To those of you who have yet to start your 2024 food resolutions, I’ll bet some of you are still feeling a little sluggish, and perhaps even a little blue, am I right? Sure, the holidays are over, and it’s back to routine as usual, but it’s likely that there is a little more brewing beneath the surface. I for one find a great deal of comfort in routine, so why does it take me so long to get back into it? Then it dawned on me; perhaps all the decadent foods we’d been eating over the past few weeks have taken their toll, and our bodies need a little bit more love and attention to get us back on track.

In the past, when it came to healthy foods, our focus was predominantly on items rich in vitamins and minerals. It wasn’t until the last decade that we started hearing about anti-inflammatory foods and their positive impact on overall health and productivity.

How often do you hear yourself (and others) say ‘I’ve been so tired lately, but I don’t know why?’ Well, the answer to that question is most likely that you have some degree of internal inflammation, which in turn, increases acidity in the body, making you feel tired and lethargic.

So, what is inflammation?

Inflammation is your immune system’s natural response to protect the body from infection, injury, or disease. There are many things you wouldn’t be able to heal from without inflammation. Sometimes however, your immune system attacks healthy cells, typically caused by injuries, trauma, exposure to certain chemicals and other irritants, stress, certain medications, and unhealthy diets (to name a few). In the case of January blues however, it is very likely that the overindulgence and coming off the ‘holiday diet’ has contributed to more inflammation than usual in our bodies.  

Under these circumstances, the excessive and unnecessary inflammation leads to undesirable symptoms such as joint pain, gastrointestinal issues, weight gain, regular infections, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, irritability and depression.

So, how do we start? The main solution is diet and exercise, so read on and remember, it’s never too late to start your January resolutions!

However, before listing the foods we should be eating, let’s start with the ones we should be avoiding, all of which play a huge part in increasing inflammation in the body:

• Processed meats such as cold cuts and most deli meats
• Refined sugar and carbohydrates
• Trans fats

Though it may not be possible to avoid these foods entirely, we can most certainly reduce them, and balance things out by making healthier diet choices.  If you are currently dealing with health problems attributed to inflammation, these are the foods you should be eating:

• All types of berries, especially blueberries
• Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines
• Nuts, such as almonds and walnuts
• Leafy greens, such as spinach and kale
• Tomatoes
• Olive oil

All accessible food items and easy enough to incorporate into your diet.  To help you get started, check out yufeed recipes containing these simple, yet delicious and flavourful ingredients. It’s never too late to get started!

If you guys have any advice on how you beat your holiday blues, please share in the comments!