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The research is there!!
Diet plays a HUGE roll in the management and reversal of chronic inflammation. Below, I have linked some articles from reputable sources you can read through to if you'd like to do more research.
If you're short on time, here's a snap shot of some of my research:
According an article from 2021 by Harvard Health, "One of the most powerful tools to combat inflammation comes not from the pharmacy, but from the grocery store."
As clinical dietician, Lara Snead, explains in an article for John Hopkins Medicine, "Chronic, systemic inflammation is a serious health concern that can be made worse — or better — with diet."
According to an article entitled, "8 Food Ingredients That Can Cause Inflammation by the Arthritis Foundation, "...building a healthy, holistic dietary pattern can help lower your risk of inflammatory disease and transform your health.”
If you're wondering which foods can fight inflammation, as per Lara Snead's article for John Hopkins, while there’s no research to suggest there’s one specific diet to embrace to fight inflammation, a lot of research points to adopting something similar to the Mediterranean Diet as being beneficial.
According to my research, if you're looking to fight inflammation, it's best to avoid the following foods:
1.) Highly processed and packaged foods
2.) Processed red meat
3.) Refined nut and seed oils like vegetable oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, etc.
4.) Margarine (includes vegan oil-based butter alternatives like Earth Balance
5.) Fast food
6.) Fried foods
7.) Soda and sugary drinks
8.) Refined carbohydrates like white flour, white bread, flour tortillas, white rice, pasta, pastries, etc.
9.) Gluten from wheat-based products like pasta, bread, pastries, and grains like farro, couscous, barley, rye, etc.
10.) Casein from dairy
11.) Sugar
12.) Alcohol
I know what you're thinking...
THEN, WHAT IN THE WORLD CAN I EAT??!
I know, I know!
But eating anti-inflammatory isn't just about what you can't eat. In fact, I'd say, it's more important to focus on what to ADD IN to your diet than what to take out.
Because the truth of the matter is, the Standard American Diet is devoid of nutrients. And most of us suffering from autoimmunity and other inflammation-related conditions desperately need to increase our intake of nutrient dense foods.
Here's a list of nutrient-dense foods to eat to beat inflammation from the recommended Mediterranean Diet:
A wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables
Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, etc.
Extra virgin olive oil
Nuts and seeds
Beans and legumes
Gluten free whole grains like quinoa, millet, amaranth, brown rice, etc.
Herbs and spices
These ingredients are naturally full of powerful vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, omega 3s, fiber, prebiotics and probiotics - all which fight inflammation, help build a healthy gut microbiome, fight free radicals and build healthy cells.
All things we need to keep our inflammation low and our immune system strong.
Here's a list of some of the top anti-inflammatory foods:
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Green leafy vegetables
Blueberries
Fatty fish
Extra virgin olive oil
Turmeric
Green tea
Walnuts
Gluten free whole grains
So...how does Flare Free differ from this?
Flare Free food goes slightly above and beyond the Mediterranean Diet by incorporating some of the ingredients most recommended by the top functional medical professionals around the globe who prescribe food as medicine.
It can get super nuanced and I don't want to overwhelm or confuse you so I'll just say this:
Flare Free means gluten/dairy/sugar/corn/soy/peanut free and anti-inflammatory comfort food.
The whole premise of Flare Free is not to make you learn to love anti-inflammatory foods, but to make the foods you love, anti-inflammatory.
Because autoimmunity is a life-long condition and even if you were to reverse your condition through diet and lifestyle, going back to eating the Standard American Diet is just going to make you relapse.
So make foods you love in a way that loves you back so you're excited about eating this way forever.
So you can stay well forever.
The absolute easiest and best way to eat Flare Free is just to simply follow my recipes but if you're a seasoned cook looking to experiment with some of the best-tasting ingredients on the market, you can also just make your favorite recipes Flare Free by swapping what you normally use for their Flare Free counterparts.
