TOP STORY>>Preventative medicine: Real food

By Jeff Vaughn
19th Aerospace Medicine Squadron

In November 2012, I woke up with a sore throat and made an appointment with my family physician. After a few tests, the doctor came in the exam room and said I tested positive for strep throat. She was more concerned, however, that my blood pressure was elevated. She requested I monitor my blood pressure and come back in a few weeks to talk about medication if it remained high.

I left her office thinking, “I’m 41 years old. I’m not ready to be placed on medication for the rest of my life.” I went straight home, got on my laptop, and started doing research on blood pressure. After several hours of reading, I concluded that my diet was contributing to my high blood pressure. I was already exercising five-six days per week, so I didn’t think it was a lack of exercise and my weight was good. My diet had to change.

One of the first articles I read on high blood pressure hit me the hardest. I loved soda and the article stated the caramel coloring in soda had been linked to hypertension (not to mention all the sugar in soda). It was clear that soda had to go, and I quit that day, replacing the soda with anti-inflammatory green tea.

As I continued my research, I started seeing a trend. The trend was anti-inflammatory foods and how adding them to my diet could change my health. So, I embarked on an experiment that has changed my life.

Although the FDA has not evaluated all of the reported benefits of anti-inflammatory foods, I started adding many of these foods to my diet, and my blood pressure started going down.

Many other things improved as well. My seasonal allergies disappeared; I have not taken an over-the-counter allergy medication since I changed my diet. I lost the mental fog that plagued me; I think more clearly and have more energy. I went for my annual physical in August, and my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers were great, but best of all, my blood pressure had normalized without medication.

I knew it would be hard to eliminate everything processed from my diet, but I made a decision to limit processed and high-sugar foods. I still eat pizza, have the occasional hamburger, chocolate brownie, but I added a lot of great whole foods and spices to my diet and the change has been nothing short of miraculous.

Anti-inflammatory foods are delicious and possess so many benefits I can’t fit them all into this article. I started eating fruits like blueberries and blackberries; they contain anthocyanin, a nutrient with tremendous health benefits. They taste great when mixed with strawberries in smoothies. I also added red grapes to my diet; they contain resveratrol, which some nutritionists consider a potent natural phenol in food.

I started eating carrots and sweet potatoes, which have anti-inflammatory qualities and are packed with the anti-oxidant beta carotene. Another potent vegetable I eat is broccoli, which studies suggest could lower blood pressure and can boost testosterone in men.

I also added fat-rich foods to my diet such as olives, extra virgin olive oil, avocado, ground flax seed and almond. They may reduce compounds that increase inflammation in the body.

Wild salmon and tuna provide vital protein while packing a huge dose of omega-3 fatty acids. If fish is not a common food in your diet, add a fish oil or krill oil supplement. Whole eggs are another health food loaded with protein and one of the only foods that contain natural occurring vitamin D.

The most important additions I made were spices. Turmeric, a food used heavily in India, has been compared with ibuprofen in studies as an active anti-inflammatory agent. Cinnamon and ginger are two other spices that have been reported to pack a huge anti-inflammatory punch and could even act as natural antibiotics and anti-fungal agents.

Anti-inflammatory foods have changed my health. I recommend discussing diet changes with your doctor to see if you can safely eat them as some of these foods could cause interactions with medications. Once cleared by your health care provider, however, I encourage you to give anti-inflammatory foods a try. What do you have to lose: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or even cancer?