We have done keto, paleo, and intermittent fasting. We have sworn by them and given up on them in turn. However, the diet in question here is less about losing weight and more about reducing inflammation. Here’s why —

Chronic inflammation in the body is a central driver of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other illnesses. Thankfully, certain diets endorsed by the movers and shakers of the research world can help the gut microbiome mediate better between the food we eat and inflammation, reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and even responding better to cancer treatments.

Research shows that diets that incorporate fruits such as apples and avocados, carrots and leafy green vegetables, whole grains, oily fish, olive oil, and moderate dairy are consistently tied to lower inflammation, a reduced risk of non-communicable diseases and even mental health disorders.

Interestingly, the diet described is very close to the Mediterranean diet, which includes variants such as DASH and MIND that offer still more benefits for blood pressure and brain health.

However, there is a snag in the stocking. One must be mindful of not only what is being eaten, but how much of it is eaten, how it is being prepared, and what it is being combined with. Experts suggest at least 50 grams of fibre-rich food per day, paired with proper hydration. That might look like a cup of black beans, a cup of raspberries, and a medium apple with skin.

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Now, let’s talk combinations. Research suggests that nutrients work differently when consumed together and in different food matrices: tomatoes, for example, work better at reducing inflammation when paired with avocadoes and cheese; a baked potato is best friends with your immunity, whereas a French fry is possibly one of the worst things to ever happen to it.

Diets that are high in ultra-processed foods, red meat, and saturated fats lead the partaker to far greater risks of heart attacks, cancer, depression, and death than other types of foods. By literal calculation, that would mean that each 100-gram increase in such foods raises C-reactive protein (one of the bad guys) by almost 4 per cent.

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Fibre, on the flipside, is linked to better responses in cancer treatments, with an additional 5 grams daily lowering progression or the risk of death by nearly 30 per cent. Fermented foods are even better for the body, boosting microbiome diversity in the gut to alleviate suffering of a serious nature.

While research will shed more light on the best food combinations to enable the best environment for our bodies, evidence thus far supports a fibre-rich diet with both hands up, backs whole foods as opposed to supplements and also gives a major thumbs down to processed food.