HERE'S A LIST OF THE INGREDIENTS I USE INSIDE THE FLARE FREE ACADEMY:
Colorful in season produce (organic if it's on the Dirty Dozen List)
Organic pastured lean meat and eggs
Wild seafood
Organic gluten free grains
Organic beans and legumes
Raw nuts and seeds (many of the roasted and salted ones are coated in inflammatory oils)
Soy-free vegan dairy (look for varieties that don't contain inflammatory oils)
Next, I wanted to share with you how Flare Free has helped me and how it's helped my students.
When I first started eating Flare Free in 2015, I couldn't lift the containers of meals off the counter high enough to get them into their cooler bags at work without horrible pain in my elbows and wrists.
After just 3 months of eating Flare Free, not only did that horrible joint pain go away, but so did my chronic migraines and eczema.
Now, my healing journey wasn't a linear one. I went on to develop a number of different conditions throughout the years like Adrenal Fatigue, Insulin Resistance, gut dysbiosis and toxic mold syndrome.
But the thing that helped me get through all of these things the most (despite having very different healing protocols for each) was eating Flare Free.
That's because throughout it all, if I could control my diet, and keep my inflammation low, and keep my gut healthy, I was able to do the work that was needed to reverse those other conditions much easier.
My immune system was stronger, my gut was healthier, and my inflammation was lower throughout all of that than it would be if I were just eating out all the time.
When I look back on it, I would have periods of time where I would cook and eat whatever I needed to for work (some of the food projects I worked on were the furthest thing from Flare Free) and I would flare-up horribly. Just from tasting the food I was preparing at work.
Then I'd turn back to eating Flare Free again to get well. And I did this time and time again.
Until I was finally tired of the rollercoaster ride of food-driven autoimmune flare-ups I was experiencing over the years due to work and ultimately decided to go all-in on myself and to build my business around what I need to eat to stay well versus just cooking whatever my clients wanted.
So now, I can stay consistent on my healing journey, live out my life's passion, and serve my clients the food they crave, all whilst helping other autoimmune warriors do the same for themselves at home.
So not only has eating Flare Free helped me physically with my health, it's also helped me with emotionally, and professionally. I'm much more in alignment now and I get so much joy and fulfillment from helping people use food as medicine.
(Way better than just working for celebrities, professional athletes, and catering fancy dinner parties!!)
All of this simultaneously helps to keep my stress levels down and therefore my immune system strong and my inflammation low.
Those are just a few ways eating Flare Free has helped me. It's also helped my family and so many of my clients.
Like Gemma who was very skeptical of the benefits of eating Flare Free but gave it a try anyway and within a few months she said, “Eating Flare Free has helped me more than the infusions I have to get for Crohn’s! Less digestive issues and no more bloating!! No more pain from eating is the best!”
And Kathryn who said, “My CRP number dropped a TON after only 9 weeks of eating Flare Free. I’ve learned a lot and am finding the value both externally and internally in eating this way.”
And Sandy who said, "I went to a new doctor and when she did my bloodwork, she came in and goes, 'you're like the healthiest person ever - tell me your secrets' and I told her your recipes! She kept stressing the inflammation markers being excellent and seriously I credit a lot of that with making huge strides in the last year in the way I eat thanks to you!”
So you can see...eating Flare Free has can help fight inflammation in a big way! And these are just a few examples of the many autoimmune warriors who have put in the hard work to change their diet and heal from within and have seen results.
There are many, many more!
If you'd like to hear more, follow me on Instagram @cheflaurarodriguez. I share new feedback as it comes in and I have a highlight on my profile dedicated to past testimonials.
If you've been on the fence about changing your diet because you're not sure it will work, stay tuned for a fun live workshop I will be hosting at the end of the month that will teach you everything you need to know to get started using Flare Free food consistently with ease long enough to lessen the symptoms of your condition so you can try it for yourself!
Who knows...
You may even be my next success story!!
xo,
Laura
Resources: 📚