04/01/2026
Anti inflammatory vs pro inflammatory foods
The most pro-inflammatory food component is saturated fat, which is found in meat, dairy, eggs, and junk. These products also contain other pro-inflammatory food components, such as cholesterol and trans fat.
The most anti-inflammatory food component is fiber. It appears that an increase of just 10 extra grams of fiber per 1,000 calories would equate to four fewer years of cellular aging. Now, of course, diets high in fiber go hand in hand with diets with significant amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. So, fiber may just be a marker of eating lots of whole, healthy plant foods.
Anthocyanins, the antioxidant pigments that give berries their bright red, blue, and purple colors, have been shown in dozens of randomized controlled trials to reduce inflammation.
Turmeric, garlic powder, and ginger powder were also found to reduce interleukin-6 (IL-6), a marker of inflammation. However, antioxidant supplements, specifically vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and selenium, as well as turmeric supplements, provided no benefit for reducing markers of inflammation.
How else can we bring down inflammation? By changing our overall diet.
When individuals switched to strictly plant-based nutrition, their diets flipped to become anti-inflammatory. Not all plant-foods are anti-inflammatory, though. If all we do is boost our intake of less healthy plant foods, like juice, white bread, white potatoes, soda, and cake, we can end up with more inflammation. A really clean diet of whole plant foods can also significantly reduce levels of Lp(a), something we didn’t even think could be achieved with diet, as well as drop our LDL cholesterol. It can reduce levels of inflammatory markers, too. We’re talking about a 30 percent drop in C-reactive protein and a 20 percent drop in IL-6.
Cutting down on both animal products and processed foods, while increasing intake of whole plant foods, may be the most effective dietary strategy to combat inflammation.
How Not to Age is out now! Borrow a copy from your local library or order one today: https://see.nf/HNTABook
Watch the videos “Which Foods Are Anti-Inflammatory?” at https://see.nf/plantshift and “What to Eat to Prevent Telomere Shortening” at https://bit.ly/3Y2jXsR. Learn more about anti-inflammatory diets at https://see.nf/3PxxVid.
PMIDs: 23941862, 26039142, 28866452, 28298267, 29570620, 31669599, 32147056, 31121255, 30949665, 32147845, 20399082, 29546309, 25532675, 30927000, 30014498
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