Chronic inflammation is pro-aging. In fact, scientists working on modifying aging referred to this effect as “inflammaging”. As always to skip the article and not read anything else in this note; eat a Mediterranean diet, exercise, lose weight, brush your teeth, floss your teeth, do yoga and meditate (the order you do them in is up to you). I am guessing none of this is a big surprise to any of you.
Something you might want to read is the note below from Dr. Frank Hu from Harvard, who recommends the following diet.
Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, strongly recommends limiting or eliminating consumption of foods known to have a pro-inflammatory effect. These include all refined carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, pastries, sugar-sweetened beverages, deep-fried foods, red meat, and processed meats. These are the very same foods that have well-established links to obesity (itself a risk factor for inflammation), heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes.
In their stead, Dr. Hu recommends frequent consumption of foods known to have an anti-inflammatory effect. They include green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and collards; fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna (not too much because of mercury), and sardines; fruits like strawberries, blueberries, apples, grapes, oranges, and cherries; nuts like almonds, and walnuts; and olive oil. The plant foods he recommends contain natural antioxidants and polyphenols, and the fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, all of which counter inflammation. Coffee and tea also contain protective polyphenols, among other anti-inflammatory compounds. The bottom line: the less processed your diet, the better.
One of my favorite sayings is that the nutritional value of a food is inversely related to the number of ingredients. For example, spinach one ingredient; a Beyond meat burger has 20 ingredients.
