi. Fungi and their poisons often contaminate sugar and high carbohydrate foods. Alcohol is a mycotoxin––or mold poison––itself, not to mention often being made with food stuffs that are known to be contaminated with mycotoxins. 

So the question becomes, how do we prevent inflammation with our diet?

The Kaufmann Diet might be a good place to start. All of the foods mentioned above are largely eliminated on the Kaufmann Diet, but with the Kaufmann Diet, you derive the added anti-fungal benefits, which we can deduce are subsequently anti-inflammatory. The Kaufmann Diet starves pathogenic fungi and mitigates the exposure to the mold poisons that are inherent in many parts of our food supply. You can find more information on The Kaufmann Diet here on our website or in our books. 

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