Amazing Anti-Inflammatory Foods | What I Eat in a Day

Hey guys, in this video, I'm going to share with you the anti-inflammatory foods that I eat every day. Now, the best part is that these foods are easily accessible. They're just everyday delicious foods, but they happen to reduce inflammation in the body. And as we go through the video, you're going to start to realize that it's even easier than you might think to eat a highly anti-inflammatory diet. Now, the issue with inflammation is that it is the root of most disease. And luckily nature has provided us with so many delicious, bountiful, colorful plants to help reduce inflammation in the body. And the other great thing is that these foods aren't only great for reducing inflammation, but they also happen to be high in protein, high in fiber, and high in all the other nutrients that you need to thrive and feel your very best. So before we dive in, please subscribe to my channel and turn on notifications if you haven't already. And while we're at it, go ahead and hit that like button and let's dive in. Oh, Hey, before we continue, do you need new recipe ideas? Sign up for my newsletter. It's free. You'll be the first to get recipes, meal plans, exclusive content, and more. Sign up at sleepatatasoul.com. Okay. Let's start with breakfast. So the first thing I do when I get out of bed is I drink a tall glass of water, but once that's done, I head straight to the kitchen because it is time for my coffee. These days I'm making an iced oat milk espresso that is anti-inflammatory because I'm adding turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom. Turmeric in particular is a very potent anti-inflammatory spice. It has a phytonutrient called curcumin in it, which has been studied for its powerful effects at reducing inflammation and pain. So I like to start my day with anti-inflammatory coffee. I feel like it. Okay. I feel like it doesn't quite do anything that I can notice, but I like how it tastes and I know it's doing something on the inside because look, I still feel great y'all. Okay. But what about the food for breakfast? Most days we're boring. We just eat oatmeal, but oatmeal is actually really great for inflammation. Whole grains in general and complex carbohydrates have anti-inflammatory properties because they've got lots of fiber. They help support a healthy gut and they help get all the toxins out of your body, but not just that oats and other whole grains also do have anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and antioxidants in them. So you're getting inflammation fighting power from all directions with oatmeal, but oatmeal is also a great source of plant-based protein. And like I said, fiber, so it does make for the perfect breakfast. And I usually don't have time or energy to like, make a fancy oatmeal. So what I just do oatmeal on the stove, add a little bit of soy milk and maple syrup, cinnamon, top it with fresh fruit. And Oh, always, always flaxseed. Flaxseed is great because it's full of omega-3 fatty acids, which are also anti-inflammatory. So today after breakfast, I went to yoga. I do wait a couple hours, at least one hour before I go to yoga, but I am really, really trying hard to eat breakfast before yoga. I don't like to exercise on an empty stomach, even though it might feel like you can be more, like I can move more and I can do more. I really want to feel my body before I go to yoga because I really am stronger. And it's just good to eat before you exercise, especially if you're a woman. So after oatmeal, I went to yoga and I had a really great practice. And the first thing I do when I get home after drinking copious amounts of water, the first thing I do is I eat a protein rich snack or meal. So it's usually a snack because I still have to take a shower and run it around. So my favorite thing to make is edamame. Edamame is so delicious. It's simply soybeans in the pod. It is so easy to make. You simply add the frozen edamame to boiling water, cook it for like five to 10 minutes, strain it a little salt on top and pop them babies out. It is so delicious. I recently learned that it is especially important for women to eat a leucine rich protein source after exercising. So I've been trying to do that. And it is easy because leucine is one of the essential amino acids. So if you're eating any complete protein like soy, it's super easy to get it. And I really do feel like I recover from my workouts really well. Maybe it's because of the edamame. Maybe it's just the food in general. Maybe it's the anti-inflammatory foods we're eating, whatever it is. I'm feeling good y'all, but you will notice throughout this whole video and all my videos that the common through line is to avoid processed food. I do eat a little sugar. I had agave in my coffee and a little maple syrup in my oatmeal, but the focus is to avoid processed foods and eat wholesome foods like this edamame or everything I've eaten so far, but let's move on to the next meal. Now for lunch today, I'm having this leftover farro and chickpea salad, and it is loaded up with fresh herbs like basil and parsley. Basil and parsley are very great anti-inflammatory herbs, but so is the farro and the chickpeas. And even the dressing in the salad has turmeric and cinnamon and all of those great anti-inflammatory compounds too. So basically this whole lunch is great and I'm serving it with spinach just because I want some more greens in here. I actually had two of these bowls, not just this one. I had this one and then I went back and I made another one, but you know, my family's over right now and they've been kind of like distracting me. So I made my, my first bowl was too small, but overall I want you to remember that eating a wholesome plant-based diet is naturally anti-inflammatory. I don't have to go out of my way to find like special powders or like special supplements. It's all in the plants. It's in the beans, which are anti-inflammatory. It's in the whole grains, it's in the fruit, it's in the herbs, it's in the green vegetables. All of this makes up