Foods That Cause Inflammation

Foods That Cause Inflammation
Certain foods can aggravate inflammation within your body. ShutterStock
Michael Greger
Updated:

Excessive inflammation may play a role in a number of leading causes of death and disability, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. But what are the stimuli that jumpstart the deleterious inflammatory cascade? You typically hear about the pro-inflammatory nature of a chronic high-fat diet, but the inflammatory effect “may not be limited to chronic intake but may be evident after the consumption of a single meal.”

Within hours after eating an unhealthy meal, inflammatory markers like (IL-6), interleukin-6, can skyrocket, doubling within six hours. The majority of studies show an increase in IL-6 after the consumption of a high-fat meal. But the meals they tested weren’t just filled with meat, eggs, dairy, and oil, but also junky refined carbs like white flour and added sugar.

Michael Greger
Michael Greger
Author
Michael Greger, MD, FACLM, is a physician, New York Times bestselling author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. He has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, testified before Congress, appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show” and “The Colbert Report,” and was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous “meat defamation” trial. This article was originally published on NutritionFacts.org
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