Navigating Challenges: Sticking to an Anti-Inflammatory Diet in a Busy World

The sheer volume of nutrition recommendations available online is overwhelming, and it is hard to know what information you can trust. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition, the anti-inflammatory clean eating plan forms the basis of a diet of how we all should eat for optimal health and wellness. 

Opting for anti-inflammatory foods here and there can lead to small changes that add up over time, but here’s the truth: making it part of your daily life and your regular lifestyle is what’s going to create the change in your life! Instead of a hit-or-miss approach to anti-inflammatory eating, consistently following an anti-inflammatory lifestyle is where your health benefits are found. 

While completely upending your habits can be disconcerting, one of the best things about anti-inflammatory eating is its versatility. The specifics will vary for you and someone else, based on food preferences, nutrition needs, health goals, food availability, life stage, and other factors. In this article, we will demonstrate how you can stick with anti-inflammatory eating in your busy lifestyle. 

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Understanding the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Proinflammatory foods can have a significant impact on acute and chronic inflammation. The standard American diet includes anywhere from 40-80% of calories from refined and processed proinflammatory foods. Processed foods are known to cause inflammation, and the higher the amount of processed foods in the diet, the higher the risk of an inflammatory-related illness. 

In contrast, anti-inflammatory diet components aim to reduce or eliminate chronic inflammation. 

By maximizing anti-inflammatory foods and minimizing processed foods, an anti-inflammatory diet focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Fruits and vegetables contain polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants, preventing cell damage and fighting many other downstream effects of inflammation. Healthy fats contain omega-3 fatty acids (like those found in fatty fish, chia seeds, and avocados), which are both anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating, meaning they fight inflammation and boost your immune health at the same time. The significant health impact of the anti-inflammatory diet can benefit virtually every system in the body.

Common Obstacles to Maintaining the Diet

Long-term adherence and commitment to success can be challenging with an anti-inflammatory diet. The first step towards success is to recognize anti-inflammatory eating not as a diet but instead as a lifestyle change. This mindset helps forge long-term buy-in and commitment, which is then reinforced by the health benefits you achieve along the way.

Sticking with an anti-inflammatory eating plan comes with many challenges. From time constraints to cost considerations and specific diet obstacles to social eating pressures, recognizing and planning for these challenges can help keep you on track with your anti-inflammatory eating plan.

Time constraints are inevitable, and the best way to conquer them is to plan and prepare your meals ahead. One solution is to create meal kits. Prep any ingredients ahead of time, then label and date them, saving time when you are ready to cook. Choose 20-minute or 30-minute anti-inflammatory meals that make it quicker to prepare meals at home than to wait in a takeout line.

Planning meals ahead also helps keep costs down. Consolidating ingredients and using the same ingredients in different meals throughout the week is a huge budget saver. If you are using half a bag of carrots on Monday, choose a recipe that uses the rest of the bag on Wednesday. If you have the extra time, shop around for the best prices, even if it means visiting several different stores.

In a world full of processed and refined foods, a lack of ingredient availability can present a major challenge to an anti-inflammatory eating plan. Choose grocery stores that offer store brands and focus on clean ingredients at more reasonable prices. Fortunately, if you don’t have many local options, there are several online retailers that will ship healthy groceries at reasonable prices.

Social eating pressures are unavoidable, and they can be particularly difficult around people who don’t understand or haven’t embraced the benefits of anti-inflammatory eating. Whether you choose to disregard the opinions of others or try to bring them into the anti-inflammatory eating world, remember why you have chosen to eat well–to achieve and maintain optimal health and wellness.    

Planning and Preparing: Key to Success

Meal planning is the best-kept secret of healthy eating. Planning is what prevents you from the drive-thru and takeout lines at the end of a long day. Whether you plan by the week or by the month, knowing what you will eat each day is imperative to sticking with an anti-inflammatory diet. While meal planning requires a time commitment, it does not have to be difficult. Have a list of go-to meals that your family enjoys and avoid the temptation to try multiple new recipes each week.

Avoid falling into the trap of needing to prepare three meals per day. Instead, plan 5-6 dinners per week (and 1 day of leftovers) and either double these dinners for lunch the next day or plan 2-3 additional meals for your lunches. For breakfast, ensure you plan quick, make-ahead options for streamlined mornings.

After you plan your meals, check your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for items you may already have. Then, for efficient grocery shopping, form a shopping list of items you still need. Once you purchase groceries, assess your schedule. You can opt for one of several meal prep strategies: set aside a block of time and prepare your meals from start to finish, do some of the prep work (washing, trimming, chopping), and cook later, or a combination of both.

Sticking with planning and preparing your meals each week can seem like a challenge. Recognize how good your body feels with your anti-inflammatory eating plan. Focus on planning and preparing meals as your key to success! 

Quick and Healthy Anti-Inflammatory Meals

The idea of preparing three meals per day, seven days per week to follow an anti-inflammatory eating plan is incredibly daunting. The good news is, you don’t need to! Instead, avoid falling into the trap of needing to prepare three meals per day. Instead, prepare to cook 5-6 time-efficient dinners per week and plan on one dinner of leftovers. For lunches, either 2x your dinner recipes for lunch the next day or plan 2-3 additional meals for your lunches to last all week. For breakfast, ensure you plan quick, make-ahead options to streamline your mornings. Lastly, plan for quick, ready-to-go antiinflammatory healthy snacks.

