Top 15 Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe here. Welcome to Ancient Medicine Today. Today I'm going to be training you on the top 15 anti-inflammatory foods and herbs you're going to want to be getting in your diet as much as possible. You know, inflammation is a major cause of disease today. In fact, heart disease is caused by the inflammation of your arteries. Arthritis is caused by inflammation in your joints.

Ulcerative colitis is caused by inflammation of your colon. Most disease today has an inflammatory component, even cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. And so as part of this episode, I'm going to go over the foods that can help you heal using food as medicine. And by the way, if you're excited about this topic, help me spread the word that food is medicine.

Take a minute right now, punch that share button, click that like button now as well. Let's dive right in. Number 1 food we're going to start talking about to reduce inflammation, Are leafy greens. You know, green leafy vegetables are very high in vitamin K as well as chlorophyll, which helps detoxify your body and lower those levels of inflammation.

Some of my favorites include chard, dandelion greens, beet greens. Also, spinach and kale are high up on that list as well, and green cabbage, the outside of cabbage. But getting those green leaves, those large leaves, Incredible in terms of their vitamin K, their calcium, magnesium, those minerals that help lower inflammation in the body.

The next one here is bok choy, part of that cabbage family, oftentimes sort of in that Asian cabbage family. We know bok choy is very, very high in actually sulfur-containing compounds there as well, something called vitamin U. Vitamin U is known to support glutathione levels in the body. Which helps lower inflammation and especially helps support the liver and the body's hormones.

So bok choy, another incredible superfood with anti-inflammatory properties. Now, another superfood for reducing inflammation that's unique is celery and especially celery juice. Celery is very high in electrolytes and also a trace mineral called silica. So it's high in silica, it's high in sodium and potassium. This vegetable works very uniquely to help flush out toxins out of your body.

It helps with something called fluid exchange of intracellular and extracellular fluid. So celery is great. Another thing celery is actually great for is gout. If somebody has uric acid buildup in their body and they would have a sore elbow or big toe or thumb or certain joints, celery helps with flushing out acid. Acid like uric acid out of your system.

So an incredible vegetable for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Now, another big one are beets. Beets actually boost something in your body called NO2, that's nitric oxide. Now, nitric oxide is known to increase your body's red blood cells and your overall circulation. For this reason, this is why a lot of endurance athletes are using it.

In fact, cyclists who have won the Tour de France, a lot of triathletes, they consume beets because of its ability to help support red blood cell production and the health of the blood. But also that compound NO2 also helps reduce inflammation in the body.

So beets, an incredible superfood for building your blood, improving endurance, improving energy, but also for supporting the heart health and reducing inflammation. Inflammation there as well. Hey, if you guys are enjoying this live training and these anti-inflammatory food lists, take a minute right now, help me spread the word that food is medicine.

Punch that share button, click that love button right now as well. And also, if there's an anti-inflammatory food that I haven't put up here, let me know right now your favorite anti-inflammatory food. All right, here we go, number 5, broccoli. Now, broccoli is pretty unique, it actually has higher levels of chromium Which is really good for your blood sugar levels.

So this would be the number one food as well for diabetics or anybody who's having hypoglycemia or blood sugar issues. So we know broccoli is one of the most nutrient-dense of all foods out there today. So again, great to reduce inflammation because of all of the unique nutrients. And one thing that actually surprises people is the level of vitamin C that's also found in broccoli.

Which is also anti-inflammatory. The next one here is blueberries. Now, blueberries are a powerhouse when it comes to antioxidants. They contain resveratrol. They contain flavonoids. They're really incredible. They're also actually very high in certain vitamins as well as vitamin C as we've talked about. But blueberries and certain antioxidants actually help eat up oxidative stress.

And remember that oxidation is where if you take a bite out of an apple, And it starts to turn brown, that's oxidation or aging. Well, blueberries are the highest fruit in America, or one of the highest fruits, at blocking that free radical damage that can happen in the body. And so again, it's great for reducing inflammation, great for anti-aging, has even been shown to help fight cancer.

Next superfruit here is pineapple. Now pineapple in its core has the highest levels of a nutrient called bromelain, and bromelain is a proteolytic enzyme that helps reduce inflammation.

In fact, a lot of athletes now are doing beet juice before they go and work out, and then they're doing pineapple juice during their workouts and after because pineapple juice actually helps cyclists and endurance athletes like triathletes or runners or anyone doing any type of workout recover because of the healthy carbohydrates. The bromelain reduces inflammation.

It is great for during and post-workout as well. But pineapple, great for reducing inflammation. So satisfy your sweet tooth and reduce inflammation at the same time with pineapple because of its bromelain content. Now, bone broth, one of my favorite superfoods for reducing inflammation. Bone broth is very high in collagen and collagen-producing amino acids.

Such as proline and glycine and hydroxyproline. This is what helps us anti-age and makes our skin tighter. And also bone broth is very high in 3 really unique nutrients, hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, and chondroitin. A lot of people pay quite a bit of money for glucosamine and chondroitin supplements.

