Episode Transcript
Natasha Hansen:
You’re more prone to inflammation as you age. So probably the older population is going to suffer from inflammation. Again, that pain, joint stiffness, things like that. But again, the younger population, especially those who are more active, are just going to constantly be having inflammation going on as well.
Courtney Collen (host):
Welcome to the “Health and Wellness” podcast by Sanford Health. I’m your host, Courtney Collen with Sanford Health News. Our conversation today will dive into why we experience inflammation, what it is, and some of the best anti-inflammatory foods to help us avoid it. Natasha Hansen is the senior sports dietitian here at the Sanford Field House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Natasha, welcome.
Natasha Hansen (guest):
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Courtney Collen:
We’re so glad to have you and your expertise here. One thing I’m learning about inflammation, whether you can feel it or not, it can affect everyone. Is that right?
Natasha Hansen:
Oh, absolutely. Some — and honestly, sometimes inflammation’s a good thing. If there’s, like, acute inflammation, there’s chronic inflammation. So, acute inflammation, like, if you’re starting to feel a cold coming on —
Courtney Collen:
Yeah.
Natasha Hansen:
Your immune response will kind of flare up, and that’s what that inflammation is, and that’s a good thing, right? We want our immune system to kind of respond to that.
Courtney Collen:
Sure.
Natasha Hansen:
Once it becomes chronic, that’s when, you know, certain infections, it can maybe not be such a good thing, but inflammation to some degree can be a positive thing.
Courtney Collen:
OK, I’m so glad we led off with that. I want to dive into this. What does it actually mean in the body? Like, specifically that chronic inflammation, what causes that?
Natasha Hansen:
Certain diseases are going to cause chronic inflammation. A lot of GI diseases. If there’s inflammation in the gut for a prolonged period of time. Like I said, infections, you know, once it becomes from sickness to infection and those antibodies kind of start attacking your immune system, that’s when it’s maybe not such a good thing.
Courtney Collen:
So, how do I know if I have inflammation? Like, what are some of the signs or symptoms that I might be experiencing?
Natasha Hansen:
Yeah, you might start to feel a little sore and stiff. You might have some skin issues, maybe even some, like, brain fog. Honestly, even just like working out, that’s naturally going to cause some inflammation. So, like, if you’ve ever felt super sore after a workout, that’s just because your muscles are inflamed. So, again, that’s more of like a positive thing. So, we always have some sort of inflammation in our body going on.
Courtney Collen:
Fascinating. Who suffers from inflammation the most, and is it more males, females that you see? Like, what can you tell us about maybe any specific age group or things like that?
Natasha Hansen:
Yeah, not necessarily, just because there’s so many different types of inflammation. I will say you’re more prone to inflammation as you age. So, probably the older population is going to suffer from inflammation. Again, that pain, joint stiffness, things like that. But again, the younger population, especially those who are more active, are just going to constantly be having inflammation going on as well.
Courtney Collen:
OK, so aside from age, are there lifestyle factors that can contribute to inflammation? And let’s talk through some of those.
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Natasha Hansen:
Yeah, one thing actually what I thought of was just stress. So, like your daily stress. So, we all have some stress in our life, right? And so it kind of depends how well you’re able to manage that stress for that inflammation. So, chronic stress, if it’s not managed well, can cause that inflammation. Also, just like obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, your diet — there’s certain foods that can cause inflammation. And so there, yes, there’s certainly a lot of different lifestyles that can cause that inflammation to happen more often.
Courtney Collen:
Sure, well, it sounds — chronic inflammation sounds super uncomfortable, and I’m sure that the people who suffer from it the most probably are thinking about ways they can combat it or ways that they can alleviate it.
So, let’s shift to food. Because I want to dive deeper into the kind of nutrition that can ultimately help prevent inflammation. But first, Natasha, I want to start with what foods cause inflammation. Like, what are some of the things that we’re eating every single day that we may not know, or maybe we do know, that would be contributing to inflammation in our bodies?
Natasha Hansen:
So, excess sugar, specifically added sugar. So, if you’re looking at a nutrition label, there’s sugar, and then there’s added sugar. So, you want to specifically look at that added sugar, and you want that to be low. It really depends what kind of food you’re looking at. But, like, any, anywhere between five to eight grams or less would be ideal.
Processed foods — so, there’s a lot of meats that are highly processed. So, you have hot dogs and bacon and sausage, even some deli — like prepackaged deli meats are going to be a little bit more processed than if you were to go up to the counter and get some deli meat from the deli station.
Certain fats, so, like, your saturated fats are going to be — your trans and saturated fats are more of your unhealthy fats, which are going to be like butter. A lot of foods that taste good, unfortunately (laugh). But, you know, anything that has butter in it. So, like your sweets and treats. Again, certain cuts of meat where you can see the fat that’s going to be like your saturated fat. That’s the difference between, like, skim milk and whole milk. Certain condiments like ranch, mayo, alfredo, cheese have a little bit of saturated fats, so —
Courtney Collen:
Oh, not the cheese.