When it comes to getting dinner on the table quickly, rely on quick, anti-inflammatory meals. Find your favorite easy recipes featuring anti-inflammatory foods that are on the table in 20-30 minutes or less! By planning ahead and relying on quick, anti-inflammatory meals, you truly can prepare a delicious, healthy dinner at home in less time than it takes to grab a takeout meal.

Review your family's favorite recipes and consider how to make them fit into your anti-inflammatory eating plan. Perhaps the recipe calls for heavy cream, and you can substitute a nut milk instead. Or, maybe the recipe calls for traditional pork sausage and you opt for nitrate-free organic chicken sausage in its place. Alternatively, you can browse recipes online using the keywords “anti-inflammatory eating recipes” or “clean eating recipes” and filter by your ingredient and time preferences. 

Be sure and save the quick anti-inflammatory meal recipes you have loved and add them back into your meal plan queue regularly!

Navigating Dining Out and Social Events

Continuing your anti-inflammatory diet while away from home may seem daunting. Set yourself up for success by following a few simple social eating strategies.

If you are dining out on a diet, review restaurants ahead of time. Most restaurants post menus (and even nutrition and ingredient information) online. Whenever possible, select a restaurant that offers healthy, anti-inflammatory food options. Consider asking your server for simple dish modifications to make foods healthier. Instead of sauces or dressings, use olive oils, vinegar, or fresh salsa. Instead of foods fried in inflammatory oils, ask for your meals to be prepared steamed, grilled, or sauteed in olive oil.

Choose whole, real foods whenever possible. Scan the table or navigate the menu for foods as close to their natural state as possible. This will help you incorporate fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. If you are contributing to the meal, be sure to bring a dish that follows your anti-inflammatory eating plan.

Watch your portion sizes. From grazing party foods to enormous restaurant serving sizes, it is easy to eat larger portions when you are away from home. Don’t forget to hydrate well with water before, during, and after your meal to curb hunger, improve digestion, and reduce inflammation.

Budget-Friendly Tips for an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

One of the biggest concerns around incorporating an anti-inflammatory diet is cost. While fresh foods and organic foods may cost more than shelf-stable processed and conventionally-grown items, an anti-inflammatory eating plan does not have to be cost-prohibitive. Here are a few cost-saving tips to help you follow an anti-inflammatory diet on a budget.

1. Plan your meals. Meal planning is the best-kept secret of healthy eating. Whether you plan by the week or by the month, you’ll save money by utilizing a shopping list and buying only the ingredients you need. Planning ahead also helps you avoid grabbing last-minute takeout meals, which is good for both your health and your wallet.
2. Consolidate ingredients. Check out your supermarket sales for weekly deals. Using foods that are on sale and duplicating those ingredients in several meals allows you to consolidate your shopping list and save money.
3. Buy local and in-season. Local produce is likely fresher and nutrient-packed. In-season produce is often cheaper; it is more abundant and avoids the costs of shipping from other areas.
4. Buy in bulk quantity. For non-perishable ingredients you buy often, consider purchasing them in large quantities. This will often save you time and money by keeping these items on hand and enjoying a bulk discount. Be sure to do your homework, as some bulk prices may not always be cheaper.
5. Reduce food waste. Wasted food is a drain on both the environment and your budget. Utilize your schedule to plan meals accordingly, opting for leftovers at least one night per week. Whether you reheat meals as-is or use leftovers to create new dishes, use this cost-effective way to focus on anti-inflammatory eating and promote a sustainable environment.
6. Combine fresh with frozen. Anti-inflammatory eating doesn’t need to be all fresh foods. Frozen foods are a great way to save money on lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits. Frozen foods work well in soups, stews, and slow cooker meals with no compromise in flavor or texture.
7. Prioritize plant-based proteins. Animal protein sources are often the most expensive items on your shopping list. Plant-based proteins are usually cheaper and boast a ton of anti-inflammatory health benefits, so consider using plant-based proteins in some of your meals. 
8. Minimize ready-made and processed foods. Convenience comes at a cost, usually to your wallet and sometimes to your health too. Find ways to incorporate whole, real foods that are minimally processed and make delicious, healthy, and cheaper meals at home.
9. Focus on flavor. Anti-inflammatory herbs and spices are cheap but boast a ton of health benefits and delicious flavors. Opt for sustainably sourced dried herbs and spices to flavor your dishes without ready-made sauces and mixes.

Staying Motivated and Overcoming Setbacks

The first few weeks to months of getting into any new habit can be daunting, making it easy to lose focus. Experts say it takes an average of two months of doing something every day to make it a habit. When adopting an anti-inflammatory eating lifestyle seems like more struggle than success in the first while, keep going!

It’s important not to lose sight of the benefits of anti-inflammatory eating to stay motivated. From reducing inflammation to improving gut health, maintaining a healthy weight, optimizing your metabolism, improving your sleep, to promoting immunity, keep these health benefits in mind. Prepare for events like travel and other instances where you have less availability of anti-inflammatory meals. Be ready for indulgences and other social eating pressures, knowing that overcoming dietary setbacks will be a part of life. Lastly, find a support system to hold you accountable as you pursue your nutrition goals.

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Key Takeaways

It’s no secret that following an anti-inflammatory diet promotes optimal health and enhances wellbeing by reducing or preventing chronic inflammation and its deleterious effects. While consistently implementing anti-inflammatory eating can be a challenge based on time constraints, cost, ingredient availability, and other factors, employing the strategies of planning ahead, budgeting for success, and staying motivated, you’ll be ready to reap the health benefits of an anti-inflammatory eating lifestyle for decades to come!