Inflammation contributes to and even causes a number of aches, pains, injuries, illnesses and autoimmune disorders, including but not exclusively,
rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, eosinophilic esophagitis, Crohn’s disease, colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, lupus and Hashimoto’s disease.
Inflammation can cause considerable and often disabling pain and lack of mobility as well as contribute to depression and a decline in quality of life.
Eating more vegetable may not but the cure-all for all of these ailments, but they can have a considerable inpact on the severity of symptoms.
Many athletes are now choosing to eat vegan, anti-inflammatory foods after exercising and some have switched over to a 100% plant based diet to improve strength and endurance, and minimize inflammation.
In a study, published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine in 2015, 600 participants followed a vegan diet for three weeks which significantly reduced C-reactive protein, a key marker for acute and chronic inflammation.
In another study the patients followed a vegan diet for three and a half months and experienced significant improvement in tender and swollen joints, pain, duration of morning stiffness and grip strength than the people in a control group who consumed an ordinary diet.
According to a study published by the American Heart Association , researchers randomized 100 participants with coronary artery disease to either a vegan diet (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, or fish) or an AHA-recommended diet (fewer servings of non-fish animal protein, more servings of fish, and only low- or no-fat dairy) for eight weeks.
The primary endpoint marker for inflammation, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, improved significantly more in the vegan group, compared with the AHA group.
The authors conclude a vegan diet should be considered to help avoid adverse outcomes among heart disease patients.