3 Foods With Anti-inflammatory Properties

Inflammation isn't a process that's usually considered harmful, as long as it regulates itself correctly. To ensure this, it's good to include foods with anti-inflammatory properties in your diet.
3 Foods With Anti-inflammatory Properties

Last update: 14 March, 2021

It’s important that you’re aware of the foods containing anti-inflammatory properties. They help to improve your health, so it’s essential to introduce them into your diet regularly. If you do so, you’ll be able to reduce the pain associated with structures that don’t work properly.

Before we begin, it’s important to note that inflammation isn’t a harmful process in and of itself. In fact, it’s essential to some extent. It’s a mechanism that ensures proper healing of wounds and injuries. So, without inflammation, the body wouldn’t recover effectively. However, when inflammation occurs in excess, it becomes harmful.

Foods with anti-inflammatory properties

The following foods with anti-inflammatory properties will help you improve your health. Remember them and incorporate them into your diet.

Oily fish

Oily fish stands out mainly for its content of omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have revealed that these unsaturated lipids modulate systemic inflammation, according to research from International Immunology. Their regular intake is associated with a lower risk of developing cardiovascular pathologies.

You can also take them in the form of supplementation to alleviate the clinical symptoms of arthritis, as they mitigate the inflammation that generates pain. They’re not a miracle remedy, but they offer efficient support to pharmacology in order to produce great results.

oily fish, lemon slices, and rosemary.

At the same time, oily fish have the advantage of having a very tight omega-3 and omega-6 ratio, which prevents inflammatory cascades from feeding back and getting out of control. When this occurs, it contributes to an increased risk of chronic pathologies.

Nuts

As with oily fish, nuts contain omega-3 fatty acids. Thus, they become foods that manage to control inflammation, although their properties go beyond that. So, their protein concentration is noteworthy, even though they’re of low biological value.

Nuts also contain a large quantity of essential minerals for the body. Selenium, for example, is capable of reducing oxidation at the tissue level and neutralizing the formation of free radicals. Indirectly, this also manages to act by decreasing the levels of systemic inflammation.

Turmeric

Turmeric is one of the trendiest spices. According to a study published in the journal Drug Design, Development, and Therapy, this food is capable of improving the symptomatology of arthritis.

There’s also evidence that it could be useful for the treatment of other complex pathologies, even for their prevention. An example would be those that are metabolic in nature.

Habits with anti-inflammatory properties

Beyond the inclusion of certain foods with anti-inflammatory properties in your diet, it’s important to take care of other lifestyle habits related to this mechanism. Among them, experts recommend regular physical exercise, in addition to ensuring good daily rest.

A woman using a weight machine at the gym.

At the same time, going back to diet-related aspects, avoiding hypercaloric plans, simple sugars, and trans-type lipids is essential. Likewise, you should avoid or reduce the consumption of certain food additives that could favor these processes. The good news is that certain supplements, such as omega-3 or antioxidants, help to neutralize these inflammatory mechanisms.

Include foods with anti-inflammatory properties in your diet

If you regularly consume the foods with anti-inflammatory properties that we’ve just mentioned, you’ll improve your health in the medium and long term. It’s important to eat them within the context of a healthy diet. In addition, you must accompany them with good lifestyle habits, such as the practice of physical exercise.

Finally, keep in mind that the consumption of alcoholic beverages and intoxicants is strongly discouraged because of their ability to increase systemic inflammation.

These substances are capable of negatively impacting the functioning of systems and increasing the incidence of chronic health problems. In this sense, you shouldn’t consume them even at low doses. Experts recommend their total restriction to avoid major problems.

Ultimately, keep in mind that the effects of chronic inflammation are experienced over the long term, but once they manifest, it’s often too late. Prevention is always the best option!


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • Ishihara T, Yoshida M, Arita M. Omega-3 fatty acid-derived mediators that control inflammation and tissue homeostasis. Int Immunol. 2019 Aug 23;31(9):559-567
  • Chin KY. The spice for joint inflammation: anti-inflammatory role of curcumin in treating osteoarthritis. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2016 Sep 20;10:3029-3042.

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.