I have heard from many of you that this month you are going to be taking on some big goals with exercise-more miles on the bike and in your running shoes, more turns in the pool and more time on the trail-right on! Here is some food for thought:
I know that you are giving large and loving big!  This month you most likely will be adding miles and bumping up the intensity. This is a time when many of us can also be building greater inflammation in our bodies as our training grabs another gear of zeal! The way you eat, move and even think can play a significant role in keeping inflammation from burning out of control. Most Americans have a diet that encourages inflammation-too much sugar, too many of the wrong fats and general “conspicuous consumption of too many empty calories. If your vision for your personal best looks like happy, lean, strong, healthy and fast then let’s get with eating the fire fighting foods and thrive.
Here are the basic keys for fighting inflammation: get enough fiber-shoot for 15 grams of fiber per every 100 calories you consume…most of us will be getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 grams daily. Fiber plays a huge role in lowering total body inflammation-choose to get your fiber fill with vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and fruit. Next, get fat: increase your consumption of healthy fats from wild fish (wild salmon is my personal omega 3 fire fighting fav), nuts, seeds, avocados (YAAAAA!)-I love using macadamia nut oil and avocado oil when I am cooking at higher temperatures-and when I am cooking Indian or Asian inspired meals. These are both high in non inflammatory oleic acid. Ok, here is a cool scrabble word with awesome health and performance benefits-polyphenols-these are basically uber antioxidants and they are lights out when it comes to controlling the genes that control inflammation. They also help with the health of your heart, fight premature aging at a cellular level, increase metabolism, protect your mind and memory…these are easy and delicious to get into your daily plan-fruits (currents, apples with skin, mangoes, plums, berries, cherries, dates, peaches and nectarines are some with the highest polyphenol content), vegies (Broccoli, kale, onions, kale, sweet potatoes, did I mention kale?,garlic, spinach and tomatoes are all great bets), mix1 (nice for recovery), red wine with special shout out for pinot noir, dark chocolate, green tea, spices like curry, tumeric, cinnamon, basil and rosemary are powerful-use them with zeal and gratitude.
Lots of cool stuff to eat! Lastly, a very cool study on how attitude and outlook plays a role in inflammation-the more optimistic, grateful and positive you think, act and are the lower the inflammation…truly being compassionate, kind and loving helps your genes help themselves in better fighting inflammation. When you run, stretch, sweat and push your mind/body be sure to get your gratitude on…love yourself with reckless abandon, perform random kindnesses as often as you can stand it and be on fire with purpose and passion-live like you mean it!
Peace and blessings-have an awesome day!