Anti Inflammatory Food List (with Printable PDF)

What is the Anti Inflammatory Food List Printable?

The anti-inflammatory food list is a simple reminder for you which foods benefit patients with inflammatory symptoms. These foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, omega-3, and antioxidants, which reduce chronic inflammation and prevent it from worsening.¹

The current list contains simple guidelines of which foods to avoid and which to eat. We’ll update the list in the future to include a grocery list so you can easily check the ingredients.

What Diet is Good for Inflammatory Patients?

You can think of inflammation as a non-specific immune response. Your body is fighting against something that MIGHT be dangerous for your body (not that it actually is dangerous). This response is measure from the inflammatory biomarkers: C-reactive protein (HS-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α).²

A study has proved that diet significantly affects inflammation. Some foods may reduce symptoms, while others worsen them.

Consuming foods with high amounts of magnesium, fiber, ω-3 PUFA, MUFA, flavonoid, and carotenoid lowers the inflammatory biomarkers. On the other hand, foods with a lot of saturated fat, trans fat, high glycemic index value, and high ratio between omega-6 and omega-6 significantly increase the inflammatory response.²

As a general rule, there are a few things you need to keep in mind about your diet:

• There isn’t a single perfect ingredient that can meet all of your nutritional needs. You need to eat varied foods to get the optimal benefits.
• Choose food with the least processing as much as you can. Cooking at high temperatures for a long duration reduces its nutritional content. Processed foods are also high in calories, fat, salt, and sugar, which increase inflammation.
• Pay more attention to the facts about nutrition when buying a product.
• “Eat the Rainbow” by adding vegetables and fruits with varying colors (red, green, blue, yellow, and orange) to your diet. They’ll give you antioxidants³ and diverse nutritional values.

Each person has a different condition, so you’d need to experiment to find what works for you. However, there are two diets well-known for an inflammatory patient’s condition:

1. Mediterranean diet. It basically categorizes foods into a pyramid. You only eat top-of-the-pyramid food in limited amounts, while the foods in the base are for daily consumption.² This diet also uses olive oil, which is better for inflammation symptoms, instead of vegetable/canola oil.
2. DASH diet. This diet is designed to prevent hypertension, as its name implies (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). However, it also has anti-inflammatory benefit. The main point of DASH is low-fat and low-fat foods.⁴

Mediterranean Diet vs DASH Diet

There are several key differences between Mediterranean and DASH diet:

• Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional eating habits in countries around the Mediterranean Sea. The DASH diet is a science-backed diet developed by a world-class group of doctors, registered dietitians, and PhD nutrition researchers.
• Mediterranean diet consumes fish quite frequently, while the DASH diet limits the consumption of fish. The mercury in specific areas of the sea accumulates inside the fish. Mercury exposure by eating these fishes can cause nerve, immune, digestion, and respiratory disorders.⁵
• Mediterranean diet limits the consumption of red meat.  DASH diet allows you to eat grass-finished beef (meat from cattle that eat only grass) or pasture-raised beef  (meat from cattle that live grazing on pasture). These meats give you lower fats, richer flavors, and particular textures than beef from conventional farms.⁶
• Mediterranean diet urges you to consume all kinds of vegetables and fruits regularly. DASH diet advises you to reduce vegetables and fruits with vitamin A because they could be toxic in high amounts. Peeled vegetables and fruits such as apples and cucumbers are more recommended.⁶

Foods to Avoid

Before you proceed, know that anti-inflammatory diet is not linear. Everyone’s trigger is different, so it’s your own responsibility to get to know your body.

You can find your triggers by doing an elimination diet (cutting out certain foods for a while), and we have a worksheet to help you. Some patients found that a low FODMAP/elimination diet really helped them, even if they didn’t follow it 100%.

This section lists what foods you’d generally want to avoid.

1. Sweet Foods and Drinks

Examples: Soda, ice tea, ice cream.

Why: Excessive sugar intake contributes to an increase in the risk of inflammation and obesity. Low-grade inflammations over a long period commonly occur in obese patients.⁷

2. Processed Meat

Examples: Bacon, hot dogs, pepperoni, lunch meats.

Why: Foods with processed meat contain high amounts of salt, synthetic nitrate, and saturated fats. Medical study reported that nitrate and saturated fats increase the risk of inflammation.⁷

3. Alcoholic Drinks

Examples: Beer, wine, whiskey, gin, brandy, rum, tequila, vodka, etc.

