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Entries in anti-inflammatory (4)


Recipe for apple cider vinegar water

So many of us have systemic inflammation. It's an underlying factor in chronic pain, chronic stress, weight gain, and aging. If you have systemic inflammation use the vinegar water for a month or two to get your pH balanced and your gut restored. If you needed it, if you really had systemic inflammation, you'll feel a drastic difference in four or five days of drinking the concoction. Discontinue use when your symptoms are under control. Diet and lifestyle changes will keep those changes in place.There are powerful tools you have at home to battle this monster--sleep, exercise, cleaning up your diet, eating greens. None of these are to be underestimated.

Here's an amazing tool for short-term use:


16 oz. water

1 Tbsp Bragg's apple cider vinegar (for the mother)

1 Tbsp lemon juice (not from concentrate)

1 pinch sea salt

1 pinch turmeric

The water is an important part of the recipe; you can't put all the other ingredients into a smaller amount of water and think that you will get the results you want. Water is needed for hydrating and flushing. It also dilutes the acids which is critical for your tooth enamel.

I put the question of eroding tooth enamel to my dentist, Dr. Joe Grayden, a professor at the University fo MN Twin Cities campus. He took the quesiton to about a half dozen of his colleagues and here's the consensus:

  • The acidic level and its effects would land somewhere between drinking coffee with sugar (coffee alone, without sugar, is not very worrisome) and sipping on Coka Cola throughout the day.
  • While there's no research on vinegar water, there's a lot of research on caffeinated sodas and carbonated water. Sipping is worse than drinking it down faster. People who drink caffeinated pop tend to sip it thorughout the day while people who drink noncarbonated pops tend to drink it down quickly. Those drinking the caffeinated pop have tooth enamel wear at a much greater rate than those drinking the noncaffeinated pops. Don't sip; drink it down quickly.
  • Your tooth enamel is most vulnerable the hour after eating/drinking. It takes a half hour before you start producing enzymes that will neutralize the acids and they take about two hours to do their job. Don't brush your teeth immediately after eating/drinking, especially acidic foods/drinks. Wait about an hour before brushing.
  • Using a straw does not mitigate the risk of erosion.
  • As a side: Dentists also see tooth enamel loss in bartenders who put slices of lemon in their mouths and in Gen Y-ers who grew up using electric toothbrushes but use them as though they are regular toothbrushes, placing pressure on the brush bristles against the teeth. An electric brush does all the work and there should never be pressure placed on the brush against the teeth.



Spice it up

An interesting spice combo I've been using:  cumin, tumeric & a touch of cinnamon. Some friends have suggested adding cayenne, which I definitely intend to try. Either way, it's an anti-inflammatory spice-fest.


Snacks:  popcorn

A couple years ago "flavoured popcorn" was very popular. It can be a great way to add nutrition to your snacking at home:

*add nutritional yeast for a boost of B12. Watch your urine the next day for the results (deep yellow)

*add black or red peppercorn, cardamon, curry or tumeric for systemic anti-inflammatory properties



Culinary herbs that act against systemic inflammation

Many chronic health conditions have been identified as systemic inflammatory processes affected by increased stress levels, sedentary lifestyles and poor diets. Using herbs in meal preparation is one way to hedge against, and treat, systemic inflammation.

My favorites are cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, ginger, pepper, tumeric and cumin. You can get creative. I add cinnamon or nutmeg to my coffee and tea. I keep two pepper mills on hand--one for black peppercorns and one for a mix of black, green, pink and white peppercorns. Tumeric is a nice choice because it has a pretty color but adds little in the way of flavour unless used in huge amounts. One can add it liberally to just about anything without changing the flavour much. Cumin has a distinct flavour, and some people don't like it, so one should try it before commiting.

Tumeric, in particular, has received a lot of attention of late. Much research has been underway in studying its effects on preventing and treating arthritis, Alzheimer's and cancer, and without side effects. Here is Dr. Weil's recipe for Tumeric Tea.