Can eating the rainbow help to reduce inflammation?
11/6/2025 by Tamara Soerense
n
Inflammation is a natural process initiated by the immune system in response to illness, trauma, toxins, physical stress and chronic disease. While acute inflammation is protective and allows our bodies to heal, it can become harmful if it persists, leading to chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation, in turn, can lead to conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes.
Several foods can contribute to inflammation. These include highly processed foods, refined carbohydrates, or foods high in added sugars. Conversely, other foods can help calm the immune system, decreasing inflammation.
Let’s explore which foods help lower inflammation and how they can be incorporated into an anti-inflammatory diet.
Fruits and Vegetables: Colorful fruits and vegetables naturally contain various phytonutrients and bioactive compounds that help keep inflammation in check. These foods form the foundation of the anti-inflammatory diet and can be enjoyed in abundance. For an extra boost of protection, try drizzling antioxidant-rich olive oil on your veggies..
Protein: Choose primarily from plant-based sources such as legumes, soy, nuts, and seeds, with smaller amounts from lean cuts of animal protein and fatty fish. The fats in these proteins, mainly monounsaturated and omega-3, play a significant role in combating inflammation. The American Heart Association recommends 6 to 8 ounces of fatty fish and 5 ounces of legumes, nuts, and seeds per week.
Whole grains: Whole grains contain all parts of the grain, whereas refined grains remove the germ and bran, eliminating important inflammation-reducing compounds. Of these, fiber is a bit of a superstar, shown to help reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Aim for at least 50% of your grains from whole grain sources, such as rolled oats and brown rice.
Herbs and Spices: Herbs and spices add flavor to your food and help reduce oxidative stress, which can trigger inflammation. Add ginger, turmeric, clove, cinnamon, oregano, and garlic to your next meal.
What change can you make today to shift your body into a less inflamed state?
Consider adding one colorful fruit or vegetable to your diet each day. Suggestions include tomatoes, oranges, yellow bell peppers, arugula, blueberries, pumpkin and broccoli.
Tamara Soerensen completed her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and her master’s in nutrition at Bastyr University. She is currently a dietetic intern at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Special interests include digestive health and the utilization of diet for disease prevention.
What Does Alcohol Do to Your Body? 9 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health
Alcohol affects your whole body, from your liver and immune system to your brain and mental health
You probably already know that excessive drinking can affect you in more ways than one.
There are the empty calories that can lead to weight gain. There’s the potential for injury and regrettable choices. And don’t forget about the hangovers of course.
Heavy drinking can also lead to a host of health concerns, like brain damage, heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver and even certain kinds of cancer.
And that’s on top of the toll that alcohol use can take on relationships, not to mention the potential for financial strain and legal troubles.
But even moderate alcohol use changes the way your body functions.
We talked with hepatologist Shreya Sengupta, MD, about how alcohol use affects your body and your emotional health.
“Some people think of the effects of alcohol as only something to be worried about if you’re living with alcohol use disorder, which was formerly called alcoholism,” Dr. Sengupta says.
“But when you consider how alcohol is metabolized and used by your body, we can start to see that even moderate and social drinking affects our health to some degree.”
Dr. Sengupta shares some of the not-so-obvious effects that alcohol has on your body.
Liver
Your liver detoxifies and removes alcohol from your blood through a process known as oxidation. When your liver finishes that process, alcohol gets turned into water and carbon dioxide.
But when you ingest too much alcohol for your liver to process in a timely manner, a buildup of toxic substances begins to take a toll on your liver.
If alcohol continues to accumulate in your system, it can destroy cells and, eventually, damage your organs.
“When your liver is overwhelmed by oxidizing alcohol, it generates molecules that inhibit fat oxidation,” Dr. Sengupta explains. “The fats build up. Over time, it can lead to a condition known as steatotic liver disease.”
Steatotic liver disease used to go by the name fatty liver disease.
Steatotic liver disease develops in about 90% of people who drink more than 1.5 to 2 ounces of alcohol per day. That’s about one shot glass worth.
With continued alcohol use, steatotic liver disease can lead to liver fibrosis. Eventually, you can develop permanent and irreversible scarring in your liver, which is called cirrhosis.
“The good news is that earlier stages of steatotic liver disease are usually completely reversible in about four to six weeks if you abstain from drinking alcohol,” Dr. Sengupta assures.
Cirrhosis, on the other hand, is irreversible and can lead to liver failure and liver cancer, even if you abstain from alcohol.
Metabolism
You probably are keenly aware of the so-called “beer belly.” That’s shorthand for a round midsection that some people associate with drinking too much beer.
In reality, there’s no evidence that drinking beer (or your alcoholic beverages of choice) actually contributes to belly fat.
But there’s plenty of research to back up the notion that alcohol does lead to weight gain in general. Even for people who aren’t particularly heavy drinkers.