Why: A small amount of wine can prevent inflammation. However, more often than not, alcohol consumption causes damage to body organs, tissues, and cells. It can trigger acute inflammation and chronic inflammation in the body.⁸

4. Processed Foods

Examples: Fast foods, soft drinks, ice cream, corn chips, cakes, ready-to-eat meals, sugary cereals, etc.

Why: These foods contain many additional chemical substances, such as color additives, preservatives, and flavoring agents. All of those substances can trigger irritation and inflammation in your body.⁷

Foods to Eat when You’re Having an Inflammatory Symptom

1. Berries

Examples: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.

Why: Antochyanin inside berries has an anti-inflammatory property capable of reducing inflammation risk. Furthermore, a 2018 study showed that regular berry consumption can lower the risk of cancer.⁹

2. Fatty Fishes

Examples: Salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, anchovies, etc.

Why: EPA and DHA from fishes can lower inflammation, as well as the risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.⁹

3. Vegetables

Examples: Broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, etc.

Why: Broccoli contains sulforaphane, which lowers the production of inflammation biomarkers (cytokines and nuclear factor kappa B). Quercetin, sinapic acid, and ferulic acid in paprika are known to reduce inflammation. Mushrooms also have a similar effect because they contain phenol.⁹

4. Green Tea

Examples: Matcha green tea

Why: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from matcha reduces the molecule that signals the increase in inflammation (pro-inflammatory cytokine). This antioxidant substance inside green tea also protects the cells from damage.⁹

5. Fruits

Examples: Avocado, grape, cherries, etc.

Why: The antioxidants in avocados can reduce inflammation by enhancing the formation of new cells. Cherry and grapes are known to contain high amounts of anthocyanins, which also lower the inflammation inside the body.⁹

Foods to Eat Regularly

1. Fruits and Vegetables

Examples: Spinach, kale, broccoli, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.

Why: Contain antioxidants that can reduce inflammation in the body.

2. Whole Grains

Examples: Oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat bread.

Why: Fibers from whole grains help prevent inflammation.

3. Beans and Nuts

Examples: Peas, chickpeas, black beans, edamame, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, mung beans, etc.

Why: Contains a lot of fibers to help prevent the inflammation from occurring.

4. Fatty Fishes

Examples: Salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, anchovies, etc.

Why: Omega-3 fatty acid from fish helps lower inflammation response of the body.

5. Fruits

Examples: Turmeric, garlic, ginger, etc.

Why: Contain antioxidants to reduce inflammation.

Anti-Inflammatory Meal Plan Example

Tips on Choosing Your Daily Anti-Inflammatory Meals

• Take care of your daily protein sources. Plant-based proteins such as nuts and beans tend to have an anti-inflammation effect, so chronic inflammation patients should prioritize them. For animal protein, choose grass-finished or pasture-raised beef.
• Eat enough fiber, as it has an anti-inflammatory benefit. USDA recommends the daily amount for fiber as 28 grams for 19-30 year-old women and 34 grams for 19-30 year-old men.
• Consume more vegetables and fruits. Prioritize fresh fruits over sweetened juice. Pick fruits and vegetables with varied colors.
• Add some herbs and spices to get better flavor and antioxidant benefits.
• Reduce foods high in trans fats and saturated fats, as they’ll trigger your inflammation.
• Balance your omega-6 intake with more omega-3 from fish. Excessive amount of omega-6 triggers the inflammation.
• To reduce inflammation, include some monounsaturated fats in your diet. The recommended ratio is 25% saturated fats, 25% polyunsaturated fats, and 50% monounsaturated fatty acids.
• If you crave chocolate, choose the ones with 70% kakao or more. Dark chocolate offers antioxidants, which help you cope with inflammation symptoms.
• Limit your alcohol consumption. It’s fine to occasionally red wine, as it could somewhat reduce inflammation. However, you’d get that benefit if you limit your intake. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest you only have one drink daily for women and two for men. The less you have, the better.

Who Could Benefit from Following an Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

An anti-inflammatory diet is highly beneficial for people who experience chronic inflammation over a long period. Some of them are patients with diabetes, cancer, chronic renal failure, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and autoimmune disease.

On the other hand, everybody can follow an anti-inflammatory diet if they want. This diet commonly prioritizes nutrient-dense foods while limiting the intake of processed foods, red meat, excessive salt, and sweeteners.

An anti-inflammatory diet can be applied to daily meals. However, as a Registered Dietitian, I’m against abruptly changing a current dietary habit into an anti-inflammatory one. You don’t need to take everything all at once. It’s better to make small changes, see how you’d feel about it, and take your time adjusting. Some people feel significantly better just by avoiding 1-2 ingredients instead of completely changing their dietary habits.