Why the Anti-inflammatory Diet Didn't Work for Me

I tried the anti-inflammatory diet and I really wanted it to work, but it didn't. I was so excited about it that my friend tried it too. We were both overweight and feeling unhealthy. She lost weight and feels better than she has in years. I gained weight and got sicker.

It has been almost a year, since I posted in this blog or any of my other blogs. My health hasn't been great, but I learned from trying the anti-inflammatory diet that I need certain foods to feel ok, and I've finally started losing the weight.

The problem that I had on the anti-inflammatory diet was not eating enough grains and carbs. Without grains and carbs, I had digestive problems and was hungry all the time. I became obsessed with food.

The diet that has been bringing improvements to my life is a plant-based whole food diet. I haven't completely given up animal products yet, but the fewer animal products I eat, the better I feel.

I've also been counting calories and making sure I get enough exercise every day. Eating plant-based whole foods, I rarely go over the number of calories recommended for my age and body type, which means I am not as hungry anymore. I'm getting more exercise because I feel better.

I'm glad that eating chicken and fish instead of homemade bread helps some people, like it did my friend. I say it just didn't work for me because different people really do have different nutritional needs. My dad can't eat the kinds of fruit and berries that I do. Another friend of mine can't eat wheat.

I simply can't get by with out those delicious whole grains.

Omega-please

In preparing to make this change in my life, I’ve been experimenting with a lot of seafood. I never used to be a fan of it, but am having fun trying new recipes. Last night, I made tilapia with chermoula sauce and cucumber blood orange couscous.

Tilapia with chermoula sauce and cucumber blood orange couscous.

Chermoula, or charmoula, is popular in Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking, as a marinade, and to flavour seafood. It was really simple to make by mixing cumin, coriander, sweet paprika, cilantro, olive oil, and lemon juice together.

Eating seafood seems like an important part of the anti-inflammatory diet because essential fatty acids play such an important role in the body. Fatty fish are high in fatty acids, especially omega-3s, which help form the classic eicsanoids that affect inflammation; the endocannabinoids that affect mood, behaviour, and inflammation; the lipoxins that also affect inflammation; and others — even acting on DNA.

However, when my kid was 3 years-old, they once famously said: “Fish are for swimming; not for eating!” And poof! We had a new vegetarian in the family. Eventually, they even became vegan and I cooked nothing, but vegan food, for ten years. They grew taller and more talented than me without eating any fish for a large portion of their life. So, is eating fish really that important?

It turns out my kid probably benefited from not eating certain kinds of fatty fish because they are also high in mercury, PCBs, and other toxins that can be especially harmful to children and pregnant women. Walnuts, flaxseed, canola, and soybean oils are all much safer sources of essential fatty acids.

Because I just started experimenting with these great fish recipes, I am not going to give them up just yet. In the meantime, I suppose I could give walnuts a chance.