Unless you’re a scientist or pub quiz regular, you probably haven’t thought much about your cells since you did biology at school. However, your cells could be the key to your best weight and wellness, as Hollywood’s new favourite diet plan – the anti-inflammatory diet – operates on a biochemical level.
The anti-inflammatory diet can provide your wellbeing with huge benefits, such as a slimmer figure, a clearer mind and better skin. Stars of the silver screen have already taken note of these benefits, such as Matthew Fox (Lost, Vantage Point) who has followed just such an eating plan to shape up for upcoming movie World War Z. Other celebrity fans of the diet include Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, Dear John), Charlize Theron (Prometheus, Monster) and Penelope Cruz (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Vanilla Sky).
So what’s so appealing about the anti-inflammatory diet? The eating plan is designed to neutralize the inflammation that occurs inside your body, due to high levels of saturated fats, trans fats, and refined sugars. These foods set off a series of reactions, in which the “bad fat” triggers your liver to release chemicals to fight the toxins, which in turn causes inflammation. But as your body is inflamed, this means the glucose in food can’t be transported to your cells, and so your brain isn’t registering the intake. This leaves you feeing foggy, hungry and craving more, which becomes a dangerous cycle.
‘The more inflammation you have, the less efficiently you’re using your calories, so you eat more and feel worse,’ explains Jackie Keller, the Los Angeles–based founder of the NutriFit meal-delivery service, who crafts anti-inflammatory diet plans for Channing Tatum, Penelope Cruz, and Charlize Theron. ‘Not all my clients understand the science, but they feel better and find it easier to lose weight, and that’s what matters.’
According to Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian and wellness manager at the Cleveland Clinic, ‘Because we’re eating so many processed foods, inflammation is a bigger problem than ever before. This diet is partly about what you don’t eat—saturated fats, trans fats, and sugar—and a lot about what you do eat.’ As well as picking plenty of produce, especially deeply coloured fruits and vegetables which are packed with phytonutrients that help neutralize inflammation; the diet includes unsaturated fats found in fish and olive oil.
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