[Recipe] Tart Cherry Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie

Our bodies were created with various self-protection mechanisms. For example: Inflammation is there to remove harmful stimuli and begin the healing process; it is part of the body’s immune response. And we don’t want to interfere with that.

However, sometimes inflammation can cause further inflammation; it can become self-perpetuating. More inflammation is created in response to the existing inflammation.

It’s a complicated business.

A report from MedicalNewsToday points out that patients should be monitored closely when therapies to combat inflammation are used to make sure that the benefits of inflammation are not completely eliminated …

Neuroscientists at the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio found that inflammation actually helps to heal damaged muscle tissue. Their findings clash with how sportspeople with inflammation are treated – health professionals always try to control the inflammation to encourage healing. The researchers say their findings may lead to new therapies for acute muscle injuries caused by freeze damage, medications, chemicals and trauma.

One of the Causes of Inflammation and How our Diet Can Help

Vitamin A deficiency can cause inflammatory response. Our low fat diets of recent years may have increased this risk as Vitamin A requires fat to be absorbed by the body. See our post That Fat-Free Dressing is Robbing Your Body of Nutrients

So how can diet help?

MedicalNewsToday says that ginger and turmeric have good anti-inflammatory properties and reports that …

… sports scientists found that tart cherries have powerful anti-inflammatory properties which may help millions of Americans who suffer from joint pain and arthritis. The team, from Oregon Health & Science University even went as far as saying that “(tart cherries) have the highest anti-inflammatory content of any food”. They believe that tart cherries could help patients with osteoarthritis manage their pain effectively. Twenty females aged from 40 to 70 years drank tart cherry juice twice a day for three weeks; they all suffered from inflammatory osteoarthritis. At the end of the three weeks there were significant falls in levels of key inflammation markers.