“Drinking gives your body work to do that keeps it from going about its other processes,” Dr. Sengupta notes. “Alcohol distracts your system from its regularly scheduled duties, including things like metabolizing carbohydrates and fats.”
Once you take a drink, your body makes metabolizing alcohol a priority — above processing anything else.
That’s because your body already has processes in place that allow it to store excess proteins, carbohydrates and fats. But there isn’t a storage tank for alcohol. So, your system prioritizes getting rid of alcohol before it can turn its attention to its other work.
That allows excess calories from the foods you eat to sit around, leading to weight gain.
Gut health
Your gut microbiome is a hotbed of bacteria that help keep your digestive system happy and healthy. The trillions of microbes in your colon and large and small intestines are critical to proper digestion. They also help fend off inflammation and support healthy metabolism.
When you drink too much alcohol, it can throw off the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut.
“Alcohol can kill the good bacteria that live in your gut, allowing bad bacteria to grow unchecked,” Dr. Sengupta explains. “That can lead to problems with digestion, inflammation and even organ damage.”
Having a glass of wine with dinner or a beer at a party here and there isn’t going to destroy your gut. But even low amounts of daily drinking and prolonged and heavy use of alcohol can lead to significant problems for your digestive system.
There are a few studies that associate red wine with improved heart health in lab tests. But no research proves that red wine causes any improvements in heart health in people.
“The reality is that alcohol causes more health troubles than it could ever help,” Dr. Sengupta reinforces. “And that goes for your heart, as well as the rest of your body.”
Pancreas
Your pancreas helps your body digest food and manage your blood sugar. Drinking alcohol changes how your pancreas works.
“Your pancreas secretes fluids. Alcohol use can thicken those fluids, which can clog the ducts that those fluids flow out of,” Dr. Sengupta explains.
Like a clog in a drain, those thickened fluids can jam up your ducts. That can lead to pancreatitis, which is inflammation of the pancreas.
Pancreatitis can be a short-term (acute) condition that clears up in a few days. But prolonged alcohol abuse can lead to chronic (long-term) pancreatitis, which can be severe.
Your body breaks alcohol down into a chemical called acetaldehyde, which damages your DNA. Damaged DNA can cause a cell to grow out of control, which results in cancerous tumors.
Alcohol use has been shown to raise your risk for several kinds of cancer. That includes cancers of the:
Mouth.
Esophagus.
Throat.
Liver.
Breast.
Colon and rectum.
Immune system
If you drink every day, or almost every day, you might notice that you catch colds, flu or other illnesses more frequently than people who don’t drink. That’s because alcohol can weaken your immune system and make your body more susceptible to infection.
“We see lower levels of a specific kind of white blood cells called lymphocytes in people who drink heavily for long periods of time,” Dr. Sengupta reports. “That can leave them more vulnerable to infectious diseases.”
Brain
The morning after a night of over-imbibing can cause some temporary effects on your brain. Things like trouble concentration, slow reflexes and sensitivity to bright lights and loud sounds are standard signs of a hangover, and evidence of alcohol’s effects on your brain.
Long-term alcohol use can change your brain’s wiring in much more significant ways. Ways that your standard hangover cures won’t even begin to touch.
“Excessive alcohol consumption can cause nerve damage and irreversible forms of dementia,” Dr. Sengupta warns.
Mental health
Alcohol is a depressant. And prolonged alcohol use can lead to mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Chronic misuse can also lead to paranoia and hallucinations.
Even drinking a little too much (binge drinking) on occasion can set off a chain reaction that affects your well-being. Lowered inhibitions can lead to poor choices with lasting repercussions — like the end of a relationship, an accident or legal woes. Each of those consequences can cause turmoil that can negatively affect your long-term emotional health.
“Alcohol tends to cause more problems than it solves for a lot of people,” Dr. Sengupta emphasizes. “If drinking is affecting your health, your relationships, your work, your finances, it’s time to make some serious changes.”
If you need more guidance to quit drinking, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a hotline, 24/7, 365 days a year. Call 1.800.662.HELP (4357).
Alcoholics Anonymous is available almost everywhere and provides a place to openly and nonjudgmentally discuss alcohol issues with others who have alcohol use disorder.
Watermelon is mostly water, so it helps keep you hydrated. It’s also full of nutrients like potassium (640 mg in two wedges!) and lycopene that help fight inflammation when you exercise in the heat. https://wb.md/3zVwlhQ
There is no magic pill to reverse the aging process. But if you want to counter the biological mechanisms that drive age-related conditions, like the accumulation of senescent cells, you will need to exercise.
The hot & humid weather will continue for the rest of the working week, with the heat peaking on Thursday There’ll be some showers & thunderstorms from later Thursday. Turning cooler & more changeable this weekend: rain on Saturday, then sunshine & scattered showers on Sunday
What to know before grabbing an ice-cold beer to beat the heat:
It’s a warm summer day and you’re hanging out with friends and family for the first time in over a year, celebrating being vaccinated and just being together. And to help beat the heat, you reach in the cooler for an ice-cold beer.
