Inflammation
Inflammation often gets a bad rap when the truth is, the inflammatory process is critical for tissue regeneration and repair. Inflammation is responsible for aiding wound healing, mounting an immune response, mitigating toxicity and cellular damage, and maintaining homeostasis. After all, it’s all about balance.
There are 2 types of inflammation:
- Acute inflammation. This is the type of inflammation
mentioned above. Its main purpose is to provide a quick and short response to an injury or harmful invader in order to help defend the body as well as heal it. - Chronic inflammation. This is a continuous type of inflammation that is present even when there is no immediate outside harm. It usually occurs as a response to chronic illnesses, untreated pathogens, autoimmune disorders, and allergies. It may also occur from things like poor diet, low gut microbe diversity, stress, sleep deprivation, smoking, alcohol consumption, and environmental pollutants.
While chronic inflammation can occur as a response to the previously mentioned health issues, they can also be implicated in the cause of these issues. It’s a real chicken vs. the egg argument. Did the health concern contribute to the inflammation or did the inflammation contribute to the concern? The truth is, both are likely correct.
The Pro-Inflammatory Response
As previously mentioned, our bodies need inflammatory compounds to defend, repair, and regenerate our cells. Without them, your blood would hardly even clot when you cut your finger. This is why we emphasize balance here, rather than plainly say “inflammation is bad.” Even so, there are pro-inflammatory compounds we want and others we could do our best to avoid.
I’m sure we’ve likely heard of omega fatty acids. There are 2 types directly linked to the inflammatory response: omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. While the first promotes anti-inflammatory processes, the latter is all about beneficial inflammation. This is because omega-6s are broken down to produce compounds that aid in inflammation.
The main types of omega-6 PUFAs are arachidonic acid and linoleic acid. They’re found in foods like sunflower oil, safflower oil, meat, eggs, soybean, canola oil, and nuts.
And yes, I’m sure we’ve seen a lot of contradicting information out there about these seeds oils and how we should avoid them at all costs. But the truth is, they are absolutely fine to consume! It’s always best to moderate processed foods and oily foods overall, especially cooked at a high temperature like in fried foods. But demonizing any foods hardly ever leads to a healthy mindset or a healthy body. In case you’d like to know more on this topic, here’s a great resource to improve your knowledge on seed oils: https://zoe.com/learn/are-seed-oils-bad-for-you
Balancing Your Fatty Acids
Even though omega-6s are incredibly important, there is that fine homeostasis needed in order to reap the benefits. Firstly we need to eat omega-6s in a healthy balanced amount in relation to the amount of omega-3s we eat.
This is because omega- 3s and omega-6s compete for the same enzymes. When we eat foods containing omega-3s and omega-6s, they must be broken in order to be utilized. Part of this process includes enzyme-dependent reactions, which help the conversion of omega fatty acids into compounds that the body can use.
They say that the optimal ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s to ensure that your body can efficiently metabolize both is around 1-5 (omega-6) to 1 (omega-3). In other words, you should ideally be consuming up to 5 times the amount of omega-6s compared to omega-3, though the verdict is still out on this ratio. And research has also shown that people who consume high amounts of both omega-6s and omega-3s have the lowest levels of inflammation! This makes it less stressful, right?
So why exactly are people who consume high amounts of omega-6s presenting with high inflammation? Well, data shows that on average, Western populations are consuming anywhere from 20-50 times the amount of omega-6s compared to omega-3s. And generally, these omega-6 fats are highly processed.
Chronic Inflammation
While we need those short term healing compounds for acute inflammatory responses, overconsumption of omega-6s as well as other inflammatory foods and lifestyle habits can expose us to chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation has many roots, but in this series let’s focus on diet.
We’ve already discussed how omega-6s have the potential to be inflammatory. But in reality, a great deal of diet-related chronic inflammation can be attributed to ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
UPFs contain high levels of refined carbohydrates, sugar, saturated fats, and salt, which can contribute to an array of chronic illnesses when consumed in excess. Not only that, UPFs also contain a wide variety of additives such as food colorings, gums, emulsifiers, sweeteners, pesticides, and preservatives. We’ve all seen them: food products with long lists of unpronounceable and unidentifiable ingredients. Together, these are used to extend shelf-like, increase palatability, and make foods more addictive. Let’s do our best to moderate these.
These UPFs are not only hurting our bodies, they’re messing with our heads. The brain and the gut are connected by something called the gut-brain axis. A healthy gut produces beneficial chemicals that send signals to the brain that promote healthy brain activity. Basically, the happier your gut the better your mental health. Foods high in sugar, fat, and additives can then lead to the loss of good bacteria that release these beneficial compounds and we’re left with ones that promote inflammation. Poor gut diversity has even been implicated in things like depression and anxiety.
Managing Inflammation
So how can we manage inflammation? Let’s start with diet. Remember those omega-3s we were talking about? They are converted into compounds that directly produce anti-inflammatory products.
The types of omega-3s include DHA, EPA, and ALA. DHA and EPA are found in sources such as oily fish, algae, fish oil, and algal oil while ALA is found in walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnut oil, and flax oil. DHA and EPA are the best sources because they are more easily converted than ALA. This is why it may be beneficial for vegans and vegetarians to take a supplement with DHA and EPA, however not necessary if you are eating a well-rounded diet rich in ALA sources.
Fruits and vegetables are also considered anti-inflammatory as they contain high levels of vitamins and phytochemicals. These compounds increase anti-inflammatory activity by increasing antioxidant activity, inhibiting the action of inflammatory compounds, regulating the immune system, and improving the composition of the gut microbiome.
Of course, not all fruits and vegetables will be right for everyone! So it’s important to eat the ones that work well with your body and that you enjoy.
The Mediterranean diet is a wonderful and tasty example of a diet that decreases inflammation, increases gut diversity, and can protect against chronic illnesses. Read more on this here: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/mediterranean-diet/
References
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Chen, L., Deng, H., Cui, H., Fang, J., Zuo, Z., Deng, J., Li, Y., Wang, X., & Zhao, L. (2018). Inflammatory Responses and inflammation-associated Diseases in Organs. Oncotarget, 9(6), 7204–7218.
https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.23208
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Harvard School of Public Health. (2018, December 12). Diet Review: Mediterranean Diet. The Nutrition Source. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/mediterranean-diet/
Irwin, M. R., Olmstead, R., & Carroll, J. E. (2016). Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Duration, and Inflammation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies and Experimental Sleep Deprivation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(1), 40–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.014
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Mariamenatu, A. H., & Abdu, E. M. (2021). Overconsumption of Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids
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“Balanced Antagonistic Metabolic Functions” in the Human Body. Journal of Lipids, 2021(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8848161
National Institutes of Health. (2022, July 18). Office of Dietary Supplements – Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Nih.gov. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Omega3FattyAcids-Consumer/
Newman, T. (2022). Should You Avoid Seed Oils? Zoe.com. https://zoe.com/learn/are-seed-oils-bad-for-you
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*This guide is for educational and informational use only. It is not medical advice and should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease. Please always consult your doctor regarding a medical condition.
