Reduce Inflammation After a Heavy Workout by Eating These Foods

Another heavy workout has passed, you lifted heavy and walked out of the gym feeling satisfied. While we know that exercise can help to improve our overall body’s immune system, research has shown that exercise sessions using more than 70% of maximal effort (e.g heavy workout session) in 30 minutes could flood the body with stress and inflammation.

Thankfully, we can combat this issue by having proper nutrition and eating the right foods to keep our joints healthy. This will give us a peace of mind whenever we are lifting heavy and crushing it in the gym.

Let’s look at the recommended foods to prevent inflammation and the foods to avoid.

Foods to Eat to Prevent Inflammation

Here are the lists of foods to eat, recommended by Harvard Health Publications

With a wide variety of carbohydrates, proteins and fats sources in this list, you can try to incorporate these foods into your diet on a daily basis. Besides helping to prevent inflammation, the healthy foods listed above will also help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Here are some examples of a meal combination you can take after a heavy workout:

1. Salmon, Olive Oil, Tomatoes, Blueberries


2. Tuna, Almonds, Strawberries


3. Mackerel, Green leafy vegetables, Walnut, Cherries

These are just some ideas, use your creative juice and mix and match according to your own preferences.

Foods to Avoid

Here are the lists of foods Harvard Health Publications recommended to avoid:

Yes, I know, I know, it’s hard to avoid these foods. However, you can always replace it with something similar and healthier.

Here are some suggestions:

1. When you feel like eating white bread, replace it with whole wheat bread.


2. When you feel like eating French fries, replace it with sweet potato or even baked potato


3. When you feel like eating red meats or processed meat, replace it with chicken breast or fish (salmon and tuna would be a great choice)

While you should not completely avoid these foods, try to replace them with similar alternatives whenever possible. A good rule of thumb to stick to is 80% clean foods, and for the remaining 20% of your diet, you can indulge in any types of food you like.

Conclusion

You won’t want to be one of those old guys in the future complaining about his knees, lower back, shoulders and every other part of his body. While your gains are important, your joints are even more important in the long run.

Appreciate your healthy joints, don’t have regrets only when it’s too late. Consume the foods recommended above regularly, and try to avoid the list of unhealthy foods.

This article about reducing inflammation naturally was brought to you by Fitness on Demand kings of the UK - http://www.esq2.com . If you own a gym or fitness centre in the UK, then please visit our Partners Page - http://www.esq2.com/partners . We have videos and tutorials to sign up with our world class Partners Program.

Over to You

Let me know in the comments below are you currently eating any of the foods used to prevent inflammation?