How to eat to lower inflammation - the top 5 foods to boost energy, stop pain, and to live longer | Prof Luke O’Neill

Jonathan (0:02)

Welcome to ZOE Science & Nutrition, where world-leading scientists explain how their research can improve your health.

Every second, a silent battle is unfolding inside your body. Cells are sending chemical distress signals, immune defenders are rushing to the scene, tiny blood vessels are opening, and a process that's protected humans for hundreds of thousands of years is springing into action. For most of human history, this process helped keep us alive. It fought infection, repaired injury, and protected us from harm. But today, cutting edge research is increasingly identifying long-term inflammation as the biggest factor that shapes how you feel right now, why you put on weight, and how long you will stay healthy. As a result, inflammation is becoming a major buzzword in health. Supermarket shelves are lined with anti-inflammatory products. Social media is full of supplements to buy. And almost every week, there's a new claim about the hidden dangers lurking in a food we all thought was healthy. But how much of it is actually true? Is inflammation really that important? Can the food we eat genuinely tune inflammation up or down? And if so, which advice is backed by science? Which is simply clever marketing? To help us separate fact from fiction, I'm joined by Luke O'Neill, a professor of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin, whose research into metabolism and the immune system puts him in the top 1% of all immunologists. You'll lead this episode with clear practical steps all of us can take to feel better and support our long-term health.

Luke, should listeners aim to get rid of all inflammation? No.

Can inflammation save your life?

Luke O'Neill (1:47)

Yes, it can.

Jonathan (1:49)

Are some forms of sugar worse than others when it comes to inflammation?

Luke O'Neill (1:53)

Yes.

Jonathan (1:55)

Can ultra-processed foods increase inflammation?

Luke O'Neill (1:57)

Yes.

Jonathan (1:59)

Could the rise of ultra-processed foods help explain the increase in autoimmune conditions?

Luke O'Neill (2:04)

Hardly.

Jonathan (2:06)

If I eat red meat from time to time, will that significantly increase my inflammation?

Luke O'Neill (2:11)

No.

Jonathan (2:12)

Are inflammatory health conditions more common than they were in the past?

Luke O'Neill (2:16)

Very much so.

Jonathan (2:18)

Can eating plants lower inflammation?

Luke O'Neill (2:20)

Yes.

Jonathan (2:22)

Finally, what's the most common misconception that you hear about inflammation?

Luke O'Neill (2:26)

That inflammation is somewhat benign. It's not. It can be very dangerous and can shorten your life.

Jonathan (2:32)

I think inflammation seems to be a very hot topic at the moment. Online, I seem to be being bombarded by people trying to sell me all sorts of different products that promise to reduce my inflammation. That's very confusing. On the other hand, I know inflammation is a big deal because across all of these podcasts, I feel more and more scientists in all different areas are talking about inflammation and telling me that it's a problem that is going to lead to their particular disease area.

The net result is I know it's bad, but I'm very confused about what to do about it. I'm therefore delighted to be in the hands of someone who truly understands the topic. Luke, can you just remind us what is inflammation and why did it evolve in the first place?

Luke O'Neill (3:17)

The ancient Greeks defined that actually if you're spraying your ankle, it gets red, it gets swollen, it gets sore, you can't really use it. These are the cardinal signs of inflammation. That was discovered 2,000 years ago. So it's a normal process and it's a tissue injury if you hurt yourself or an infection. Imagine a bacteria in your skin, it'll go a bit red, it'll be sore, it'll be swollen and they're the key features there. The purpose of it is to fight the germs, number one, and secondly, repair the tissue. It's got a wonderful way to fix things that are broken. In many ways, inflammation is the body's healer. Without it, we wouldn't be here because infections would have killed us, our injuries would have wiped us out basically. So it evolved.

Every organism on earth actually has some kind of inflammatory process going on, but that's how we see it as a normal process. The problem though is, if it goes wrong, the same weapons that it's using to fight germs and repair tissue is now destroying your own tissues, and that's what these diseases are. I'm talking about MS in the brain, the inflammatory process, how to control there. In your skin, it could be psoriasis and eczema. In your joints, arthritis. By the way, any disease, any anitis, that means inflammation, in case we don't know, it was configured as a way to describe them. So many diseases, we now know over 30, 40 years work involves the inflammatory process, now doing harm and actually damaging your own tissue. One in three people will have an inflammatory disease in their lifetime. One in three. It includes heart disease, by the way. Your heart gets inflamed, gives you a heart attack, and they're very common. Your liver gets inflamed in certain situations.