So I was reading the quarterly magazine that's published for people with the neuro disorder I have. One of the articles was about Pain, Inflammation and Nutrition (written by a chiropractor and citing about 12 references from various journals including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Journal of Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry). After several months of vegan eating, I was dismayed to read that grains and legumes are considered "pro-inflammatory" because of some compounds they contain (lectin and gliadin). The article concluded that the best diet for reducing inflammation (and, therefore, pain) was to get most calories from fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish and lean meat, preferably grass-fed or wild game.

I'm curious if anyone has heard of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory foods? Thoughts?

I don't know a whole lot except my mother has several medical issues, including a neuro disorder and her doctor recommended an anti-inflamatory diet much like what you described. She has lost weight (she had severe bloating/edema in her belly) and has noticed a decrease in pain. It hasn't "cured" her or anything, but she feels a LOT better.

You may want to try NutritionData.com. Whatever foods you record are rated on the inflammatory chart they have. It's very helpful. But that's the first I've heard of inflammatory foods. I always had a runny nose and my dietician told me to cut out dairy products. So I'm sure other foods have effects on the body as well.

Thanks for the URL! I put in kidney beans and the scale said "mildly inflammatory." Chicken was "moderately inflammatory." Quinoa was N/A, which I'm not sure if it means not inflammatory at all or not enough information.

Junebug41, did your mother eat animal products prior to the anti-inflammatory diet?

In the end you have to decide for yourself, because most all these things are all based on studies that are *not* definitive. It's very hard to really prove nutritional theories. Too hard to control too many variables in large numbers of people for long periods of time. Doesn't mean we discard the ideas, but you have to be cautious and realize you're just deciding as best you can with data that is far below perfect.

Yes. More dairy than meat. She doesn't eat daiy now and limits her bread/rice/pasta intake. Actually, our diets are quite similar except she can't eat leafy vegetables due to blood clots. She doesn't eat red meat.