Enhance your health by staying away from processed foods that encourage inflammation and can accelerate the aging process, including weight gain.

 Inflammation is associated with many disease conditions including allergies, asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, auto-immune disorders, cancer and obesity.

 A simple rule of thumb is to consider the following: If it contains flour, and/or sugar or other sweetener, it will be pro-inflammatory.

Bagels

Breads, rolls, baked goods

Candy

Cake

Cookies

Cereals (except old fashioned oatmeal)

Cornstarch

Corn bread, corn muffins

Corn syrup

Crackers

Croissants

Doughnuts

Egg rolls

Fast food

French Fries

Fruit juice—choose the fruit instead

Fried foods

Flour

Granola

Hard cheese (except for feta and grating cheeses, such as Romano and Parmesan)

Honey

Hot dogs

Ice cream, frozen yogurt, Italian ices

Jams, jellies and preserves

Margarine

Molasses

Muffins

Noodles

Pancakes

Pastry

Pie

Pita bread

Pizza

Pasta

Popcorn

Potatoes

Pudding

Relish

Rice

Sherbet

Shortening

Snack foods, including: potato chips, pretzels, corn chips, rice and corn cakes, etc.

Soda

Sugar

Tacos

Tortillas

Waffles

 Next week we will post an article that provides guidelines of what to eat in order to follow an anti-inflammatory diet.