Inflammation, a natural defense mechanism of the body, plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health when properly balanced. However, an imbalanced immune system can lead to rampant inflammation, creating a chronic internal fire that contributes to various health issues, including disease and weight gain. Diet is a powerful tool for managing inflammation, with industrial foods often exacerbating the problem and whole, nutrient-rich foods working to reduce it.
Understanding Inflammation and Its Impact
Inflammation is part of the body’s natural defense system and can be a good thing in balance. However, when your immune system shifts out of balance, inflammation can run rampant-causing a chronic, smoldering fire inside your body that contributes to disease, weight gain, and more.
What we eat is one of the biggest levers we have when it comes to driving or reducing inflammation. Industrial food drives inflammation, oxidative stress, hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances, overloads your detoxification system, depletes your energy, damages your microbiome, and changes your gene expression to turn on disease-causing genes. Real, whole, nutrient and phytonutrient-rich food does the opposite.
The Power of Food as Medicine
Dr. Mark Hyman emphasizes that food is more than just energy or calories; it's information that can upgrade or downgrade your biological software with every bite. It changes your gene expression, your hormones, your brain chemistry, your immune system, and even your gut microbiome. Using food as medicine can create health, and as you create health, disease goes away as a side effect.
Key Principles of an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
According to Dr. Hyman, an anti-inflammatory diet, such as the one used in his Functioning for Life program, is low in starch and sugar, high in the right fats and fiber, and rich in plant foods. This approach focuses on adding in the good stuff and taking out the bad stuff, allowing the body to naturally respond and heal.
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Focus on Whole, Unprocessed Foods
The foundation of Dr. Hyman’s anti-inflammatory diet is built upon whole, unprocessed foods. These foods are in their natural state and haven't been altered by industrial processing.
Plant-Rich Diet
Make sure 75 percent of your diet comes from plants. Let veggies be the star of the show. A plant-rich diet is a cornerstone of this approach. This doesn't necessarily mean a plant-based diet, but rather one that prioritizes a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.
Healthy Fats
Be afraid of the wrong fats, but not the right fats. You don't want to eat processed refined oils, you don't want to have transfats, you don't want all the nasty stuff, but you want it whole food, plant-rich oils, like nuts and seeds and avocados and really good things. Even grass fed meats and wild fish, those are all great sources of fat.
Limit Starch and Sugar
One of the key principles is to limit the intake of starch and sugar. This helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and reduce inflammation.
High Fiber Intake
Fiber is essential for gut health and helps to regulate inflammation. Good sources of fiber include vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
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The Pegan Diet: A Hybrid Approach
Dr. Hyman is also known for popularizing the "Pegan" diet, which combines principles from both paleo and vegan diets. The pegan diet promotes health by reducing inflammation and balancing blood sugar. It focuses on whole foods, especially vegetables, while mostly avoiding gluten, dairy, most grains, and legumes.
Core Components of the Pegan Diet
The pegan diet combines key principles from paleo and vegan diets based on the notion that nutrient-dense, whole foods can reduce inflammation, balance blood sugar, and support health. The diet focuses on vegetables and fruit, while allowing small to moderate amounts of: meat, certain fish, nuts, seeds, some legumes. The diet discourages heavily processed sugars, oils, and grains, but they are still suitable in very small amounts.
Foods to Emphasize
- Vegetables and Fruits: These should comprise 75% of your total intake. Focus on low-glycemic options like berries and non-starchy vegetables.
- Responsibly Sourced Protein: Include grass-fed, pasture-raised sources of beef, pork, poultry, and whole eggs, as well as low-mercury fish like sardines and wild salmon.
- Minimally Processed Fats: Opt for healthy fats from nuts (except peanuts), seeds (except processed seed oils), avocado, olives, cold-pressed olive and avocado oil, coconut, and omega-3s.
Foods to Avoid or Limit
- Dairy: Limit cow’s milk, yogurt, and cheese. Foods made from sheep or goat milk are acceptable in limited quantities, and grass-fed butter is sometimes allowed.
- Gluten: Limit all gluten-containing grains.
- Gluten-Free Grains: Even gluten-free grains are limited, though small amounts of whole grains are occasionally acceptable.
- Legumes: Most legumes are limited due to their potential to increase blood sugar, though low-starch legumes like lentils may be allowed.
- Sugar: Any form of added sugar is usually avoided or consumed sparingly.