While that might be refreshing at the moment, though, there’s good reason to grab some water, too. The heat of summer can be brutal, sometimes, and its effects are amplified when you’ve had a little too much alcohol.
To better understand the risks you face when drinking alcohol during this hot vaccine summer, we spoke with registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD.
The biggest danger: dehydration
Whenever you’re outside in the heat for prolonged periods – like at the beach or picnic – you’re at risk of dehydration. Consuming alcohol only heightens that risk.
Alcohol reduces the release of the hormone vasopressin, which keeps your body fluids balanced. At the same time, alcohol is also a diuretic which means more urinating and that can lead to dehydration even without the heat. Add in all that sweat from the hot sun and it’s a recipe for dehydration disaster.
One thing Zumprano points out, too, is that caffeine – whether via coffee, soda or as a mixer for liquor – heightens that dehydration risk even further.
Dehydration can also compound certain aspects of intoxication, she notes. “Altered thinking, altered abilities to drive and make reasonable decisions or even just to have conversations are all things that intoxication can cause.”
Liquor versus beer: Is one worse than the other in the heat?
Given that alcohol content is usually higher in spirits than in your average beer, it makes sense that drinking beer instead of mixed drinks might help you avoid dehydration. But the reality is a little more complex, according to Zumpano.
“If you’re consuming liquor at a volume equivalent to the volume of beer, like 12 ounces of margaritas compared to 12 ounces of an average beer, you will get drunk a lot quicker,” she says. “But if you’re drinking what’s considered an alcoholic drink equivalent, there’s not much of a difference because your alcohol intake is the same.”
According to the National Institute of Health, one alcoholic drink equivalent, also referred to as a “standard drink,” contains around 14 grams of pure alcohol. By those measurements, an average 12-ounce can of beer contains the same amount of alcohol as a 5-ounce glass of wine or a typical shot of distilled spirits like rum, vodka, gin or whiskey.
One thing to keep an eye on, though, is the alcoholic content of your beer. While major brands generally run between 4% and 5% alcohol per 12-ounce can or bottle, certain styles of craft beer are as much as 9% alcohol per the same volume. In other words, one can of your favorite local IPA delivers almost twice the amount of alcohol to your system.
Beware a false sense of hydration
Another mistake you should avoid, Zumpano says, is thinking that drinking all that liquid rehydrates you. “If you’re drinking a lot of beer or alcoholic seltzer, it can feel like you’re drinking a lot of liquid and staying hydrated, but the alcohol offsets that because it’s the dehydrating factor,” she points out.
Not that drinking mixed drinks is any better, according to Zumpano. “If you’re drinking a sugary, sweet mixed drink, you run into the same thing. It feels like you’re staying hydrated because they go down so much smoother than drinking spirits on the rocks. But it’s the same effect as with beer: The alcohol is still dehydrating you unless you’re also drinking enough water.”
Sugar, the hidden villain
All of these drinks have other adverse health effects, too. They can pack a bunch of calories into a single serving – as many as 400 to 500 calories in some mixed drinks and craft beers – and they can come loaded with carbs.
There’s more, though. “If you’re drinking high sugar, high caloric intake beverages and you’re drinking a lot of them, they can be very filling,” Zumpano says. If you’re feeling full, you might not eat any food which can otherwise help absorb some of the alcohol.
How to counter dehydration: water, water, water
So what can you do to avoid dehydration troubles when you’re sipping your favorite boozy beverage by the pool? “To counteract the dehydration risk of alcohol,” Zumpano says, “drink 8 to 12 ounces of water for every alcoholic drink. It slows your intake, keeps you hydrated and can mitigate negative hangover effects.”
She suggests keeping a reusable water bottle with you that you can refill as the day goes on, taking time to drink the necessary water between beers or margaritas. Another option is to buy a pack of 8-ounce bottles of water and alternate with your booze. And you can always infuse your water with fruit to keep it flavorful.
“It’s also important to know what your trigger for over-consumption is,” she adds. “If you’re triggered by over-consuming beer or alcoholic seltzer, you want to be mindful of that. Try to switch a drink you have better control of and keep the water bottle handy.”
There is no magic pill to reverse the aging process. But if you want to counter the biological mechanisms that drive age-related conditions, like the accumulation of senescent cells, you will need to exercise.
Watermelon is mostly water, so it helps keep you hydrated. It’s also full of nutrients like potassium (640 mg in two wedges!) and lycopene that help fight inflammation when you exercise in the heat. https://wb.md/3zVwlhQ
There’ll be some showers & thunderstorms from later Thursday. Turning cooler & more changeable this weekend: rain on Saturday, then sunshine & scattered showers on Sunday
Healthaware 