My Anti-Inflammation Start

As I declared last time, I wanted to start living an anti-inflammation lifestyle, starting with my eating habits. I went through a few of those books and websites I mentioned and I am not sure if I want to start with a detox or elimination in the first phase of my diet change. It makes a lot of sense; to cut out common food allergens and then add them back to see if they are the cause of a food allergy or sensitivity. 

While I research that further, I plan to track what I eat as I make the changes that follow. [Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or any kind of health professional so anything written here is probably wrong and should not be taken as medical advice of any kind. I am just an out-of-work accountant trying to get healthy and talking about it here.]

• Tracking my weekly menu and daily food choices
• I already plan my weekly menu in a regular bound notebook. There, I also keep track of the groceries I need to use up for the week (great for remembering to use up produce). 
• I will start tracking my daily meals and snacks in another smaller journal I can carry around with me. There are some great apps available for phones, but I like flipping through notebooks. I plan to review it at the end of the day and end of the week to make notes for the following week. 

• Eating organic or pastured eggs, and organic and/or grass-fed lean meats instead of farmed 
• I already eat lean meats like lean beef and chicken/turkey. I have a food sensitivity to pork so I avoid it. I also avoid processed meat like spam and deli meats (although I used to love them when I was younger). 
• I have added the word “organic” next to these items in my Out of Milk shopping list app (eggs, beef, chicken/turkey) and am happy with the organic eggs and chicken I bought this week.
• I plan to look in my local circulars for deals/availability of organic meats and to try other markets 

• Swapping out farmed fish with wild-caught fish
• I have added the word “wild” next to these items in my Out of Milk shopping list app (salmon)
• I need to find better frozen options. Right now, I get Kirkland frozen wild salmon but tilapia which is farmed
• I plan to look in my local circulars for deals/availability of wild fish and to try other markets 
• I will buy a basket to make grilling whole fish easier this summer

• Buying organic produce for the ones on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list 
• I have added the word “organic” next to these items in my Out of Milk shopping list app. These are the produce items that are sprayed with the most pesticides. Pesticides have been found to cause issues, so I want to reduce my exposure to them. 
• I plan to look in my local circulars for deals/availability and to look at the organic section more often. 

• Switching to non-BPA canned products
• I used the EWG Food Scores website to find canned products that don’t have BPA in their lids and bought some tomato paste to try
• Not necessary, but I am going to email my favorite canned tomatoes brand to ask them to consider not using BPA to line their cans (I can use others, but those are San Marzano imported tomatoes and they really make the sauce!). 
• I signed up for Thrive Market to order some organic and non-BPA cans and dried goods. You can use my referral link here and you get 15% off your first order (they are  currently offering 20% off!) and I get $25 in Thrive Cash. The first month is free and you pay $59.95 a year, but they say that the prices are cheaper than Whole Foods and Amazon. I am going to try it for a year and will let you know how it goes. Next year, I will see what Amazon offers after its acquisition of Whole Foods.  [I ended up cancelling Thrive Market during my free trial. Every time I went to try them again, I couldn't go through with it. I was just not convinced they would make things right if I had another issue with my order. The hassle was just not worth it. I will be going to Whole Foods (unfortunately) or Fairway (I totally forgot about them!).]

• Using unrefined coconut oil in cooking
• I need to search for an organic, unrefined coconut oil. Costco doesn’t offer the one I used to use anymore. And the new one is huge! 
• I am going to try the one from Thrive Market [I couldn't try this since it had arrived spilled all over the rest of my order.]

I figure that these changes won’t really affect the types of meals we cook at home, although the organic versions may be a little more expensive. What it will affect, is how I eat out (summer BBQ season is starting and I will have to be more careful than usual). I will let you know how this all works out and what changes I plan to make next. Let me know what you think of an anti-inflammation diet and lifestyle. Have you been successful with it?