Professor Tim Spector says eat seven foods to slash inflammation
Inflammation is part of the body's healing process but it can also lead to diseases, or increase complications from them, including heart and circulatory diseases
Gut health gurus Prof Tim Spector and Dr Federica Amati joined the Zoe podcast to chat about how your diet can impact inflammation—a body response that, while part of healing, has its downsides as flagged by the British Heart Foundation, linking it to heart conditions and more.
The good news is, there's a host of food you can tuck into to whittle down those risks. Prof Spector — King's College London's genetic epidemiology professor — said the way you prepare these edibles can massively sway their power.
Taking broccoli as a prime example of anti-inflammatory food, he said: "I think it's one of the brassica family, which includes all kinds of things like cabbages and leeks and onions and garlic and cauliflower. It's because it has anti-inflammatory properties that have been shown. And one of the main chemicals - and this is just an example of one of many, but there's a really cool chemical there that gets released when you eat broccoli called sulforaphane.
"This has all these effects on the body, these anti-inflammatory effects on the body. And it's been shown to reduce obesity related inflammation when you give it to adolescents. It can reduce insulin levels as well."
The expert continued: "And you get even more effects when you look at broccoli sprouts. And this is a general rule. Because the sprout comes out of the seed, and those first shoots have really concentrated amounts of all these nutrients, particularly sulforaphanes. And that gives them even more potential. So the younger that shoot is, the more you're getting of this really cool chemical.", reports Surrey Live.
"Now, there are some problems with sulforaphane, because if you just throw your broccoli into a pan, you'll actually inhibit the sulforaphane from being released because the heat does this. So there's a little chemistry that needs to be going on here. So I've got a tip to overcome this, something called chop and stop. This is the same for broccoli, and it's the same for garlic and onions. You just chop it up, which releases the sulforaphane.
"As you break down the cell walls, all leaks out, and rather than being instantly deactivated by the heat, you leave it for 10 minutes, have a cup of coffee or a sneaky glass of wine and you can then put it in the pan and you're getting all the sulforaphane.
"The other tip is to maximize the sulforaphane is to actually microwave your broccoli. You get three or four times more sulforaphane when you microwave it than when you heat it. Most people think microwaving is really unhealthy, but actually in some, cases it can be a real boon, it because it works differently."
Dr Amati and Prof Spector have also recommended other foods for a healthy diet. Extra virgin olive oil, as Dr Amati highlighted, is packed with polyphenols which are beneficial for our gut microbiome and heart health, and it also reduces inflammation.
Prof Spector suggested dark chocolate, stating that if it doesn't contain much added fat or sugar, two or three squares a day could be beneficial. It contains polyphenols, and the darker it is, the better it tends to be for you.
Chia seeds were also mentioned by Dr Amati as a strong option 'because they contain a great selection of nutrients - hundreds' including amino acids and plant protein. Turmeric was another food item highlighted by Prof Spector due to its curcumin content.
He cited over 20 clinical trials linking it to improved chemotherapy results in cancer treatment.
Berries, particularly raspberries, were recommended by Dr Amati due to their high polyphenol and fibre content, something more than 90 per cent of Brits do not consume enough of daily. Lastly, Prof Spector suggested red cabbage kraut as a 'wild card'.
As a fermented food, he said it was excellent for the gut microbiome and could also reduce inflammation.
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