Decoding Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet plan is based on the premise that most of the serious illnesses (including various types of cancer, heart diseases, and even Alzhiemer’s disease) are cause by chronic inflammation. And so, reducing and preventing inflammation through a diet change can help you beat the diseases and even prevent them. Though this is not plan focused on weight loss, Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet ensures that you only eat unprocessed food that is low in fats and has no trans-fats, and so it can help you lose weight if you add some sort of daily physical exercise to this diet routine.

Dr. Andrew Weil is a Harvard-educated doctor, who is a known name in the field of integrative medicine. And while he accepts that stress, genetics, exposure to toxins, and lack of exercise may all contribute to chronic inflammation, he believes that dietary choices are also responsible for the condition. Specific foods influence the inflammatory process in certain way, according to Dr. Weil, and so choosing the right food can be key to reducing long-term disease risks.

Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet is, as he puts it, “a way of selecting and preparing foods based on scientific knowledge of how they can help your body maintain optimum health. Along with influencing inflammation, this diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids dietary fiber, and protective phytonutrients.”

In general, Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet tells its followers to aim for variety-- fruits, vegetables, grains—need to be consumed in a varied and large amounts. In addition, it stresses on eating fresh and organic food as far as possible. Processed and fast foods should be avoided.

Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet bases its nutrition count on the basic daily caloric intake of between 2,000 and 3,000 calories for adults. This requirement should be tweaked, based on the fact that people with sedentary lifestyle, women and children need fewer calories while those with active lifestyle and men need more. So the very first step to follow this diet is to determine how much calories you require. For this, it’s best to consult your doctor.

Once you have found out the amount of calories you need every day, you need to follow a simple formula: 40-50% of your calories should come from carbohydrates, 30% from fat, and 20-30% percent from protein.

Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet prescribes that if you are on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, your daily carbohydrates intake should be 160-200 grams (for women) and 240-300 grams (for men). The catch, here, is that most of your carbs should come from “less-refined, less-processed foods with a low glycemic load.” This means that you need to majorly cut down on your refined flour and sugar intake. Pick up that brown bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of your regular rice and simply shun those tempting packaged snacks (including wafers and pretzels). Go for bulgur wheat, eat more beans, cook pasta al dente, and eat it in moderation. And completely avoid food that contains high fructose corn syrup.

Going by the same scale of a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet recommends that you can get a maximum of 600 calories from fat: that is, nearly 67 grams. Moreover, the ratio of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fat should be 1:2:1. To reduce your saturated-fat consumption, cut down on high-fat dairy (butter, cream, cheese) fatty meats, unskinned chicken, and products made with palm kernel oil. While you may have kept that bottle of extra virgin olive oil only to use a salad dressings, Dr. Andrew Weil suggests you make it your main cooking oil. Or shift to expeller-pressed, organic canola oil. The only other acceptable cooking oils in Dr. Andrew Weil’s diet are high-oleic, expeller-pressed, and organic, sunflower and safflower oils.

Margarine and vegetable shortening is a complete no-no, and so are products containing them. All products that contain partially hydrogenated oils of any kind are also to be avoided.

To increase the amount of good fats, you must include nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds, etc.), nut butters and avocados in your daily diet.

Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet lays a lot of stress on omega-3 fatty acids. The best sources of these are fish such as herring, salmon (preferably fresh or frozen wild or canned sockeye), black cod (sablefish, butterfish), and sardines packed in water or olive oil. Other sources include eggs fortified with omega-3, hemp seeds, and flaxseeds (freshly ground). Or you can simply take a fish oil supplement.

As for protein, Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet prescribes consuming 80-120 grams of it. Those with kidney problems, liver problems, autoimmune diseases, or allergies should eat less protein. Vegetable protein is preferred over animal protein (except fish, and natural yogurt and cheese). Beans, especially soybeans, are the best source of vegetable protein, so add as much of these to your daily diet as you can.

When following Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet you need to eat 40 grams of dietary fiber every day. This can be achieved easily; you simply need to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Another good way to incorporate fiber to your daily diet is eating ready-made cereals. However, you must ensure that they provide 4- 5 grams of bran per one-ounce serving, so read the labels carefully.

Phytonutrients provide you with natural protection against cancers, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and many other age-related diseases. They also help your body fight against environmental toxicity. Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet requires you to eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, and even mushrooms. And make sure that every day you eat your fruits and veggies in rainbow colors: that is eat a mix of reds, yellows, oranges, and greens. Go for berries, tomatoes, citrus fruits, and dark leafy vegetables.

While you may get a good amount of your daily recommended amounts of vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients from fresh fruits and vegetables, you still need some supplements to ensure that you get the required amount. Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet suggests taking a supplement that contains the following, with your largest meal:

Vitamin C, 200 mg

Vitamin E, 400 IU of natural mixed tocopherols (d-alpha-tocopherol with other tocopherols, or, better, a minimum of 80 milligrams of natural mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols)

Selenium, 200 mcg in an organic (yeast-bound) form.

Mixed carotenoids, 10,000-15,000 IU daily.

Folic acid, at least 400 mcg

Vitamin D, 2,000 IU

Make sure that the supplement doesn’t contain any iron (except for menstruating females) and no preformed vitamin A (retinol).

Women, also need to take calcium supplements according to Dr. Weil. He suggest taking 500-700 mg of calcium citrate a day, depending on their dietary intake of this mineral.

For those who are unable to eat the recommended portions of oily fish, Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet recommends supplemental fish oil (2-3 gram daily, containing both EPA and DHA). Look for molecularly distilled products certified to be free of heavy metals and other contaminants.

If ginger and turmeric do not appear regularly in your food, Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet requires you to take these, too, in supplemental form.

Talk to your doctor about going on low-dose aspirin therapy, one or two baby aspirins a day (81 or 162 milligrams).

Other daily supplements recommended are 60-100 mg of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in a softgel form (with the largest meal) and 100-400 mg of alpha-lipoic acid for those prone to metabolic syndrome.

Some other general recommendations of Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet are as follows:

As far as possible, eat organic produce. Eat cruciferous vegetables on a regular basis. These includes vegetables from the cabbage family. Incorporate soy foods in your daily diet.

When longing for a bite of chocolate, go for a small chunk of plain dark chocolate (having a minimum of 70% cocoa content).

Avoid coffee and drink tea instead. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends white, green, and oolong tea.

While going for an alcoholic drink, prefer red wine.

The best drink, according to Dr. Weil is pure water or one that is mostly water (tea, highly diluted fruit juice, sparkling water with lemon, etc.). You can sip on these throughout the day. Make sure that the water you drink is purified.