Day 24 Chronic inflammation

The immune system’s response to an inflammatory diet diverts the body’s energy from healing and repair and allows whatever is latent in our genetic makeup to “kick up” whatever is chronic (arthritis, migraines, depression) and worsen.

Chronic inflammation exacerbates and hastens the aging process because it floods tissues with free radicals and promotes the destruction of normal cells. Chronic low-grade inflammation contributes to the aging process, and research shows that it is a major contributor to the aging of the cardiovascular and nervous system. Inflammation is now recognized as one of the key risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol and stroke and cognitive and neurological disorders.

It is becoming increasingly clear that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many serious illnesses - including heart disease, many cancers, and Alzheimer's disease. When inflammation persists or serves no purpose, it damages the body and causes illness. Stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition, and exposure to toxins (like secondhand tobacco smoke) can all contribute to such chronic inflammation, but dietary choices play a big role as well. Learning how specific foods influence the inflammatory process is the best strategy for containing it and reducing long-term disease risks.

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet is not a diet in the popular sense - it is not intended as a weight-loss program (although people can and do lose weight on it), nor is it an eating plan to stay on for a limited period of time. Rather, it is way of selecting and preparing foods based on scientific knowledge of how they can help your body maintain optimum health. Along with influencing inflammation, this diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids dietary fiber, and protective phytonutrients.

You can also adapt your existing recipes according to these anti-inflammatory diet principles:

General Diet Tips:

• Aim for variety.
• Include as much fresh food as possible.
• Minimize your consumption of processed foods and fast food.
• Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables.

Caloric Intake

• The distribution of calories you take in should be as follows: 40 to 50 percent from carbohydrates, 30 percent from fat, and 20 to 30 percent from protein.
• Try to include carbohydrates, fat, and protein at each meal.

Carbohydrates

• The majority should be in the form of less-refined, less-processed foods with a low glycemic load.
• Reduce your consumption of foods made with wheat flour and sugar, especially bread and most packaged snack foods (including chips and pretzels).
• Eat more whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat, in which the grain is intact or in a few large pieces. These are preferable to whole wheat flour products, which have roughly the same glycemic index as white flour products.
• Eat more beans, winter squashes, and sweet potatoes.
• Cook pasta al dente and eat it in moderation.
• Avoid products made with high fructose corn syrup.

Fat

• A ratio of 1:2:1 of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fat.
• Reduce your intake of saturated fat by eating less butter, cream, high-fat cheese, unskinned chicken and fatty meats, and products made with palm kernel oil.
• 

  Use extra-virgin olive oil as a main cooking oil. Organic canola oil is also acceptable.
• Avoid regular safflower and sunflower oils, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and mixed vegetable oils.
• Strictly avoid margarine, vegetable shortening, and all products listing them as ingredients. Strictly avoid all products made with partially hydrogenated oils of any kind. Include in your diet avocados and nuts, especially walnuts, cashews, almonds, and nut butters made from these nuts.
• For omega-3 fatty acids, eat Krill oil, cold water salmon, sardines packed in water or olive oil, herring, and black cod (sablefish, butterfish); omega-3 fortified eggs; hemp seeds and flaxseeds (preferably freshly ground); or take a fish oil supplement.

Protein

• Eat less protein if you have liver or kidney problems, allergies, or autoimmune disease.
• Decrease your consumption of animal protein except for fish and high quality natural cheese and yogurt.
• Eat more vegetable protein, especially from beans in general and soybeans in particular. Become familiar with the range of whole-soy foods available and find ones you like.

Fiber

• Try to eat 40 grams of fiber a day. You can achieve this by increasing your consumption of fruit, especially berries, vegetables (especially beans), and whole grains.
• Ready-made cereals can be good fiber sources, but read labels to make sure they give you at least 4 and preferably 5 grams of bran per one-ounce serving.

Phytonutrients

• To get maximum natural protection against age-related diseases (including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease) as well as against environmental toxicity, eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and mushrooms.
• Choose fruits and vegetables from all parts of the color spectrum, especially berries, tomatoes, orange and yellow fruits, and dark leafy greens.
• Choose organic produce or thoroughly clean your produce.
• Eat cruciferous (cabbage-family) vegetables regularly.
• Include soy foods in your diet.
• Drink tea instead of coffee, especially good quality white, green or oolong tea.
• If you drink alcohol, use red wine preferentially.
• Enjoy plain dark chocolate in moderation (with a minimum cocoa content of 70 percent).

