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You’ve likely seen the headlines.
Popular Foods for Reducing Inflammation after 50. Five Anti-Inflammatory Diets You Should Try. Popular American Foods Making Your Inflammation Worse.
Seemingly overnight, “inflammation” became a buzzword, begging the question – is this a fad or something more?
Health professionals have long recognized inflammation as a source of both good and evil in the body. Inflammation that occurs around a wound, for example, helps the body fight infection and heal. However, chronic inflammation thought to be brought on by stress, pollution, and poor diets may lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and more.
What role does food play? There’s evidence showing a healthy diet and exercise may help lower chronic inflammation. While there’s no specific formula, health professionals recommend eating less processed food and more fruits and vegetables.
The good news? Both orange juice and grapefruit can contribute to a healthy diet. In fact, a recently published FDOC-funded research study suggested that drinking 100% orange juice may significantly reduce interleukin-6, a well-established marker of inflammation, in both healthy and high-risk adults.
The study earned coverage in several media outlets, including stories in Eat This, Not That!, and VeryWell Health, and the Department has more projects in the pipeline to look at this further.
Want to learn more? Read about OJ and Inflammation at FloridaJuice.com.
What’s driving the interest now? A few reasons are likely at play but a lot of it comes down to timing. While inflammation has long been a hot topic in the nutrition science world, clinical studies, which can include looking at the impact of dietary changes on a participant’s health, are typically conducted over several months or years so results take some time to get in front of the eyes of consumers. Today, the amount of research published on inflammation is growing.
Additionally, consumers are increasingly seeking out foods and beverages that support overall health and healthy aging. Reducing inflammation caused by our diets is one area of life we have some control over.
We’ll leave you with this: What can appear to be a sudden rise in a nutrition trend is often, in reality, the result of years of dedicated research. While it may take time for science to make its way to the consumer, it’s critical to maintain a pipeline of research exploring all potential trends.
Our best guess at what’s next? Gut health and the microbiome. Stay tuned.
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