Iinflammation, defined as a protective immune response to injury or irritation, when chronic, can lead to many illnesses and diseases, including cancer. Metaflammation is linked to the metabolic system and is a low-grade inflammation caused by environmental and lifestyle factors, including “poor and over-nutrition, inactivity, inadequate sleep, smoking, stress, depression and pollution.”
There are other differences between inflammation and metaflammation, but for the current discussion, we are only focusing on a specific lifestyle stimulus, diet.
Egger and Dixon did a study called “Inflammatory effects of neutral stimuli: further support for the need for a big picture approach to tackling obesity and chronic disease,” performing a lit search on food and beverages and not on specific nutrients, seeking information on ones that are pro- and anti-inflammatory inducers.
They found that the main difference in whether foods are pro- or anti-inflammatory is modernity and newness to our diets. The underlying notion that the current western diet is bad for our health is not new, and perhaps this is part of where the idea that the paleo diet is advantageous to our longevity comes from.
More recently introduced foods (such as things that are processed or have been modified, but see list below for specifics) are pro-inflammatory inducers, as our bodies and immune systems see them as “‘foreign invaders.’” The effects might be “secondary to energy balance and/or insulin resistance.”
Conversely, foods that we have had for a long time and have an evolutionary association with tend to be anti-inflammatory because of “natural selection, epigenetics or metabolic adjustment.”
Interestingly and importantly, these findings are independent of obesity, so it appears that contrary to popular opinion, obesity is an accomplice rather than a cause.
The authors have a nice chart that summarizes their findings with regards to specific foods and beverages:
Pro-inflammatory
· Alcohol (excessive)
· Energy intake (excessive)
· Fast food/western style diet
· Fasting
· Fat
o Saturated fatty acids
o ‘Trans’ fats
o High fat diet
o Low N3 : N6 ratio?
· Fructose
· Glucose
o High glycemic load diet
o High-GI foods
o Glycaemic status
· Meat (domesticated)
· Refined Carbohydrate
· Soft drink
Anti-inflammatory
· Alcohol (moderate)
· Cocoa/dark chocolate
· Coffee (?)
· Dairy calcium
· Energy intake (restricted)
· Fat
o Mono/polyunsaturated
o High N3 : N6 ratio?
· Fish/fish oils
· Fibre (high intake)
· Fruits and Vegetables
· Glucose
o Low-GI foods
· Herbs and spices
· Meat (game)?
· Mediterranean/portfolio diet
· Milk
· Nuts
· Soy protein
· Tea
As a side-note, they had a quote I quite liked. When talking about meat and the current practices off feeding animals growth enhancing substances and not letting them move much and how that's likely to be pro-inflammatory to us, the authors caution, "in both the animals and humans eating this...we are 'not just what we eat, but what we eat, eats.'"
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