When almost 6 out of 10 Americans eat food daily that contributes to inflammation, no one should wonder why our country has an epidemic of health conditions related to excess inflammation. We see rising rates of cancer, heart disease, strokes, atopic conditions, autoimmunity and more. In looking for an explanation, we can point to the increasing toxicity of our industrial world, but a large part of it is the simple daily choices about what food we put in our mouths. Not only do some of those chemicals hitch a ride on those foods, but when we choose processed foods over whole foods, we have to pay the price.
Science continues to underscore the critical link between chronic inflammation and a wide variety of chronic illness. As our nation ages, this chronic inflammation impacts millions of individuals and their families, stealing years, quality of life, and billions of dollars which could be spent on more exciting things that medications and hospital stays. This inflammation will have its impact regardless of how much people want to deny that it will affect them.
In the study of 34,500 adults between 2005 and 2018 in the National health and Nutrition Examination survey, 57% reported an inflammatory diet. Only 34% reported what would be considered an anti-inflammatory diet. Given that this data comes from 6 to 19 years ago, my guess is that a similar study would be even worse now. The ease of fast food and the convenience of getting processed foods out of boxes means that with the fast pace of life today, my bet is that an inflammatory diet has only gotten more common.
On the other hand, there is a growing recognition that foods have a major impact on health, and we see many healthier restaurants popping up and thriving, as well as healthier choices in the grocery stores. In reality, the ratio of diet types of probably less material than an increasing polarization which makes the inflamed more inflamed and the anti-inflamed even healthier. If we are going to see real changes, we need everyone to move towards anti-inflammatory diets.
Living a healthier more abundant life requires the daily discipline of healthy food choices so that we can enjoy health into the later years of life without needing so much help from Big Medicine and Big Pharma to stay alive. It’s not too late to turn over a new leaf and start living for health instead of the next piece of high sugar, high fat dessert.
Original Article:
Rachel J Meadows, Electra D Paskett, Julie K Bower, Gail L Kaye, Stanley Lemeshow, Randall E Harris. Socio-demographic differences in the dietary inflammatory index from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2018: a comparison of multiple imputation versus complete case analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 2024; 27 (1) DOI: 10.1017/S1368980024001800
Thanks to Science Daily:
Ohio State University. “Pervasiveness of inflammation-inducing foods in American diet.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 October 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241001114842.htm>.
Medical Disclaimer:
This article is intended for educational purposes only. I have attempted to confirm the accuracy of these statements but with time, some currently true statements may be proven incorrect. Before making any medical decisions, you should consult your medical provider. I am not a lawyer nor am I a remediator and cannot provide definitive answers in either category. Discuss legal and remediation decisions with appropriate professionals. Sanctuary is not responsible for decisions you make based on this article.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