Natasha Hansen:
I know, right? So, pizza, my weakness. And it’s not like you must completely eliminate sugars and processed foods and those saturated fats, but it’s about making sure you have a good balance and you’re watching that, and we’re not going in excess in those types of foods. Also, like refined grains, so, like, white grains versus your whole grains. So, white pasta, white bread, white rice versus, like, your whole wheat pasta, bread, and brown rice. Those are going to be — the white grains are a little bit more refined and processed.
Courtney Collen:
So, what I’m hearing, some added sugars, processed foods, trans-saturated fats, refined grains, and more can contribute to inflammation. So, let’s shift now and talk about some of the foods that we should be focusing on to help alleviate, relieve some of maybe the pain associated with inflammation or just help us kind of live healthier. Talk about some of those foods that you point to most.
Natasha Hansen:
I kind of mentioned that choosing more of those whole grains but then also, like, fruits and vegetables that are a little bit higher in fiber are going to be important just for that gut inflammation. You have, like, your healthy fats.
So, I kind of mentioned some examples of those unhealthy fats, but healthy fats are found in fish. So, especially salmon’s going to have some good healthy fats, nuts and seeds and avocados and olive oil are going to be some good healthy fats that help reduce inflammation. Antioxidants, so you have like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E that are antioxidants. And so trying to have foods that are a little bit higher in those antioxidants just kind of help protect our cells from that inflammation.
Courtney Collen:
And there are so many good, healthy, rich-in-nutrition foods out there, like avocados, salmon, like some of those you mentioned. I love those too, like with pizza as well. You know, everything in moderation, right?
Natasha Hansen:
Yes, absolutely.
"If you’re looking at a nutrition label, there’s sugar, and then there’s added sugar. So, you want to specifically look at that added sugar, and you want that to be low." Natasha Hansen, senior sports dietitian
Courtney Collen:
So, are there any specific anti-inflammatory diets that you recommend for patients, or diets that would be helpful for people to focus on?
Natasha Hansen:
So, the Mediterranean diet’s high in those healthy fats. And it also, what I really like about the Mediterranean diet is that you’re not eliminating any specific food group. Like, there’s a lot of fad diets out there where it’s like don’t eat carbs or don’t eat, you know, animal proteins or whatever it might be.
So, you’re not completely eliminating any food groups with the Mediterranean diet, but you are eating foods that are higher in those healthy fats and then higher in fruits and vegetables, and then also just, like, you know, limiting alcohol is part of that Mediterranean diet as well.
Courtney Collen:
Yeah, absolutely. With nutrition, I hear a lot about fermented foods, probiotics. How do some of those help with that gut inflammation?
Natasha Hansen:
You know, probiotics is kind of a buzzword. There are supplements that are probiotics, but then we can also find probiotics in our foods. So, like you mentioned, any sort of fermented foods, but like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, those are all going to be naturally occurring fermented foods, right? So, you’re going to be getting those probiotics naturally.
You could also take some sort of probiotic supplement too. I personally take one. I don’t like to give blanket recommendations for people to take one, but I have found that I really, I have noticed a difference from taking a probiotic. But I also try to increase my foods that have naturally occurring probiotics in them too and not just rely on my supplement.
And then there’s also, like, certain spices that can naturally kind of help with that inflammation too. So, you have like turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, so just kind of — there’s supplements out there like turmeric supplements. I don’t always recommend that because you can kind of overdo it too. But just season, you know, or adding some spice of turmeric to your food. Or ginger or adding actual ginger to your food too. Garlic is another one that can just kind of help naturally with anti-inflammation, and so just kind of seasoning your food with those spices can help too.
Courtney Collen:
Yeah. You can really get creative with some of those ingredients, you know, maybe skip the supplements, the pills, the things like that. But maybe just adding a little bit, find a fun recipe, add some chicken, you know, it’s really simple to do some of those things and —
Natasha Hansen:
Exactly. And if you’re just adding a little bit, sometimes you can’t even really taste it too, like maybe you’re not a big turmeric fan, but if we’re just kind of adding a little bit here and there, probably not going to be able to taste it a whole lot. Plus, our nutrients from our food are better absorbed from nutrients in a supplement, and so that’s why I’m always kind of pushing food first.
Now, if we get any blood work or lab values back that are deficient in certain nutrients, that’s when I might recommend a supplement. Or if we are having specific gut health issues, right? But I’m always going to push food first just because those nutrients are going to be better absorbed.
Courtney Collen:
Are there other treatment options outside of nutrition that could help someone suffering from inflammation?
