Reducing Chronic Inflammation through Diet and Lifestyle Changes with Dr. Shilpa Ravella

Chronic inflammation is often the root cause of a wide range of illnesses, from cancer to diabetes to rheumatoid arthritis. And frighteningly, the majority of Americans today are inflamed. What would you do if you knew that the key to reducing inflammation in your body was changing your diet and spending more time in nature? In this episode, Dr. Shilpa Ravella, gastroenterologist, author, and an assistant professor of medicine, is here to talk about how we can all start eating and acting in ways that will boost our microbiome, strengthen our immune systems, and eliminate chronic inflammation from our lives. Tune in today to learn about the difference between chronic and acute inflammation, some of the common indicators of an inflammation issue, which foods to eat more of and which foods to avoid, and the value (from a nutrition perspective) of getting outside more regularly!

Key Points From This Episode

Introducing Dr. Shilpa Ravella, gastroenterologist, author, and assistant professor of medicine.
The reason that we experience acute inflammatory responses.
Examples of how chronic silent inflammation can manifest in our bodies.
Why silent inflammation is so harmful to our health.
One of the clearest physical indicators of silent inflammation.
Tests that are used to pick up silent inflammation.
Shilpa’s thoughts on how tests for inflammation are going to evolve in the future.
Challenges that researchers face when conducting studies in the nutrition science field.
The most important factors to consider when it comes to choosing the food you eat.
Examples of anti-inflammatory foods.
Recommended daily allowances for fiber.
The importance of consuming a diverse range of whole plant foods.
Shilpa’s thoughts on animal protein consumption.
Foods that Shilpa recommends avoiding.
Good oils versus bad oils.
Why spending time in nature is beneficial to your gut microbiome.
How we can train our taste buds to crave healthier foods.
The link between aging and inflammation.
What resolvins are and how they help to dampen inflammation.
Start small: advice for how to change your diet and your lifestyle in a sustainable way.

Tweetables:

“Inflammation is an ancestral force. It evolved to protect us against things like pathogens, poisons, and traumas.” — @shilparavella [0:02:10]

“The majority of us in this country today are inflamed.” — @shilparavella [0:04:08]

“It's not really about the label of the diet; a vegan diet versus a paleo diet versus any other type of a diet — It's really about the quality of the food. Is this a whole food? Is it minimally processed? How did you prepare this food?” — @shilparavella [0:10:52]

“Food is one of the most important choices you can make for preventing inflammation and for treating inflammation.” — @shilparavella [0:11:37]

“The quantity and the diversity of whole plant foods are two of the most important factors in designing an anti-inflammatory microbiome, and calming inflammation in the body, and preventing these chronic inflammatory disorders from taking hold.” — @shilparavella [0:14:01]

Reducing Chronic Inflammation through Diet and Lifestyle Changes with Dr. Shilpa Ravella

Key Points From This Episode

Tweetables:

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: