Emily Weeks - The Everything Easy Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook : 200 Recipes to Naturally Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease, Diabetes, Arthritis, Dementia, and Other Inflammatory Diseases

My earliest food memories take me back to sitting around the kitchen table, having family-style dinners with my mom, dad, sister, and brother. We ate dinner together most nights, and my siblings and I were often involved in helping to prepare the mealssauting, setting the table, pouring glasses of milk. I loved to help in the kitchen as a child, and this built the foundation for me to be able to cook and take care of myself as an adult.

As I grew up and left the house, I realized that not everyone had the same experiences as me, and this fueled my passion to become a registered dietitian and help others learn to cook and take care of themselves. Now with a family of my own, its important for me to teach my children the same skills I learned growing upnot only how to cook, but how to take care of themselves.

In this book, I share my knowledge about nutrition and how it can have a profound impact on our minds and bodies. Its my goal to teach others not to obsess over what we eat or how much we exercise, but instead to focus on the positives and learn what we can add to our lives rather than take away. I truly believe we can design a life where maintaining a healthy lifestyle is both rewarding and enjoyable.

Emily Weeks, RDN, LD

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: Questions, Facts, Alerts, and Essentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way too.

question

Answers to common questions.

alert

Urgent warnings.

fact

Important snippets of information.

essential

Quick handy tips.

We now have more than 600 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as cooking, health, parenting, personal finance, wedding planning, word puzzles, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything!

PUBLISHER Karen Cooper

MANAGING EDITOR Lisa Laing

COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert

PRODUCTION EDITOR Jo-Anne Duhamel

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Lisa Laing

SENIOR DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Lisa Laing

EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander

To Nick, Abigail, & Harrison

From the first day of life and throughout the life cycle, the human body is constantly growing, changing, and healing. And every day, the body naturally responds to viruses, bacteria, toxins, and other damaging factors like cuts and scrapes by activating a natural inflammatory response.

However, sometimes this inflammatory response is not turned off after the threat is gone, leaving a form of silent inflammation that can damage the body. Instead of protecting and healing the body, inflammation becomes the enemy. Although inflammation is a natural and essential response to injury, irritation, and infection, there can be too much of a good thing. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimers disease, and autoimmune diseases are all linked to uncontrolled inflammation.

Luckily, more and more research supports specific behaviors that can significantly reduce the presence of inflammation in the body. Rather than treat the problems linked to inflammation, the focus has turned to proactively preventing inflammation. Embracing an anti-inflammatory lifestyle can help treat or reduce the risk of a variety of chronic diseases and conditions. This includes choosing fruits and vegetables rich in phytochemicals and antioxidants, mostly plant-based protein foods, whole grains, healthy fats, and probiotics. Adequate sleep and fluids, exercise, stress reduction, and dietary supplements round out the anti-inflammatory menu.

Whether youre dealing with chronic inflammation or simply trying to avoid it in the first place, in this cookbook youll find two hundred easy and satisfying recipes to make your transition to an anti-inflammatory lifestyle effortless. Start the day with a fruit-filled smoothie or a hearty (Chapter 12), which only sounds decadent.

Along the way, The Everything Easy Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook will teach you about foods that reduce inflammation and give you tips on adding them to your everyday meals. As you embark on this journey of healthier eating and habits, try not to focus on what you shouldnt eat. Think about the joy of discovering new foods and reimagined favorites as you provide your body with the fuel it needs to keep inflammation at bay. Youll be amazed at how good youll feel!

T he anti-inflammatory lifestyle isnt a fad diet. Its a lifestyle change that can add years to your life and can help treat or reduce the risk of a variety of chronic diseases and conditions. In this chapter, youll learn about the roots of inflammation and how to build a healing lifestyle that can reduce inflammation for good. Youll learn how to build an anti-inflammatory plate with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins, especially the foods that are high in antioxidants and will become your new staples. Youll also find tips on day-to-day changes such as getting enough sleep, reducing stress, staying hydrated, and becoming physically activeall important parts of this healthy lifestyle. Overall, its about making small, sustainable changes when you can, rather than undertaking an entire life makeover and striving for a perfect diet. Every small change you make contributes to lowering inflammation in the body and improving your quality of life. So lets get started!

Whenever you are exposed to an infectious agent or experience tissue injury or damage, your immune system mounts an inflammatory response. For example, when you cut your finger and it becomes red and swollen, inflammation is working its magic, and its a lifesaver. During this response, your body releases pro-inflammatory chemicals and hormones that are equipped to deal with any threat to the body. These mercenaries attack unwelcome foreign invaders such as bacteria while tending to harmed tissue. Blood flow increases to places that require healing. Pain intensifies as a signal that something is wrong within the body.

fact

The body uses fatty acids to make eicosanoids. Omega-6 fatty acids produce the eicosanoids that promote inflammation and blood clotting, suppress the immune system, and reduce healthy high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. Omega-3 fatty acids have the opposite effect of omega-6 fatty acids as a result of the eicosanoids they synthesize. So the more omega-3 fatty acids you consume, the more anti-inflammatory eicosanoid generation in your body.