- Refined Oils: Avoid refined or highly processed oils like canola, soybean, sunflower, and corn oil.
- Food Additives: Avoid artificial colorings, flavorings, preservatives, and other additives.
Grocery Shopping Tips
When grocery shopping, Dr. Hyman recommends shopping around the outside of the aisles, where whole, unprocessed foods are typically located. Avoid the aisles with processed foods.
Sample Anti-Inflammatory Meal Plan
Here is a sample menu for one week on the diet:
Monday
- Breakfast: Vegetable omelet with a simple green salad dressed in olive oil
- Lunch: Kale salad with chickpeas, strawberries, and avocado
- Dinner: Wild salmon patties with roasted carrots, steamed broccoli, and lemon vinaigrette
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Sweet potato “toast” topped with sliced avocado, pumpkin seeds, and lemon vinaigrette
- Lunch: Bento box with boiled eggs, sliced turkey, raw veggie sticks, fermented pickles, and blackberries
- Dinner: Veggie stir-fry with cashews, onions, bell pepper, tomato, and black beans
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Green smoothie with apple, kale, almond butter, and hemp seeds
- Lunch: Leftover veggie stir-fry
- Dinner: Grilled shrimp and veggie kabobs with black rice pilaf
Thursday
- Breakfast: Coconut and chia seed pudding with walnuts and fresh blueberries
- Lunch: Mixed green salad with avocado, cucumber, grilled chicken, and cider vinaigrette
- Dinner: Roasted beet salad with pumpkin seeds, Brussels sprouts, and sliced almonds
Friday
- Breakfast: Fried eggs, kimchi, and braised greens
- Lunch: Lentil and vegetable stew with a side of sliced cantaloupe
- Dinner: Salad with radishes, jicama, guacamole, and grass-fed beef strips
Saturday
- Breakfast: Overnight oats with cashew milk, chia seeds, walnuts, and berries
- Lunch: Leftover lentil and vegetable stew
- Dinner: Roast pork loin with steamed veggies, greens, and quinoa
Sunday
- Breakfast: Veggie omelet with a simple green salad
- Lunch: Thai-style salad rolls with cashew cream sauce and orange slices
- Dinner: Leftover pork loin and vegetables
Addressing Constipation
Toxins in our digestive tract may make us feel ill if we don’t eliminate them. For some people problems with constipation are exacerbated when they go on the program because of the sudden change in the way they are eating. This may result in an increase in your withdrawal symptoms and make you feel ill. Constipation may also inhibit your attempts at weight loss, because it sabotages your body’s ability to detoxify.
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- Eat two tablespoons of ground flaxseeds a day sprinkled on salads, vegetables or in your Ultra Shake.
- Take two to four 100-150 mg capsules of magnesium citrate twice a day.
- Take 1000-2000 mg of buffered ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder or capsules once or twice a day.
- Take an herbal laxative the day before you start the program whether you struggle with constipation or not. You should take the laxative at 10am the day before you start the program. I also recommend you take an herbal laxative every day you are on the program if you are struggling with constipation and have not had a bowel movement by 10am.
Overcoming Food Emergencies
Dr. Hyman recommends preparing for food emergencies by carrying healthy snacks like Bison bars, nuts, and nut butter packets. He also suggests keeping a cooler bag in your car and stocking your workplace with healthy options to avoid making unhealthy choices when hunger strikes.
The 10-Day Detox Diet
Dr. Hyman advocates for a 10-day detox diet to reset your body and reduce inflammation. This program involves eliminating inflammatory foods and focusing on nutrient-dense, whole foods.
Benefits of the 10-Day Detox
Participants report a 60% reduction in chronic symptoms in just 10 days. The 10-Day Detox is the same program Dr. Hyman uses with his patients to quickly reduce whole-body inflammation, break the cycle of food cravings, and restore the nourishment your body needs to thrive.
Supplements Recommended by Dr. Hyman
While Dr. Hyman emphasizes the importance of food, he also acknowledges the potential benefits of certain supplements to support overall health.
The Importance of Sleep
Getting enough sleep is crucial for overall health and well-being. Dr. Hyman aims for seven to eight hours of sleep every night, recognizing that poor sleep can lead to reduced alertness, impaired memory, and mood changes.
"I give myself a goal to get seven or eight hours of sleep every night,” he says. Which checks out. Short-term effects of poor sleep include reduced alertness, impaired memory, and mood changes.