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There are many benefits to a balanced diet. Maintaining physical fitness and staying energized are the most common goals people have when trying to eat healthy, but there are many more ways our diets can help us be healthy.
We should never overlook the ways in which healthy eating can fight inflammation, because paying attention to anti-inflammatory foods and ingredients can help us feel good, look good and fight disease.
And fighting chronic inflammation may be as simple as getting more of a single vitamin.
What Is Inflammation, And Why You Don’t Want It
Most people understand inflammation to be bloating, and while this is true, the effects of inflammation can go much deeper. Inflammation is often caused by a variety of factors, ranging from diet to lifestyle. Even a lack of sleep can lead to inflammation!
In addition to causing stomach bloat, inflammation can also impact the texture and appearance of your skin, hinder weight loss and slow down your metabolism.
Plus, inflammation can weaken your immune system and lead to medical issues, so it is important to maintain anti-inflammatory habits, whether you notice inflammation or not.
The Best Vitamin To Fight Inflammation
“As a physician and vitamin expert I agree that vitamins can be an important part of reducing inflammation,” Arielle Levitan M.D., co-founder of Vous Vitamin confirmed. “If I have to choose just one vitamin, I would recommend vitamin D as we know it carries significant antiinflammatory properties and plays an important role in both immune health and the treatment of certain types of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.” Vitamin D works by “regulating the production of inflammatory chemicals and inhibiting proinflammatory cells,” Alicia Galvin, Dallas-based RD, and resident dietician to Sovereign Laboratories, explained further.
Dr. Mindy Pelz, author and functional medicine expert, told us, “What most people don't realize about vitamin D is that it stimulates a part of the immune system that stimulates T-Regulatory cells. T-Regulatory cells, or T-Reg cells as they are known, help keep the immune system balanced and they move around the body and find areas where there is too much inflammation, to then tell that inflammatory response to turn off.
“The better our Vitamin D-levels, the more we stimulate t-reg cells, the more we drive down inflammation. This is incredibly crucial for autoimmune conditions, cytokine storms, or any chronic inflammatory situation where the inflammation keeps coming and doesn't stop.”
The Best Vitamin To Fight Inflammation
Inflammation can often lead to disease, which is a serious concern amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And some experts are finding that there is a link between vitamin D deficiencies and the virus.
“Many studies show that patients who are diagnosed with autoimmune diseases and COVID-19 are deficient in vitamin D,” Heather Hanks M.S., Nutritionist at Instapot Life, told us. “So, making sure that you get the proper amount of vitamin D in your diet can reduce inflammation that may lead to disease.”
Other experts agree with Hanks.
“Vitamin D is intimately involved in immune function and controlling inflammation. Several studies have looked at vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for more severe disease from SARS-CoV-2,” Leann Poston M.D., M.B.A., M.Ed. of Invigor Medical told SheFinds. “While most people get their vitamin D from sun exposure, those living above the 35th parallel, which includes much of the U.S., there is virtually no effective U.V. radiation for vitamin D production in December, January, and February. Check with your doctor before supplementing as too much vitamin D can also cause problems.”
As Dr. Poston points out, we get vitamin D from sunlight, but most of us don’t experience enough sunlight to keep up our levels of the vitamin. So we can get extra vitamin D from taking supplements, but the best way to get any vitamin into our diet is through food.
Read on to learn which foods help increase your vitamin D levels.
How To Get More Vitamin D In Your Diet
As it turns out, most of us are not getting enough vitamin D. Dr. Josh Axe, D.N.M., C.N.S, D.C., founder of Ancient Nutrition, told us, “The problem is, about 75% of American teens and adults don’t get enough vitamin D in their diet, and many people don’t receive enough ultraviolet energy from sunlight for vitamin D synthesis for 4 to 6 months out of the year—leaving many of us coming up short, which can negatively impact inflammation as well as other specific areas of the body.”
So if you think you need more vitamin D, chances are that you probably do.
VItamin D can be found in foods of all types, so you can most likely find something you like that will get you more of this vitamin. There are several fish with vitamin D, including salmon, tuna, herring and sardines. You can also get vitamin D by eating more eggs - especially the egg yolks - as well as mushrooms and dairy products like milk and yogurt. Keep this in mind on your next trip to the grocery store!
