I've spoken before about the importance of managing inflammation in your body, through eating whole foods: vegetables, meats, seafood, fruits, some nuts and seeds. You want to reduce inflammation since it seems to be the root of many diseases – so an easy way to stay healthy is to reduce inflammation. You can reduce inflammation by NOT putting inflammatory things into your body like gluten and lectins, which means removing certain foods from your diet. Another thing you can do is put good things into your body that are anti-inflammatory. Spring is in the air and so are the beautiful cherry blossoms, and cherries have a lot of great nutritional properties and are something that you should consider including in your diet as part of your plan to reduce inflammation.
Cherries are a rich source of:
• Vitamin C
• Potassium
• Boron, a mineral that plays an essential role in bone health, especially for women
...and help control inflammation
One way to use cherries is to think of them as a great post workout tool, like taking extra fish oil after a heavy lifting day, you can incorporate cherries and natural unsweetened cherry juice into your post workout recovery routine. According to this article by Leo Galland, MD through the Huffington post cherries may be as effective as aspirin, are great for workout recovery, and may even be able to help with gout. He quotes a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition that states that consuming cherries “before and after strenuous work” (Crossfit anyone?) “may have a protective effect to reduce muscle damage and pain.” My additional two cents, try cherries but make sure you’re checking for added sugars and be careful how much fruit you're eating, espeically if it's dried fruit. Munch on dried cherries on a long run, experiment with the concentrated unsweetened cherry juice as a post workout recovery tool, and once they come in season grab some from your local farmer’s market and enjoy as a recovery tool and delicious snack!
What we think we know about grains based on everything you've heard and been told by your friends, family, doctors, the food pyramid, your health teacher, and the media is that whole grains are healthy and good for you and should be a staple in your diet. Whole grains are included "as part of a complete breakfast" and to help fulfill you RDA, Recommended Daily Amount, of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Americans regularly eat bagels, donuts, pastries, cereal, muffins, toast - all grain based breakfast foods in addition to sandwiches, pizza, rice and pasta at lunch or dinner.
So why did I change my diet and go from eating a loaf of bread a week as a high carb/low fat believer in whole grains to going Paleo and no longer eating grains at all? I started to learn more about grains and found that grains aren't as much good as 'they' say.
First, lets define what is a grain?
Wheat, Rye, Barley, Flour (made from any grain), Oats, Cereals, Corn...yes corn is a grain, Rice, Quinoa*, Couscous
Why I don't eat Grains:
Grains contain Lectins that cause inflammation and cause auto-immune responses:
Lectins = Proteins found in grains (Gluten is one of them) that cause an inflammatory response and break down and actually attack your intestinal lining because your stomach acid is unable to break them down. When they attack the lining of your gut, it creates small holes that enable both lectins and other things to 'leak' outside of your digestive system and into your blood stream. When this happens both harmful and non-harmful particles can enter your body, so your body attacks them causing an inflammatory response often associated with auto-immune diseases (like Multiple Sclerosis, Celiac Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis). In addition to the inflammatory response your body is attacking itself and diverting attention away from being able to attack other things. With constant re-exposure to grains your gut never has time to heal, and therefore the damage persists and gets worse each time you eat more grains.
Celiac Disease = extreme form of reaction to the lectin gluten, so for people that are gluten intolerant the attacking of the gut lining and response is extremely bad. Robb Wolf, a former research biochemist turned Paleolithic Nutrition and Strength & Conditioning coach, states that all people are gluten intolerant to some degree; try taking grains (especially ones containing gluten) out of your diet and see what clears up...allergies, colds, energy spikes and lows, stuffy nose in the morning, headaches and more.
