“Clean food” has become increasingly popular as people gain knowledge and become more aware of the consequences of eating habits. But instead of being a new phenomenon, it takes us back to our roots by eating whole, unprocessed, seasonal and nutritious foods as close as possible to their source.
There are many different definitions of what “clean” means, but for me it means avoiding processed foods, sugar and refined carbohydrates (such as white rice and white flour). minimal dairy products and selected animal proteins. I also like to plan my meals for the week on Sundays so that I am prepared and less likely to crawl at the last moment and make bad decisions.
Rather than considering clean food as a restrictive choice, I have found that clean food is an opportunity to try new things and enjoy the health benefits of foods rich in nutrients and vitamins, satiating and delicious.
Inflammation
There is a lot of talk about inflammation today and how all ailments can be attributed to inflammatory imbalances. What is inflammation? Inflammation is the body’s natural reaction to protect itself from damage.
Inflammation is caused by three primary triggers:
injuries or traumas
Microbial invasion
nutrition and diet
There are two types of inflammation: acute and chronic. Choosing the foods we take can help control inflammation. An insufficient inflammatory response can lead to slow scrape healing and the proliferation of microbes in the body. Too much inflammation and the body begins to strike itself, which leads to chronic ailments. We have to do our best to try to keep ourselves in balance.
You are probably more familiar with the acute type of inflammation that occurs when you injure yourself. Your immune system triggers an army of white blood cells that surround and protect the area where the injury occurred, causing visible redness and swelling.
The process works the same way if you have an infection such as the flu or bronchitis. In these examples, inflammation is essential – without it, scrapes could become infected and simple infections could be fatal. Inflammation keeps us alive. When inflammation becomes chronic, it is believed to be an underlying factor linked to ailments such as cancer, heart ailment, diabetes, Alzheimer’s ailment, allergies, asthma, weight gain and accelerated aging.
If there is a trigger, the inflammatory response to correct things is called the “initiation reaction”.”Once things are resolved, there is a “resolution reaction” that disables the inflammatory response. If this is not the matter , the inflammation turns into a cellular inflammation, which leads to a chronic ailment.
Our best line of defense against cellular inflammation is a healthy and complete diet, balanced with low-fat proteins and vegetable carbohydrates.
Avoid: omega-6 fatty acids such as vegetable oils, saturated fats and excessive amounts of carbohydrates from cereals, starch and sugar
Increase: omega-3 fatty acids from fish and polyphenols from fruits and vegetables