Natasha Hansen:
Yeah, so even just exercise. So, I mentioned exercise causing inflammation but remember that’s the acute inflammation. That’s actually a positive thing, right? So, regular exercise, plus that can help manage that stress that I mentioned too. So, the recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes of, like, moderate intensity. So, that’d just be like brisk walking. Or 75 minutes per week of more intense activities. So, like running and weightlifting. So, that can help that inflammation.
Also, just like adequate sleep. So, sleep, I mean, sleep affects everything, right? Sleep affects the food — types of foods we crave, our appetite, it affects our mental health, stress. So, make sure that we’re, you know, getting consistent sleep.
One thing I always say is it’s all about consistency. So, I’d rather have somebody consistently getting six to seven hours of sleep versus on the weekends getting like four and then during the week getting like 10, you know? So, it’s about consistency as well. And that’s with everything that I mentioned.
Consistency in exercise, consistency in sleep, consistency in nutrition. So, kind of maintaining that consistency. And then mentioned earlier, you know, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol, those types of things too are going to be important.
Courtney Collen:
You know, when you’re working with patients, athletes here at the Sanford Fieldhouse, how do you find that inflammation affects athletic performance?
Natasha Hansen:
Yeah, so if we have a lot of inflammation that we’re not able to kind of control, the athletes that I work with are going to be really sore day to day. So, that inflammation to some degree again is good, but if we’re not able to recover from our workouts from day to day because our muscles are so sore, aka, they’re super inflamed, right? We’re at a higher risk of injury; we’re probably not making the muscle gains that we want. We might be losing muscle strength because we’re not having that energy for the next day to be able to have another good workout, right? We’re just kind of falling behind if we’re continuously super inflamed and then we’re not able to control that inflammation.
Courtney Collen:
So, with that acute inflammation that comes a lot of times with just being active and exercise, are there things that can help in recovery for those, like adequate stretching? You know, think like all ages, you know, not just specifically athletes here at the Fieldhouse that you work with, but, you know, somebody in their 40s, 50s, 60s that might run a couple of miles a week, or walk daily at an incline, or whatever it may be. You know, how can they relieve some of the inflammation that comes with maybe soreness, things like that, and kind of help aid in that recovery so that they’re even stronger the next day to go at it again?
Natasha Hansen:
Yeah. So, regardless of age or athletic level, making sure that we’re stretching and sleeping is going to be super important. But kind of circling back to nutrition, having a good recovery nutrition plan is going to be super important. So, it kind of depends, like, how intense, you know, if you were just walking or if you were jogging, right? And the duration of that too.
But always having some sort of meal or at least a snack within an hour after any sort of activity is going to be super important. Number one to just get the nutrients that we need and refuel that energy that we kind of used. But then also we want to recover that muscle as quickly as possible. So, carbs are going to be the number one energy source for our muscles, and then protein’s going to help recover the muscles.
So, I always say after any sort of training session, making sure we’re getting carbs because we just use up all our carbs for energy, but then also getting some protein in so that we can start that recovery process of the muscle as quickly as possible.
Courtney Collen:
Sure, so really not all inflammation is bad. I mean we talk about again, acute, chronic, but to some degree we want a little bit of the acute inflammation from exercise primarily. Is that right? So, not all inflammation is bad, Natasha?
Natasha Hansen:
Correct. Yeah.
Courtney Collen:
OK, good to know. If somebody has a question about inflammation in their body, wants to maybe find those personal solutions that could help them achieve their goals, where would you suggest that they start?
Natasha Hansen:
Yeah, I think if we’re starting to see symptoms that are past, you know, comfortability, right? That might be more of those chronic inflammation signs. So again, like that joint body — continuous joint body pain, fatigue, skin issues, digestive issues, bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, right?
If we’re starting to kind of cross the line, I would definitely go to your primary care physician first just to kind of — maybe you need to get some lab values kind of checked out, just make sure everything’s kind of working properly. And then you could look into your nutrition too and just kind of see if there’s any areas that maybe you could improve upon.
Courtney Collen:
Thank you. OK. I learned so much (laugh).
Natasha Hansen:
Good. I love that.
Courtney Collen:
And yeah, you are just a wealth of information here when it comes to inflammation and how to prevent it. And we are so grateful for your insight and your expertise. Natasha Hansen, thank you so much for your time and for being a part of this conversation.
Natasha Hansen:
Yes. Thanks again for having me.
Courtney Collen:
This episode is part of the “Health and Wellness” series by Sanford Health. You can find any of our Sanford Health series wherever you get your podcasts or by visiting news.sanfordhealth.org.
I’m Courtney Collen. Thanks so much for being here.
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Posted In Family Medicine, General, Health Information, Health Plan, Healthy Living, Heart, Internal Medicine, News, Nutrition, Sanford Sports, Sioux Falls, Symptom Management, Women's
