5 Inflammatory Foods to Cut Out of Your Diet

Inflammation is an essential bodily response to injury or illness, helping you heal a wound or fight off an invading pathogen.

Normally, it’s an acute response, which fades away as healing occurs. However, if tissues remain inflamed, it can turn into a chronic condition, building up over years and damaging tissues and organs.

Health issues like type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease, as well as brain “fog,” digestive issues, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, skin rashes, and muscle aches, all stem, in part, from chronic inflammation.

So, if you’re looking to reduce your inflammation, what do you do? According to many experts, you watch what you eat.

At the office of board-certified anesthesiologist Dr. Michael Kullman, our expert team treats all manner of chronic pain, the risk for which increases because of unhealthy lifestyle habits like a poor diet. Many of the dietary choices in our fast food-obsessed society actively cause chronic inflammation and can lead to painful conditions.

If you’re looking to change how you feel, we give you five pro-inflammatory foods you should cut from your diet.

Diet and inflammation

Inflammatory foods lead to the production of free radicals, molecules containing oxygen and an uneven number of electrons, which react improperly with substances in your cells and cause damage as a result.

Your body responds by triggering inflammation to deal with the problem, and it can remain perpetually in this state unless you make adjustments to your diet. Inflammatory foods can also irritate your regulatory systems, causing problems in organs and tissues down the line.

5 inflammatory foods to cut out of your diet

Here are five foods you should eliminate from your diet to control inflammation and pain.

1. Sweets

Candy like gummies and chocolate bars are essentially inflammatory bombs. Research has clearly shown that added sugars trigger inflammation in the body, so the more often you eat a sweet treat, the more likely it is that your inflammation will become chronic.

2. Fried foods

Fried foods contain trans fats, an inflammation trigger, and a new study published in Environmental Sciences suggests that eating a lot of these foods may produce inflammation in the brain that could, in turn, lead to anxiety and depression.

There are many common foods, and especially fast foods, that contain elevated levels of trans fats — margarine, frozen pie crusts, fried foods, frostings, and the ever-present chips. Trans fats raise LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels and lower HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels. If there’s partially hydrogenated oil in the ingredients, it’s a source of trans fat.

3. Cured or processed meats

Hot dogs, ham, bacon, sausage, deli slices, and other meats that have been salted, cured, or smoked, are a potent source of inflammation. So are foods that have been highly processed, like most fast food options.

In addition to producing inflammation, these foods have been linked to an increased risk of several types of cancer, especially colorectal cancer.

4. Refined carbohydrates

The white flour at the base of white bread and white pasta is stripped of its nutrients and fiber. Foods made from this white flour are also usually high in sugar, which increases their inflammatory abilities. Look instead for high-fiber, 100% whole-grain choices, especially those that haven’t been ultra-processed.

5. Deep-fried, breaded foods

We’ve already established that fried foods are high in inflammatory trans fats. But frying breaded items (the coating is high in refined carbs) can also lead to a product both high in saturated fat and calories. Eating fried, breaded foods frequently inflames the digestive tract, and it can lead to indigestion, acid reflux, or even irritable bowel syndrome over time.

The best type of diet to fight inflammation is an overall healthy eating plan like the Mediterranean diet, which includes foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. Even though a good diet plays a major role in reducing bodily inflammation, you should also engage in regular exercise, decrease stress levels, and get a full night’s sleep.

Want to learn more about how you can decrease your inflammation levels? Book your consultation with Dr. Kullman by calling our office at 914-465-2882 or visiting our website for more options.