After Viday Balans’s inspiring weight loss journey, the anti-inflammatory diet has gained popularity.
Since everyone’s body and metabolic profile are unique, the diet should be personalized accordingly. Broadly, inflammation can be categorized into three types:
Dry Inflammation: Caused by dryness in the body, leading to irritation and friction. A hydrating diet can help restore moisture and reduce inflammation.
Heat Inflammation: Triggered by excess heat and acidity in the body, causing redness and irritation. Cooling, soothing foods like dairy can help calm the body.
Congestion Inflammation: Caused by fluid buildup and poor waste elimination, leading to swelling. A detoxifying diet can help clear congestion and reduce inflammation.
When done right, the anti-inflammatory diet can reduce inflammation and support overall health.
On a lighter note, it seems like Post-COVID, both inflation and inflammation are running high!*
Hey Vinod! I’m Vinay. In the parlance of evidence-based or science-based medicine, we use time as the differentiating factor in referring to inflammation. Acute and Chronic. The cool thing about that is that we can look at the inflamed tissue under a microscope and see that the immune system is doing different things during the Acute stage and the Chronic stage.
It’s been awhile since i studied pathology, but my take away from those classes was that Acute inflammatory pathways get blood, nutrition and cells from the immune system into the damaged tissue while Chronic inflammatory pathways cordon off the irritant from the rest of the body.
I’ve shadowed some ayurvedic practitioners in my time and I think what’s happening is a sort of combining of the different taxonomies in these practices.
As far as anti-inflammatory diets are concerned. I’d be careful with them. I used to work with people attempting ketogenic diets and in my experience, any kind of restrictive diet can be difficult to maintain and without serious planning ahead, can lead to nutritional deficiencies.
That was very well explained Vinny —thank you for sharing your insights! The use of time as a differentiating factor for inflammation is such a practical framework.
Reflecting on your perspective, I realized how closely it aligns with my own journey. Inflammation often starts small, and if addressed early, it can prevent the progression to a chronic stage. However, without that early awareness, things can escalate.
For instance, I used to suffer from severe colon pain and relied on Pantoprazole/ Antacids daily to manage it. Over time, the pain shifted to the middle of the night, disturbing my sleep. It was a classic example of how acute inflammation, left unchecked, began transitioning into something more chronic.
That’s when I turned to Ayurveda and realized the importance of early detection and intervention. I discovered that my body was in a “drying” state, and the activities I thought were healthy—like walking for two hours, eating raw vegetables, and consuming millets—were aggravating this dryness in my colon, which was the root cause of the inflammation. By simply reducing these drying habits, the inflammation disappeared within a week.
This experience taught me that while modern medicine provides tools to observe inflammation on a cellular level, Ayurveda offers a practical approach for the common man to recognize early symptoms and take corrective action before chronic damage sets in.
Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts—it’s always fascinating to discuss topics like this!