Inflammation is an underlying mechanism of action for many chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, autoimmunity and more. When it comes to fertility, inflammation ties in in many ways, including affecting hormone balance, contributing to autoimmunity (of thyroid, ovaries), and majorly affecting implantation in the uterus.

As its name suggests, an anti-inflammatory diet is an excellent way to not only manage inflammation, but also decrease immune system stimulation. It is also a great way to flood your diet with delicious snacks and meals. The diet, which is a key concept integrated into the Perfect Fertility Diet, focuses on plant-based foods. Consequently, it is very high in flavonoids, polyphenols and other antioxidants, which help to support a balanced state of inflammation.1 It also has an abundance of healthy omega-3 fats derived from fish, nuts and seeds.

If you've got autoimmunity of any kind (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Celiac Disease, Raynauds, Lupus, or others), the Anti-Inflammatory Diet should be a key pilar of your lifestyle to support not just your fertility, but your overall health.

Here are some tips to help you implement an anti-inflammatory diet for your whole family:

Eat the rainbow. An anti-inflammatory diet should be, above all things, very colorful. Pink salmon, oranges, yellow peppers, green kale, blueberries, purple cabbage and other multi-hued foods not only contribute to beautiful meals that entice the entire family, but they have multiple health benefits as well. Food pigments provide a diverse array of antioxidants that help combat oxidative stress, a bi-product of chronic inflammation.

Bring on the healthy fat. Kiss your low-fat cookbooks goodbye! An anti-inflammatory diet includes a moderate intake of fat that is heavily slanted towards omega-3 fats. If you won’t eat omega-3-rich coldwater fish, you can get healthy fats from grass fed animal and plant sources, too.  Nuts and seeds, particularly flaxseeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and their oils, provide alpha linolenic acid (ALA)-based omega-3s. While ALA doesn’t convert very efficiently into the EPA or DHA found in fish oils, it is still a good choice to support healthy inflammation.

Keep it fresh.  An anti-inflammatory diet is rich in whole foods and minimizes the intake of processed food. Choose foods with as few ingredients as possible (a true whole food has only one) and to select fresh food over frozen or otherwise preserved. Not only will the taste be superior, but fresh foods usually have higher nutrient content than their processed counterparts and can exert their full anti-inflammatory potential.

This delicious, plant-based diet is a great recommendation for anyone with a chronic inflammatory condition, but also provides a healthy foundation for the entire family’s health.