FABULOUS 12-PAGE RECIPE PULLOUT IT’S TIME TO UPTHEANTI

ILLNESSES, CAN CAUSE A HOST OF SERIOUS CHRONIC INFLAMMATION FROMHEARTDISEASETOARTHRITIS.BUTYOUCANCONTROLITWITH MEALS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY THESE MOUTHWATERING

The key thing the past few months has reminded us of is the importance of looking after our health and that of our loved ones. As we continue to negotiate our ‘new normal’, it’s also a golden opportunity to look at our diets and to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our health today. It’s called inflammation, and scientists and medical professionals worldwide believe it may be the biggest risk factor for serious diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease and dementia that we are facing right now.

Inflammation isn’t just a problem for the middle aged and older generations – its impact is seen in the health of our children, teens and young adults. Depression, type 2 diabetes and obesity – all conditions that can have inflammation as one of their root causes – are affecting our youth here and now, and the implications are dire for their future health if we don’t take action.

As a dietitian and nutritionist for 30 years, including advising Jamie Oliver during his school meals campaign, I’ve seen the real difference good food choices can make to people’s health. And this is no more true than when it comes to tackling inflammation. The good news is that ‘good choices’ doesn’t mean ‘unappetising’ – as a trained Cordon Bleu chef I’ve devised an anti-inflammation diet that’s full of tempting and easy-to-prepare recipes full of the foods that are rich in anti-inflammatory benefits.

This plan, developed exclusively for Daily Mail readers, will not only make you feel better – within days your stomach will be less bloated, you’ll lose weight, your eyes and skin will be clearer, your joints will feel less stiff and achy – but the foods you will eat and the principles you follow will make a difference deep inside your body, reducing your risk of serious disease.

Inflammation is our body’s way of fighting against damage – it’s a natural response to injuries, infections, toxins and even some foods. Inflammation is our very own fire alarm; it tells us there’s a problem in the body and calls on our natural defences to help fix it, whether that’s an infection or a sprained ankle.

Usually, the response will last a few hours or days, just enough time for your body to release the chemicals that can deal with the problem and help it recover. But sometimes the ‘fire alarm’ keeps on ringing, the body’s inflammatory response is triggered and won’t turn off, and that’s bad news for our health. When our body is exposed to inflammatory factors, it releases white blood cells to defend cells. The problem is when inflammation lingers and increases, it causes these white blood cells to attack internal organs and healthy tissue. Stressed cells also produce free radicals, molecules that damage the structure of cells.

This kind of chronic inflammation can begin to cause an array of health problems, from skin conditions such as eczema to heart disease and stroke, cancers and arthritis, and autoimmune conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis, as well as mood disorders, depression and dementia.

So what causes chronic inflammation? There are a number of factors: environmental issues such as pollution; lifestyle causes including stress, smoking and excess alcohol; autoimmune diseases, unresolved infection and injury; allergies and food intolerances.

And then there’s what we eat. Our modern diet is stuffed with foods that trigger an inflammatory response. Studies show that ultraprocessed foods in particular are ‘pro’ inflammatory (by ultra-processed we mean foods that are high in artificial additives, sugar, and saturated fat and trans fats, which are unstable fats produced during the heating and production of foods).

Many simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, white pasta and white rice, can also trigger an inflammatory effect, as they fasttrack the release of glucose into the body, which is not good news if your diet already contains a lot of sugar. Sugar overload is linked with raised liver fat, which scientists believe triggers inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is very hard to measure; there isn’t one simple test that will ‘prove’ it is there, so it’s often a hidden problem only identified during diagnosis of another health problem. But if you already have signs of chronic or inflammatory disease or conditions that could lead to it – high blood pressure, insulin resistance (a precursor to type 2 diabetes, it’s when your body doesn’t respond to insulin, leading to high glucose levels in the blood), type 2 diabetes or an autoimmune condition, then you are affected by inflammation. Other signs might