The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan

by Monica Reinagel

A revolutionary diet to help you lose weight and control disease-causing inflammation The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan will help you achieve your ideal weight--without fad dieting--while also reducing pain and allergies, slowing the aging process, and dramatically reducing your risk for dozens of medical problems. This flexible, easy-to-follow program is the ideal nutritional solution for every member of the family. At the heart of the program is the revolutionary IF Rating system that, for the first time, tells you the inflammatory or anti-inflammatory effects of all of the foods you eat. The IF Rating integrates more than twenty different nutritional factors, including essential fatty acids, glycemic index, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds into a single rating which guides your food choices for the day. You no longer have to worry about choosing the right types of carbs or fats, or even counting calories--the IF Rating combines all those factors into a simple, holistic system for healthy eating! And unlike other programs that focus only on carbohydrates or fats, the IF Rating system also shows you which proteins are healthy and which provoke inflammation. It all adds up to a uniquely healthful, easy to follow diet plan that fights illness and promotes weight loss! The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan gives

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Diets, Food

283 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I’m a licensed nutritionist with a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition. I also went to culinary school. But long before all of that, I went to music school and studied to be an opera singer–which is what I spent the first half of my professional life doing. (Hence my alter-ego, The Nutrition Diva)

These days, I spend most of my time writing and speaking about food and nutrition. In addition to this blog, I have a weekly nutrition podcast, a blog on The Huffington Post, a handful of books, and am a regular commentator on WYPR-FM and WBAL-11 in Baltimore. I even still manage to squeeze in the occasional singing gig. On days off, you’re likely to find me cooking, gardening, playing tennis, or reading on the porch. I live in Baltimore, MD.

Reviews

[Lee (of Shalott) · Rating 2 out of 5]

According to this book, meat (beef & pork) is less inflammatory than beans & most vegetables, frozen vegetables more anti-inflammatory than fresh, & dried herbs more anti-inflammatory than fresh as well! Astonishing! I wonder if sugar-free Jello, being the only non-inflammatory dessert, is truly non-inflammatory, since it contains aspartame.

I agree with other readers who said this book is too complicated to follow & it seems to fly completely in the opposite direction of what we consider conventional nutritional knowledge.

Seemingly, all one needs to do to reduce inflammation is eat fish & nuts.
This book is not for you if you are a vegetarian & are allergic to nuts. I'm not recommending it to anyone. Try Dean Ornish's methods instead.

[Nancy Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Has changed my life. No more hurting, swelling legs. Lots more energy. I miss eating ice cream 4-5 times a week, but it was making me sick. So...learn to adjust, and feel healthy and more energetic, and live longer.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting and a very good road map. Answered all my questions about the IF way of eating — which were a lot, seeing as it's not really an intuitive thing. I now feel confident that my diet is as good as it can be, while still enjoying everything I love.

Two things to note: one, this is probably not a book for people just starting to eat healthier; if that is you, you will most likely find it daunting and confusing. And two, I wouldn't even think of implementing an IF diet without the accompanying smartphone app. Trying to do this longhand or in a spreadsheet is way too 2006 (when the book was first published), and it would drive me to quit before I'd even started.

[Mishael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very informative book about how inflammation affects our bodies, and what we can do to stop it. I love the food lists and the IF rating scales. This gives you the ability to create your own meal plans and adjust things as needed. Following the guidelines in this book, anyone can get leaner and healthier.

[Dorene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book I have read so far with regard to explaining inflammatory or anti-inflammatory effects of different foods.

[Debbie White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was suffering from Psoriatic Arthritis that was so painful I didn't even want to go to the bathroom. I refused to use the pharmaceuticals out on the market for arthritis, which blocked your immune system and didn't help cure but just helped the symptoms. I was actually in a wheelchair at the time I purchased this book. I started making the recipes and following the guidelines, with the help of my husband and within two weeks, the inflammation was reduced considerably, and I was up on my feet and using a cane. After another couple of weeks, I was walking on my own with little or no pain. I still refer to the book now, eleven years later. It is pretty easy to follow to help you combine inflammatory and anti-inflammatory food to remove the inflammation in your body. It is good for vegetarians as well. If you want a cure and not just a treatment, this is the way to go. It is an amazing book and I highly recommend it.

[Merry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book through NutritionData.com, where you can search for nutrition labels for all sorts of processed and non-processed foods. It included an Inflammation Factor score, something I never heard of before. The site linked me to http://www.inflammationfactor.com/ which led me to the book. The IF is derived by measuring the inflammatory properties of 20 nutrients for a final score. The strategy is to eat a combination of foods that by the end of the day have added up to a neutral or positive IF score, i.e. if you eat something inflammatory, as long as you eat something with a good IF score things even out. I have found this very helpful.

[Ray (user2637) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there were more vegan foods in the food list. There isn't even tofu! At least there's a companion website where I can look up IF ratings. http://nutritiondata.self.com/

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first chapters about the benefits of the diet and detailed listing of if ratings for most foods.

[Joanne Pinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting information. A few recipes. Loads of charts.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rates over 1,500 foods with a + or - on inflammatory components so you can keep track and keep your intake on inflammatory foods balanced. A bit too much work for me unless things get really bad. Plus some foods rated as high or low are contradicted in other materials.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has great information. Rereading it just for a reminder and I know I feel great when I follow this focus.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not going to do this one. Basically it says all fruit is bad for you, you shouldn't eat chicken or beef because of the diet fed the animals, dairy products and bread are bad for you, almost all cereal shouldn't be eaten etc... There are all these charts and this IR rating you have to calculate on everything you eat. Way too complicated. I just want to know what foods I should be eati more of and that's it to lower inflammation in e body.

[Krista Bolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

p.7 - CRP - c-reactive protein. Lab test that sees how much of this protein is in the blood, tells you how much inflammation you have going on. A test for fibrinogen can also be a marker for inflammation.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book about what how food choices are making us sick , but unfortunately for me I was reading it on a Kindle and the tables were not able to be zoomed and so I was unable to actually read the foods and their stats....

[Les Vogel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great content - kindle version formatted very poorly

Lots of illustrations that are just too tiny to read. Very disappointing. This could be fixed easily - publisher obviously didn't check it.

[Leslie Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

too complicated to follow for a very busy person. Good idea and thought process, but I just don't have time for all the math.

[Aljan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Page after page after page of numbers. Made my brain go buzzzzzzzzzz.