When you get a cut or injure yourself, you may notice swelling and inflammation around the affected injury. The body responds by sending out white blood cells to help heal the injured area. We bandage it and take care of it because we don’t want infection to enter into the body. However, it is the inflammation that we can not see inside us that should really take center stage in the ‘worry department’. Inflammation and its effects tell us how we feel and how healthy we really are because inflammation is linked to your immune system. If we can identify the causes of inflammation, we have a better chance of being in control of our own health and how we feel every day.
So what are the causes of inflammation? Most of the foods we eat aid in inflammation, including, “Most polyunsaturated vegetable oils like safflower, sunflower, corn, peanut and soy, [that] are high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 essential fatty acid that the body converts into arachidonic acid, another omega-6 fatty acid that has a predominantly pro-inflammatory influence.” A high carbohydrate diet with little protein is directly linked to inflammation and also related to a high intake of sugar.
The foods we choose and those that are available to us in the marketplace appeal to a vast majority of people because today’s society is one of ‘rush and urgency’. This has given us all very little time to use the ‘’art of cooking” as a way to keep us healthy. We buy ready to eat meals that are loaded with chemicals and toxins and are aiding to inflammation. Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP wrote in her article ‘Chronic Inflammation and its roots in the Digestive System’, “At our medical practice we are convinced that the seeds of chronic inflammation (and a lot of other health issues) start with the gut. Two-thirds of the body’s defenses reside in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract — yet it is often the last place traditional practitioners look.”
How can we reduce inflammation? One way is to get more Omega 3’s which help soothe the inflammation. Eating more fruits and vegetables and staying away from refined and processed foods is another. A lot of people have a ‘sweet tooth’ or ‘love their carbs’, meaning that they are being held hostage by cravings. We keep hearing about obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses on the rise in the USA, and many people are wondering why it is getting so much attention. Our ancestors did not have this many health related problems and most lived a long a healthy life. The supermarkets and food manufacturers are responding to societies’ needs by giving us ‘quick foods’, but how much of that is really good for you? Maybe if we started to really cook again just like the ‘old days’ we wouldn’t hear or see so much in the news about these chronic illnesses or watch our favorite celebrities battle for their lives.
Since chocolate contains a compound that has natural anti-inflammatory properties it is a valid reason to select a high quality raw organic unprocessed dark chocolate to you can add to your daily diet. This type of chocolate is not a candy but it is a whole clean super food making it all guilt free eating.
Our scientific world continues to be motivated to learn more about flavanoids and the health benefits of chocolate. Dark chocolate that has not been commercialized may one day be your prescription. Imagine for a moment your doctor telling you to ‘consume at least one raw cold pressed organic gourmet healthy chocolate a day and check back for a follow up in three months.’ Now for the reality, there are doctors already doing this and their patients are beginning to see and feel the difference by eating a high quality organic raw chocolate. Since there are so many people who love chocolate it’s very easy to consume nature’s medicine.
If we know what the causes of inflammation are and we have educated ourselves to choose better foods including chocolate, then we have a better chance to live a longer and healthier life.
In the USA
Canada
Source: Women To Women