Inflammation means a body is trying to heal a body after a foreign body causes disruption. The injured part of a body gets swollen, which whether it can be seen or not, means the body is doing its best to heal. Usually, the immune system can knock out the inflammation in a few hours or days. However, this is what’s known as acute inflammation. Unfortunately, if the swelling continues, it can lead to health repercussions. Chronic inflammation is harder to spot, and if it’s left unchecked can lead to type 2 diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, several kinds of cancer, and that’s not all. So is there a way to counteract inflammation? There is, and it all starts with a diet. In particular, the Body Reboot book discusses how a ketogenic diet, a high fat, low carb diet has helped countless people lose weight, gain more energy, and reduce body inflammation. Below are 7 ways to reduce inflammation and stop it in its tracks.

Change your diet

Perfect Keto recommends changing your diet to fight off inflammation. That means eating foods that aren’t processed and avoiding sugar. Americans tend to eat a lot of sugar and processed foods and don’t think anything of it. It’s what’s standard, and it’s hard to cut back on the sugar and processed foods if that’s what you’ve been eating most of your life. However, by recognizing the harm it can have on your body that’s the first step to keeping inflammation and pain away.

The biggest factor in inflammation is your diet.

Immediately remove processed, pro-inflammatory, chemically loaded, free radical ridden food products from your diet and replace them with antioxidant rich, natural, nutritious, real foods with health benefits.

As the number of food products go up in American so do the rates of obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, mental illness (anxiety, depression, etc.), cancer and other chronic diseases. It’s not a coincidence.

Processed foods are not real food and eating products instead of food is bound to lead to health problems. It’s the very chemicals put in those food products that cause inflammation.

Put an immediate cease and desist order on all pro-inflammatory foods. The biggest inflammation culprits are refined grains and sugar.

You may have heard the term anti-inflammatory diet. That means choosing to not eat foods that are pro-inflammatory and specifically eating healthy foods that fight inflammation.

A ketogenic diet does this by default because sugar and grains are eliminated and replaced with whole foods that are loaded with nutrition. A ketogenic diet also naturally balances out the ratio of omega 3 fatty acids to omega 6 fatty acids in a way that reduces inflammation.

Most commonly known foods with anti-inflammatory effects are salmon, olive oil, turmeric, ginger root, avocados and nuts. Which are all great ketogenic options – although some nuts are far better than others.

As we already covered before Harvard Health Publishing also explains how your diet is likely the culprit. In support of Perfect Keto, they add to the argument as to why it’s vital to change an unhealthy diet as soon as possible.

Not surprisingly, the same foods on an inflammation diet are generally considered bad for our health, including sodas and refined carbohydrates, as well as red meat and processed meats.

“Some of the foods that have been associated with an increased risk for chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease are also associated with excess inflammation,” Dr. Hu says. “It's not surprising, since inflammation is an important underlying mechanism for the development of these diseases.”

Unhealthy foods also contribute to weight gain, which is itself a risk factor for inflammation. Yet in several studies, even after researchers took obesity into account, the link between foods and inflammation remained, which suggests weight gain isn't the sole driver. “Some of the food components or ingredients may have independent effects on inflammation over and above increased caloric intake,” Dr. Hu says.

Foods to eat and avoid

If you’re curious about what foods are okay to eat and what foods you should avoid, Healthline provides an excellent overview. For a low carb diet, or more specifically the keto diet, stick with eating foods high in fat and low in carb.

Some foods are associated with an increased risk of chronic inflammation.

Consider minimizing or cutting these out completely:

Sugary beverages: Sugar-sweetened drinks and fruit juices
Refined carbs: White bread, white pasta, etc.
Desserts: Cookies, candy, cake, and ice cream
Processed meat: Hot dogs, bologna, sausages, etc.
Processed snack foods: Crackers, chips, and pretzels
Certain oils: Processed seed and vegetable oils like soybean and corn oil
Trans fats: Foods with partially hydrogenated ingredients

It’s best to consume a variety of nutrient-dense whole foods that can reduce inflammation.

Include plenty of these anti-inflammatory foods:

Vegetables: Broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.
Fruit: Especially deeply colored berries
High-fat fruits: Avocados and olives
Healthy fats: Olive oil and coconut oil
Fatty fish: Salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, and anchovies
Nuts: Almonds and other nuts
Peppers: Bell peppers and chili peppers
Chocolate: Dark chocolate
Spices: Turmeric, fenugreek, cinnamon, etc.
Tea: Green tea

Include healthy fats

As we mentioned above, healthy fats are the key to making a low carb diet work, and they can also increase your weight loss! As your body begins burning fat instead of carbs you will not only lose more weight but experience less body inflammation. Let’s see what Everyday Health has to say about healthy fats:  

Deane says that following a diet — rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and fish — is probably the best way of eating to reduce inflammation in the body.

Omega-3 fatty acids, in particular — found in certain fatty fish, nuts, and seeds — may help counter inflammation. In a study published in March 2017 in the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, researchers found that people with psoriatic arthritis — an inflammatory type of arthritis closely related to ankylosing spondylitis — who took omega-3 supplements experienced less disease activity, showed lower markers of inflammation, and required lower doses of medications to control their condition.

On the other hand, Miranda-Comas notes, saturated fats like those found in red meat and full-fat dairy have been linked to pro-inflammatory processes in the body and should be avoided as much as possible.

Hot and cold therapy

Hot and cold therapy are other ways to fix injuries. It doesn’t happen overnight, but Everyday Health says that if you’re consistent, it can help fight inflammation. Depending on the damage you can ice or heat it a few times during the day, though, you should check with your doctor to see what’s best for you. The best “fix” for fighting chronic inflammation in your diet, as we discussed above.

While applying cold is recommended for most injuries, “When someone has a chronic condition that isn’t an acute injury, they can use either cold or heat,” says Miranda-Comas. In general, he recommends using heat to treat stiffness from inactivity and cold to treat soreness from activity, but you can experiment and do whatever feels right for you, he says.

Whether you’re using cold or heat, Miranda-Comas says, you can apply it multiple times each day for 20-minute intervals to get the maximum benefit. This time limit is usually recommended, he says, because cold packs lose their effect, and heat may potentially cause burning if applied for a longer period of time.

Get more sleep

And don’t forget about getting more sleep. According to Perfect Keto not only does your body need rest to function, but sleep also plays a vital role in helping you feel better and keeping inflammation away.

Sleep is the time that your body heals from the day and prepares for tomorrow. Every minute of sleep that you short yourself is putting you at risk for health problems. If you cannot repair, restore and prepare for the day ahead inflammation will begin to run rampant in your body.

This is why chronic sleep deprivation is related to weight gain, mental health issues, impaired immune system, high blood pressure and increased risk for developing several diseases.

If you’re looking for a free solution to lose weight, improve your mood, increase your mental clarity and even fend off a heart attack, restructure your life to consistently get 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep.

Inflammation doesn’t have to be a common symptom if you try the ketogenic diet, which we discuss in the Body Reboot book. An effective low carb diet like the keto diet can decrease inflammation and help you get back your life, and hopefully pain-free. If you want a free copy of the Body Reboot book help us cover the cost of shipping and get a free book! Check out this page and find out whether we still have any copies remaining.

Sources: Perfect Keto, Healthline, Everyday Health, Harvard Health