My daughters love connect the dots puzzles. The more challenging, the better. A page filled with seemingly unrelated numbers, yet when lines are drawn connecting the dots in sequence, the outline of an object is revealed. My youngest calls it magic.
I like to think she’s learning to see the big picture, or find the forest amongst the trees.
Last week, we went shopping for a dress for my niece, who was visiting for the week from Italy. We were on our way into a store when Nadia badly stubbed her toe, and excuse the graphics, but there was a lot of blood.
We made it back to the car, I wrapped her toe in gauze from the first aid kit, and drove off to my mother-in-law’s house to have a better look. She lost her nail, but no stitches. Things were looking ok.
Yet, over the course of the next few days, her toe became painfully swollen, hot and red, what I explained to her was inflammation.
We’ve all experienced this kind of inflammation, the body’s natural defense system that is activated when we are wounded or hurt. It’s your very own army of white blood cells in your body, mobilizing to your toe to protect you, I told her.
Unfortunately, not all inflammation in the body is created equal. Inflammation is a normal immune response AND, as science is now revealing, it is the root cause of all disease.
When inflammation is chronic, it leads to major diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases like Lupus.
Chronic inflammation is also to blame for minor medical conditions, like:
- headaches
- fatigue
- chronic sinus issues
- digestive issues like indigestion, constipation, IBS, reflux, Colitis…
- body aches and pains
- arthritis
- skin issues
But, let’s get back to connecting the dots…
When it comes to inflammation, food matters. In other words, there is a connection between what occurs in your body (weight, disease, INFLAMMATION, fatigue, etc) and what you eat.
Foods can be pro-inflammatory: Processed sugars, bad fats, and hidden “trigger” foods, for example.
Or, anti-inflammatory.
Here are seven of my favorite anti-inflammatory foods, that you can start incorporating into your anti-inflammatory diet today:
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Turmeric
- Extra virgin olive oil, unheated
- Berries
- Wild Alaskan Salmon or sardines
- Green Tea