A lot of people pay for their skincare or joint injections of hyaluronic acid, but here's the good news, it's all found in nature. Wow. In bone broth. Now, what I do almost every morning, in fact, I did this this morning for breakfast, is I did a scoop of a protein powder that is made from bone broth or a bone broth powder that comes from protein.

And so again, a bone broth, drinking chicken broth or beef bone broth is great, or doing a scoop of a protein powder that comes from bone broth, but get more bone broth in your diet. It is probably the top on my list when it comes to anti-inflammatory foods. Now, another one here, number 9, is fatty fish, salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, fatty fish of all types, black cod or sablefish.

These are very, very high in healthy fats. And so we know salmon specifically, very high in omega-3s, those reduce inflammation, it helps the heart health, it helps with your overall skin. It's really good for everything. That's probably one of my top 5 supplements people need to get are omega-3s.

But again, salmon is a supplement in and of itself, or fatty fishes, because of all of its omega-3 content, specifically the fatty acids EPA and DHA. Next here on the list are walnuts, another omega-3 supplement. Now, walnuts actually contain different types of omega-3 fats than fatty fish like salmon.

Where salmon contains EPA and DHA, Walnuts contain ALA, alpha-linolenic acid, or alpha-linolenic acid. And walnuts, actually, I think I want to mention this as part of Chinese medicine, they're actually shaped like a brain. Those omegas and some of the minerals in there are known to help support brain health. And so walnuts, we know, are a great food for reducing inflammation.

In fact, one of my patients, I shared with him this list in the past and he started doing a bone broth smoothie for breakfast. He would do a trail mix every day of walnuts and raisins because all the antioxidants in the raisins, all the omegas in the walnuts. Yeah. So there's a healthy anti-aging snack mix for you there as well that's also anti-inflammatory. All right, number 11 here, coconut oil.

Coconut oil is loaded with saturated fats that are actually good for your cells and reduce inflammation. And coconut oil, I make coconut oil my go-to oil when it comes to baking any type of dish. I use coconut milk in place of dairy. I use coconut milk in my smoothies. But getting more coconut in your diet is great because of its anti-inflammatory properties. Number 12 here, chia seeds.

Like walnuts, it's very high in ALA. In fact, chia seeds are probably the highest omega-3 fatty-rich food on the planet. So chia seeds are great. Chia seeds also create what's called mucilaginous fiber. In fact, if you put them in water, they become very gelatinous, like a gelatin-like substance, and it's very good for cleaning out your colon there as well.

In fact, chia seeds as well were carried by Incan warriors, and they said they would do a tablespoon of chia seed and it was worth a day's worth of energy. So it's known as sort of the energy-boosting seed, but also anti-inflammatory because of its great fiber and its omega-3 content. Flaxseeds, similar thing, very high in omega-3s.

Also, flaxseeds contain really unique compounds that support balancing out estrogen in the body. So if your inflammatory condition is related to gut health, flaxseeds are good, or hormonal health, flaxseeds are great there as well. And probably the top 2 on the list in terms of their overall power at reducing inflammation is turmeric and ginger. Now, turmeric contains 2 really unique compounds.

If it's in its powder form, it's very high in curcumin. And curcumin and turmeric have been shown to be more powerful than 15 different medications at fighting those very same diseases. Wow. This is something that has thousands and thousands of studies have been done on turmeric and curcumin and its benefit to fight cancer, to fight heart disease, to reduce inflammation.

Also, turmeric contains a compound especially in its essential oil form if you buy turmeric oil, it's called turmerone. And turmerone has been shown to help support your body in tissue regeneration and producing more of its own stem cells to help heal such as Herniated discs or torn ligaments or any type of tissue damage in the body. So turmeric, probably the ultimate anti-inflammatory herb.

And then ginger contains something called gingerols as well as zingerbene. Zingerbene is a proteolytic enzyme that really helps reduce inflammation at the cellular level. And gingerols work similar to some of those compounds in turmeric at reducing inflammation. Ginger in Chinese medicine is more of a warming herb. It's great for reducing inflammation. Okay. Of the digestive system.

It's great for reducing inflammation of the joints, and it's also great overall for helping any type of issue that can be related to the brain. So again, these herbs, specifically turmeric and ginger, are 2 you're going to want to add into your daily diet.

By the way, if you're enjoying this live training on the top 10 anti-inflammatory foods, take a minute right now, help me spread the word that food is medicine. Punch that share button, click that like button as well. Also, let me know right now what is your favorite anti-inflammatory food or herb, or if I missed a big one, let me know this as well. And I know I definitely missed a few.

Some of my other favorites that reduce inflammation, especially your herbs such as cayenne pepper and rosemary, are very powerful reducing inflammation there as well. And then other fruits such as kiwis and And figs and papaya are very anti-inflammatory there as well. So guys, this has been me, Dr. Axe, talking about the top 15 anti-inflammatory foods. I want to say thanks so much for watching.

Hey, if you're not subscribed here to the channel, make sure you subscribe. And if you want to learn more about anti-inflammatory foods, just Google my name on Google. Just look up Dr. Axe anti-inflammatory foods and I have a whole food list you could print out online as well as a graphic there as well, guys. Thanks for watching.