Vitamins and Minerals
The best way to obtain your daily vitamins is by eating a diet high in fresh foods with an abundance of fruits and vegetables. For minerals, and micronutrients supplement your diet with the following antioxidant cocktail:

• Vitamin C, 200 milligrams a day.
• Vitamin E, 400 IU of natural mixed tocopherols (d-alpha-tocopherol with other tocopherols, or, better, a minimum of 80 milligrams of natural mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols).
• Selenium, 200 micrograms of an organic (yeast-bound) form.
• Mixed carotenoids, 10,000-15,000 IU daily.
• 

  A multimineral supplement (70+ minerals).
• At least 400 micrograms of folic acid and 2,000 IU of vitamin D. It should contain no iron (unless you are a female and having regular menstrual periods) and no preformed vitamin A (retinol). Take these supplements with your largest meal.
• You should take supplemental calcium (500 milligrams) Magnesium (250 milligrams) 2-3 times a day with food.
  
  

Other Dietary Supplements

• If you are not eating oily fish at least twice a week, take supplemental Krill oil.
• DO NOT go on low-dose aspirin therapy. Antioxidants do the same thing but better.
• If you are not regularly eating ginger and turmeric, consider taking these in supplemental form.
• Add coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to your daily regimen: 60-100 milligrams of a softgel form taken with your largest meal.
• If you are prone to metabolic syndrome, take alpha-lipoic acid, 100 to 400 milligrams a day.
  
  

Water

• Drink pure water, or drinks that are mostly water (tea, very diluted fruit juice, sparkling water with lemon) throughout the day.
• Use bottled water or get a home water purifier if your tap water tastes of chlorine or other contaminants.

Day 23 Metabolism

Every function of every organ in the body relies on the energy provided by the metabolism of calories. How much energy you need on any given day depends on what you are doing, what you ate and the state of your health. The basic metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the minimal amount of calories you need to live. Some people need only 1200 calories, while professional athletes need 2000.

People with a high metabolism burn more calories than people with a low metabolism. Intense exercise requires more energy than resting on the couch and you burn more calories digesting good food then junk food.

The goal is to have the calories you eat match the calories you burn or it gets stored as fat.

So how do you know how much energy you need?

Unless you have access to a calorie meter that accurately measures your BMR, you will only be able to estimate your energy needs. However, by performing certain exercises and eating certain foods with a high thermogenic potential, you can easily increase the amount of calories you burn.

Here are a few simple and surprising strategies to help boost your metabolism.

Exercise Less Intensity

Turns out that when the body needs energy during intense exercise it goes for the more easily metabolized foodstuff first. Carbs are quickly turned into energy and require less energy to metabolize. So to burn the fat, you need to perform exercise more often and less intensely. Sure, intense exercise can burn calories and build muscle mass that will burn energy more efficiently. But it is the steady fire that will help to improve metabolism. The best strategy is to alternate brief intense exercise with slow and steady moderate exercise.

Drink Coffee and Tea and Heat

Coffee is a stimulant that contains caffeine. It can help you stay awake but also boost energy expenditure and speed up metabolism. So don't be afraid to drink a cup of Joe.

Green tea has compounds called phenols that have great thermogenic properties. Give the green light to green tea and drink it hot or cold to promote energy expenditure.

Spice it with Heat. Some plants contain the bio-active ingredient capsaicin, which not only makes them spicy hot, but also doubles energy expenditure for 3 hours after a meal. Plants belonging to this family are a hot ticket for boosting metabolism. Include red peppers, cayenne, jalapenos, habaneros, and Tabasco to recipes. It may also work to decrease appetite centers in the brain by boosting the release of certain neurotransmitters.

Ginger is also another good add. It not only aids in digestion but increases body temperature and metabolic rates as much as 20 percent after eating. Slice fresh ginger and stir-fry it with vegetables for an energy invigorating meal.