Anti-inflammatory + Healing Foods
Eating a healing and anti-inflammatory diet is a very important piece of the IBD healing/management puzzle. Any doctor should recommend an anti-inflammatory diet for everyone, even for people without a diagnosed chronic illness. There is more and more research coming out linking autoimmune disease, chronic illness, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, depression, and more, to inflammation. An anti-inflammatory diet consists of vegetables, fruit, maybe whole grains (if tolerated), beans and nuts, wild caught fatty fish, and all of the herbs and spices. Finding the diet that works for you is going to take time and patience, because everyone is different (due to our unique gut microbiome). You’ll notice that I don’t include much fruit into my diet besides berries, because personally, I’m very sensitive to sugar. However, many people with IBD are able to tolerate more sugary fruits such as bananas, mangos, watermelon, etc. I recommend starting out with an anti-inflammatory whole food diet as a baseline, and then testing out different diets from there to find what works for you. Again, everyone is different, and some of these foods may not agree with you. It’s all about trial and error. Here’s an overview to get you started:
VEGETABLES: Eat vegetables - a lot of them. Choose a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. This will ensure that you’re getting all of the different and important vitamins and minerals!
FRUITS: Same rule as vegetables - choose a variety of colors to get different vitamins. Berries are especially healing and anti-inflammatory. Personally I can’t tolerate much fruit, so I usually stick to berries. Find what works for you!
WHOLE GRAINS: If you can tolerate grains, stick to whole grains. Brown rice, quinoa (technically a seed), gluten free oatmeal, and other unrefined grains are usually high in fiber.
BEANS: Beans are loaded with antioxidants and other anti-inflammatory properties. Beans are better tolerated when soaked overnight and then cooked on the stovetop.
NUTS: Nuts are a great source of protein and healthy fat. Just make sure the nuts aren’t coated in any unhealthy vegetable oils!
WILD CAUGHT FISH: Salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel have lots of omega-3 fatty acids which help fight inflammation
HERBS + SPICES: If you can tolerate them, many herbs and spices help fight inflammation (and they taste great!).
And now, to highlight some specific healing foods:
SAUERKRAUT: Sauerkraut (especially homemade) is amazing! It’s filled with vitamin C, vitamin K, fiber, and iron, and it has a ton of probiotics. Eating sauerkraut regularly (or any fermented foods) can help optimize gut flora and also help balance the gut microbiome.
MISO: Miso is another amazing fermented food, and it is also a complete source of protein! Miso also contains probiotics - the main strain being A. oryzae, and it also helps the body to absorb nutrients. Miso itself is packed with manganese, vitamin K, copper, and zinc.
BONE BROTH: I’m a huge fan of chicken bone broth (homemade if possible). You can sip it, add it into stir fry, or use it as the base of a soup. It’s filled with calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, and it can help strengthen the gut lining because it’s filled with gelatin, collage, and amino acids.
WILD CAUGHT SALMON: Salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids as well as an antioxidant called astaxanthin. If you’re vegan, you can eat 1-2 tablespoons of walnuts, ground flaxseed, or chia seeds to get omega-3’s.
WALNUTS: Walnuts are my favorite nut. They have more antioxidants than any other nut! Also, they’re delicious. They’re high in omega-3’s, they can decrease inflammation, promote a healthy gut microbiome by feeding the good bacteria in your gut, they can help lower blood pressure, reduce cancers, and more.
CHIA SEEDS: Chia seeds are also high in omega-3’s.They are one of the most nutritious foods you can eat! They’re packed with antioxidants, protein, and fiber, and can help reduce inflammation and so much more.
KALE: Kale has tons of anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. It’s also packed with amino acids, fiber, vitamins A, C, and K, calcium, iron, and magnesium. It can be hard to digest, so I get my kale by adding it to my green juice or adding it to soups.
BLUEBERRIES: All berries are amazing and have benefits, but blueberries are especially good for your gut. They contain vitamins A, C, and E, an antioxidant called anthocyanin, polyphenols, and can reduce inflammation.
PEPPERS: Both bell peppers and chili peppers have anti-inflammatory properties and are loaded with antioxidants. Raw peppers can be difficult to digest, so I suggest adding them to soups and stir fry. You can also make your own hot sauce with mild chili peppers - then you get the benefit of the pepper and the probiotics from the hot sauce fermentation!
MUSHROOMS: Mushrooms contain B vitamins, selenium, copper, phenols, and antioxidants that can be anti-inflammatory. Eating them lightly cooked helps to preserve the benefits. Mushrooms are so diverse and incredible, I could do an entire blog post about them (maybe I will!)
TURMERIC: Turmeric is incredible. The anti-inflammatory part of turmeric is called curcumin. I take turmeric as a supplement more than I cook with it, because in order for it to have a significant anti-inflammatory effect, you need to ingest large amounts of the curcumin (with pepper to activate it). There are several studies out there that show curcumin leading to decreased inflammation levels. I also drink it in golden milk, use it in curries, etc.
GREEN TEA: Green tea is high in antioxidants and has been linked to reducing inflammation in Crohn’s and Colitis patients. Green tea contains epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which can reduce pro-inflammatory cytokine production, thus lowering inflammation.
BROCCOLI: I love broccoli! It’s a cruciferous vegetable rich in sulforaphane which is an antioxidant that fights inflammation.
AVOCADO: Avocados not only taste great, they’re also high in fiber which is important to help keep our gut microbiome healthy. They’re also high in healthy monounsaturated fatty acids.
This should get you started on your anti-inflammatory journey. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments, or reach out to me directly on instagram!
In love and healing,
Anna
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