Anti-inflammatory Foods part 2

You can make a few small changes with your diet to help reduce inflammation levels in your body and aid treatment.

For example; foods high in sugar and saturated fat can spur inflammation.

There are also a large number of anti-inflammatory foods that help decrease inflammation in the body, I’ll be sharing some of these with you over the next few days.

Please note: This is not intended to replace treatment or medication for your condition, simply to help your body cope alongside your chosen treatment. There will still be an underlying cause for your high inflammation levels and you need to address this where you can.

Garlic2) Garlic

Garlic is known for its antibiotic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and even cholesterol lowering properties.

The healing power of garlic dates back to thousands of years — ancient Egyptian healers prescribed for building physical strength; Russians nicknamed it “Russian Penicillin” because in both world wars Russian soldiers carried garlic cloves in their pockets to treat wounds; Greeks used it as a laxative; Chinese used it to lower blood pressure; and in the middle ages, eating liberal quantities of garlic was considered to increase immunity to plague.

Garlic is loaded with nearly 100 active chemical compounds including several potent antioxidants. The constituents contributing to its use in cooking and as a protective agent can be credited to a large extent to its numerous sulfur containing compounds, besides amino acids and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. The most important of these compounds is allcin, a sulfur-containing compound.

The spice is certainly known for its antibiotic, anti-clotting, decongestant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive (lowering blood pressure), anti-fungal, antiviral, anti-oxidant and even cholesterol lowering properties.

Research has shown that garlic exhibits cardio-protective role as it helps in lowering blood cholesterol, especially the undesirable fraction of serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and serum fat. Eating half a clove of garlic a day may lower blood cholesterol by 9 per cent, provided taken regularly. ‘Ajoene’, one of the breakdown products of allicin, may reduce the risk of heart attacks by preventing formation of blood clots. Research validates the claim that garlic significantly lowers high blood pressure and inhibits platelet clumping.

Garlic also reduces inflammation by blocking the formation of agents (prostaglandins)* that induce it, helpful for those struggling with auto-immune diseases such as psoriatic arthritis.

Garlic sauted in oil produces release other sulfur compounds (vinyldiithins), which are bronchial relaxers (open air passageways in lungs), useful for those struggling with asthma.  

*See previous post to understand the role of prostaglandins with inflammation -> INFLAMMATION

 

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