such a healthy anti-inflammatory diet. And it's no wonder that vegans tend to have a lower risk of cancer. I think it's really important though, to remember if you are eating vegan, that you need to focus on whole foods, not processed. Even if it is vegan, if it's ultra processed, it ain't good for you. I am sorry. So make sure to eat those foods, ultra processed foods, packaged foods that are like, you know, processed processed meats, processed vegan cheese, things like that. Eat it all in moderation. Okay. And focus on the whole foods for the bulk of your diet and you will thrive. Snack time. So I eat snacks throughout the day. My favorite things to grab are nuts. I just have like almonds and pecans and walnuts right in my pantry eye level. So I can easily grab them. I also love edamame. I eat edamame every single day, pretty much. And I love fresh fruit. We eat fresh fruit all year round, as long as it's seasonal. So right now, today I had cherries. I also have watermelon. I had oranges earlier today, because that's baby J's favorite thing. I just make sure to have a lot of seasonal fruit in the house at all times because it makes for such an easy snack. I also like to keep frozen fruit, especially berries in the freezer so that I can quickly make a smoothie. If I need something else, or really if baby J wants a smoothie, cause she loves smoothies. All right now, so this is my liquid snack every day between one and 3pm. I have to have a matcha latte, honey. I don't have to, but I have to. I love to. It's a special treat, but it's a special treat that is good for you because matcha is so nutritious. It's high in antioxidants, super, super high. And for those who don't know, matcha is a type of green tea powder. It's the entire leaf ground up to make a powder and it is very tasty. It's grassy. And I really, really love it as a latte with a little bit of oat milk, a little bit of agave, not too much. It's not a tall, gigantic glass, but it is enough to make me feel like I had a special treat. And, and this is important. Matcha has caffeine. That's why I drink it in the afternoon when I need a little energetic pick me up, especially if I've been working all day or have been like done multiple exercises. Unlike coffee, matcha caffeine does not give you jitters and it does not give you a crash. And for me, at least it does not affect my sleep. Even when I drink it as late as 3pm for dinner tonight, we had these delicious zucchini quinoa burgers. I created this recipe years and years ago, and I kind of forgot about it because the blog post was not great, but it's, it's updated now. I'm going to leave the link to this recipe down below, but it's great because when it's zucchini season and zucchinis everywhere, and you just want to use it up, these are the burgers for you. These burgers are full of protein fiber, thanks to the quinoa and the white beans. And also the zucchini, the zucchini adds flavor, but it also keeps these burgers nice and light and tender and moist. So you don't always have to buy burgers at the store beyond meat. I love beyond meat. I really do. And I, I eat those occasionally, but in strict moderation, instead, when you can make your own veggie burgers at home, you can control what goes into them and you can make sure that they are anti-inflammatory and fit all of your nutrition needs. These burgers definitely check off that box. Now, when it comes to buns, if I'm like making these for a cookout or with family, I'll usually just eat them on a regular, a wheat bun or whole wheat bun. But if I'm going to optimize for anti-inflammatory, then I'm going to choose Ezekiel bread. I love Ezekiel bread because it's made with whole grains. My family was here very loud causing a lot of ruckus while I was trying to film this video, which is fine. I'm always multitasking. So I also filmed a reel and took some photos for the blog post, a new blog post, which I will link, but I made blackberry cardamom soda for my mom and Nana and they loved it. It was super tasty. So you guys got to check out that recipe too. It's very good. I'm so lucky. My mom and Nana are watching baby Jay tonight because I get to go for my after dinner walk, which I love so much. It's a great way to digest your food and also just unwind before bed. But of course, going for a walk after any meal is a good idea. It doesn't have to be dinner, get it in where you can fit it in. And like I said, just to relax, let off steam from the whole day. I can think a lot. I listen to my podcast. I can just like digest my food, but digest the whole day. Now, you know how easy it is to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, especially if you just focus on eating wholesome plant-based foods at least 80, 90% of the time. I do want to tell you that the foods that cause the most inflammation are maybe obvious like alcohol, dairy, red meat, processed foods, ultra processed foods, junk food, sodas, all those things. So you want to avoid those as much as possible. Even if you're eating a little bit of those foods, if the majority of your diet is this healthy, wholesome food, then I think you'll be just fine. I don't know. I'm not a doctor, but I know for me, I eat some of those things. I drink alcohol. Occasionally I eat sugar. I eat junk food, but very strict moderation. And because it's in moderation, I think I'm doing fine. I don't have to be obsessive and I don't have to only eat super duper healthy food. Try it out. See what works for you. If you need more recipes and you need more ideas for delicious anti-inflammatory vegan food, check out my other videos. I've also got great meal plan videos and head to my blog, SweetPotatoSoul.com for hundreds of delicious vegan recipes. You can also sign up for my newsletter where you will receive recipes every week and free meal plan guide. So check that out, you guys. Thank you so much for watching. I hope this was helpful. If you've got any questions, leave them down below in the comments section and I will get to as many as I possibly can. Thank you for watching. I'll see you next time. Bye.