The Most Successful Anti-Inflammatory Diet: A Practical Guide

Start with vegetables and fruit in different colors, then add beans, lentils, or whole grains such as oats or brown rice for filling, fiber-rich meals. Frozen produce and canned beans count, too, making this approach easier to keep up when fresh ingredients or cooking time are limited.

Check the product’s listed specifications when evaluating build your meals around plants.

Use olive oil in place of butter when it suits the dish, and consider nuts, seeds, or avocado as additions rather than treating any one ingredient as a cure-all. Fish, beans, tofu, eggs, and poultry can all help you build satisfying meals; if you do not eat fish, you can still follow the overall pattern with plant-based proteins.

There is no need to label every food “good” or “bad,” but regularly swapping sugary drinks, processed meats, and heavily refined snacks for less-processed options can improve the balance of your diet. A useful first step is to change one repeat meal—for example, add berries and walnuts to oatmeal or serve a bean-and-vegetable bowl for lunch—before changing the rest of your routine.

The best approach accounts for your budget, preferences, allergies, and any medical advice you have been given; if you have a health condition or take medication, ask your clinician or registered dietitian about changes that could affect your care. If skin health is part of your interest, our Anti-Inflammatory Eating for Radiant Skin ebook is a companion to this topic, and you can explore our guide to the most successful anti-inflammatory diet for more context.

Check the product’s listed specifications when evaluating make the plan work for you.