Chronic inflammation is a silent torturer. It can leave you achy, lacking desire to move. When you’re the type of woman who wants to cook for her family, the resulting pain can be a major obstacle. There are three major ways to handle the chronic pain caused by inflammation. The first is try to medicate it away. While this method often works short-term, it typically only treats the symptoms—pain—without addressing the underlying cause—inflammation. The second method is to try to get more ergonomic furniture to correct your posture and reduce the strain you’re putting on certain areas of your body day in and day out. KamaDevaYoga.com has a lot of great information on that method of reducing chronic back pain, as well as other homeopathic treatments for inflammation. While those treatments are great, they work best in conjunction with the third method for reducing chronic pain caused by inflammation: Eating anti-inflammatory foods.

 

When you consider changing your diet, you may feel some anxiety. You already know what we’re going to say: The best diet for you is one that’s full of whole foods and low on processed foods. But it doesn’t have to be difficult to incorporate healthy foods into your lifestyle that will reduce your inflammation. To get you started, here are three quick, easy recipes that anyone can make that will also help reduce your inflammation.If you’re interested in dessert recipes, go check dessertswithstephanie.com, their website is full of healthy pie recipes.

 

Chicken-Avocado Sandwich

 2 slices whole wheat bread

• ½ avocado
• 2 Tbsp mustard
• ¼ c. fresh spinach
• Chunks of Rotisserie chicken

 

Grab some rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, pull some chunks off, and mix it up with 2 Tbsp. mustard. Take out your bread, spread the avocado on it (the same way you’d spread hummus), then layer it with spinach and the chicken mixture.

 

Why it works? A common sandwich might have a couple slices of white bread, some deli meat and cheese, and a slathering of mayo. Unfortunately, mayo is full of the types of fats and oils that make inflammation worse, and deli meat is processed and loaded with salt and preservatives, while white bread, like most white grains, just makes your inflammation worse. This easy upgrade switches out the white bread for whole wheat. It eliminates the mayo, instead providing healthy fats through avocado and a little moisture with the mustard. Rotisserie chicken gives you the protein you’re craving with fewer preservatives—and more substance—and the spinach fortifies your meal with iron, which can help with your energy levels.

 

Black Bean Burgers

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ c. finely chopped carrots
• ½ c. finely chopped onion
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2/3 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• Whole wheat hamburger buns
• Desired burger toppings

1.) Preheat your oven to 375F.

2.) Mash your black beans up. Mix in the vegetables, egg, bread crumbs, and chili powder with your hands (like making meatloaf).

3.) Form into patties. Place patties on greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

4.) Flip patties and bake an additional 10 minutes.

5.) Serve with whole wheat hamburger buns and additional toppings.

 

Why it works? Hamburger is packed with trans fats. Black beans, on the other hand, are a lean protein that reduce inflammation. If you’re craving that hamburger taste, this black bean burger is a quick and easy alternative that still tastes good while reducing inflammation.

 

Avocado-Pesto Zoodles

• 1 container zucchini-noodles
• 1 avocado
• ¼ c. grated parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp pesto
• 1 Tbsp black pepper
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Chunks of Rotisserie Chicken

1.) In a small bowl, mash the avocado. Mix with lemon juice, pesto, and black pepper. Set aside.

2.) Boil your zucchini noodles until done.

3.) Drain noodles. Mix in rotisserie chicken and avocado mixture.

4.) Top with Parmesan cheese and serve.

 

Why it works? Zucchini noodles are a great alternative to white noodles, and they don’t take any longer to cook. Avocado is back, featuring its healthy fats and anti-inflammatory properties. And when you’re looking for an easy lean protein, it doesn’t get better than rotisserie chicken. If you’re willing to put a little extra effort in, fish would be a great alternative to the chicken, providing Omega-3s that your body needs.

Creating a diet plan that helps reduce inflammation doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, if you get some easy anti-inflammatory recipes under your belt, you’ll find that it’s no harder to eat healthy than it was to eat unhealthy. The key is in creating healthy habits that you can stick to.