Foods that Fight Inflammation

Foods that Fight Inflammation: Designing your diet to lower disease risk

In this Harvard Medical School Guide you’ll be introduced to foods — more than 120 in all — that will help you turn out meals that fight inflammation and disease. You’ll learn how plant-based chemicals called phytochemicals act as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents, helping to bring down levels of inflammation and to counteract inflammation’s harmful effects. And you’ll find dozens of anti-inflammatory foods with added health benefits that include lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and stroke, improving blood pressure, adding protection against heart disease, and even reducing pain and soreness after exercise.

You’ve heard all the talk about anti-inflammatory diets. They’re a hot topic — and a hyped topic. We’re besieged by dozens of books and videos with lots of sizzle and but with very little science. But what’s true? What can an anti-inflammatory diet do? Most important, what should you do? You’ll find out in this new report!

The doctors who prepared this report were firm: Just give the facts. No pie-in-the-sky promises. Instead, a down-to-earth perspective.

Fact: Chronic inflammation has not been proven to cause chronic diseases, but strikingly often, its presence corresponds to an increased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and many cancers.

Fact: Certain dietary patterns are linked to a lower risk of inflammation. Beyond that, emerging research suggests specific food choices may further help fight and reduce chronic inflammation.

In short, available evidence suggests that consuming more foods that appear to fight inflammation offers benefits for your health. So get out your shopping list!

In this guide from Harvard Health Publishing you’ll be introduced to foods — more than 120 in all — that will help you turn out meals that fight inflammation and disease.

You’ll learn how plant-based chemicals called phytochemicals act as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents, helping to bring down levels of inflammation and to counteract inflammation’s harmful effects. And you’ll find a “colorful” way to increase the diversity and amount of phytochemicals in your diet.

You’ll discover old friends — and make lasting new ones too!

Being health-conscious, you’ll find foods you already enjoy. Plus, our list is certain to include many others you’ve been meaning to try. It’s a harvest of fruits and vegetables, plus a host of choices among whole grains, nuts and seeds, pulses, fish, unsaturated fats, and more than 20 flavor-boosting spices.

You’ll find dozens of anti-inflammatory foods with added health benefits that include lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and stroke, improving blood pressure, adding protection against heart disease, and even reducing pain and soreness after exercise.

This guide brings you the honesty you deserve… the explanations you want… and the guidance you can trust. Don’t wait! Order Foods that Fight Inflammation today!

Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publishing in consultation with Robert H. Shmerling, M.D., Corresponding Member of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Division of Rheumatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing. (2024)

About Harvard Medical School Guides

Harvard Medical School Guides delivers compact, practical information on important health concerns. These publications are smaller in scope than our Special Health Reports. Still, they are written in the same clear, easy-to-understand language, and they provide the authoritative health advice you expect from Harvard Health Publishing.

Eat the rainbow!

By eating a wide range of colorful plant foods, you can increase the diversity and amounts of phytochemicals in your diet. This is a good strategy for reducing chronic inflammation.

BLUE-PURPLE
Fruits: black currants, blackberries, blueberries, figs, grapes, plums.
Vegetables: black beans, eggplant, purple potatoes, radicchio, red cabbage

GREEN
Fruits: avocados, green apples, green grapes, green pears, honeydew, kiwi, limes
Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, green beans, green bell peppers, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, okra, peas, watercress, zucchini

WHITE
Fruits: bananas, white nectarines, white peaches
Vegetables: cauliflower, garlic, ginger, Jerusalem artichokes, jicama, kohlrabi, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, shallots, turnips, white corn

YELLOW-ORANGE
Fruits: apricots, cantaloupe, golden kiwi, gooseberries, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peaches, persimmons, pineapple, tangerines, yellow apples, yellow figs, yellow pears, yellow watermelon
Vegetables: butternut squash, carrots, corn, golden beets, golden potatoes, pumpkins, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, yellow and orange tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, yellow summer squash

RED
Fruits: blood oranges, cherries, cranberries, pomegranates, raspberries, red apples, red grapefruit, red grapes, red pears, rhubarb, strawberries, watermelon
Vegetables: beets, radicchio, radishes, red bell peppers, red onions, red potatoes, tomatoes

Inflammation and diet: Beyond the hype
What is inflammation?
The food-inflammation connection
Dietary patterns and inflammation
Inflammation-fighting foods
Putting it all together
Recipes
Resources

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Fighting Inflammation

Chronic inflammation plays a central role in some of the most challenging diseases of our time, including rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and even Alzheimer’s. This report will examine the role that chronic inflammation plays in these conditions, and will also provide information on the breadth of drugs currently available to alleviate symptoms. Drug choices range from simple aspirin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that’s been available for more than a century, to disease-modifying drugs and so-called biologics that promise more targeted treatments.

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Foods that Fight Inflammation