What an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Actually Means in Practice

By Tina Chagoury, Clinical Dietitian · 6 min read · 2026-10-12

The phrase gets used to sell everything. Here is what it means when a clinical dietitian writes the protocol.

The phrase anti inflammatory is used to sell almost everything at this point, which has made it close to meaningless. So here is what it actually involves when I write a protocol.

What comes out

Processed sugar. An inflammatory trigger of the first order. Not a small piece of dessert. The daily, constant intake.

Refined and fried oils. Oils used for frying transform chemically and become both carcinogenic and strongly inflammatory. This is one of the more clear cut items on the list.

Processed meat. Directly linked to cancer risk because of the nitrites used in preservation.

Artificial sweeteners. Aspartame and sucralose are not something I recommend. If you want sweetness without sugar, stevia, allulose or monk fruit are the better options. I tend to prefer stevia, because its taste is less aggressive than monk fruit.

Excess gluten, meaning wheat, avoided as much as is reasonable rather than replaced with engineered gluten free products.

Heavily processed dairy, though not dairy as a category.

Detox juices, which are excellent marketing and can raise inflammation rather than reduce it.

What stays, and what people are surprised by

Olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is a genuine anti inflammatory medicine and should be consumed generously, not sparingly, and without any guilt at all.

Unprocessed dairy. Greek yoghurt, plain yoghurt, labneh, cottage cheese and feta are fine and healthy, with a genuinely useful protein content.

Fruit. Healthy, though there is no need for four or five servings a day.

Dark chocolate. Contains antioxidants, tastes good, and is anti inflammatory in small quantities. Better eaten after a meal rather than on its own, so it does not spike blood sugar.

Coffee. Caffeine has a far worse reputation than it deserves. It is a healthy compound and it supports training. The issues are quantity and timing. In the morning, better taken with something, coconut milk or a small breakfast beforehand, so it does not sharply raise cortisol.

Soy, in moderation and non genetically modified, is healthy and a good protein source. It is not the hormonal disaster it is described as.

Sourdough bread, specifically whole wheat sourdough, if you love bread.

Fresh red meat, chosen and cooked well.

The structure matters as much as the list

This is the part that gets left out of most anti inflammatory advice.

• Three structured meals, no all day grazing. Constant snacking keeps insulin elevated and interrupts the gut's cleaning cycles.
• Protein at every meal, starting within the first hour of waking.
• High protein, moderate carbohydrate.
• Enough fibre. Genuinely essential, and arguably more foundational than the protein we discuss constantly.
• Adequate hydration.

What this looks like as a shopping pattern

Grass fed meat, poultry raised without hormones or antibiotics, extra virgin olive oil as the only cooking and dressing oil, locally sourced fruit and vegetables, low glycaemic load complex carbohydrates, and no processed sugar. Natural sweeteners where sweetness is wanted.

Low gluten, low or no dairy depending on the person, free from processed sugar and processed oils.

That is the whole framework. It is not exotic and it is not a cleanse. It is a way of eating that reduces the total inflammatory load your body has to process, every day, indefinitely.

This article is nutrition education, not medical advice.

Tina Chagoury is a licensed clinical dietitian specialising in women's hormonal health and inflammation, and the creator of the Hormone Reset Method™. Learn more and start here.