Why to eat them:

They help stabilize blood sugar, which is important for immune modulation—and helps reduce hunger and cravings, too. Additionally, they provide amino acids that help your liver detox.

Serving size:

Instead of the centerpiece of a meal, think of animal protein as the condiment (2-3 oz). Plants are your key sustenance.

Therapeutic foods:

• Wild Alaskan salmon
• Mackerel (Atlantic)
• Sardines
• Cod
• Venison
• Beef (grass-fed)
• Lamb (grass-fed)
• Buffalo/bison (grass-fed)

Special tips:

• When shopping or dining, look for labels like: grass-fed, organic, and/or non-genetically modified organism (GMO) sources.
• For fish, remember to choose wild-caught sources, as farmed fish may contain hormones and toxic chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Why to eat them:

They help keep you feeling full! They’re a complex carbohydrate—which means they help keep blood sugar stable and promote that “I’ve eaten enough” feeling.

They’re also a healthy alternative to animal protein and an important source of the B vitamins and folic acid.

Serving size:

Limit yourself to no more than one serving a day, because they’re concentrated sources of carbohydrates. At the same time, limit other carbs, too (like fruits with a high glycemic index and starchy vegetables).

Therapeutic foods:

• Edamame (green soybeans)
• Black soybeans

Special tips:

• Try them in the form of soup, cooked beans, dips, or hummus.
• They’re a great complement to a non-starchy vegetable (which is another one of your recommended foods).

Why to eat them:

Dairy itself is not included in your food plan for a key reason: it tends to provoke allergies or sensitivities in the body that lead to inflammation.

Fortunately, there are quite a few dairy substitutes to pick from! (Take unsweetened coconut kefir into special consideration. It has probiotic and prebiotic properties that may help improve your gut health and aid in toxin removal, too.)

Serving size:

Limit yourself to no more than one serving a day.

Therapeutic foods:

• Unsweetened cultured coconut milk kefir and yogurt

Special tips:

• Eating dairy products can also contribute to or worsen certain health conditions by increasing inflammation.
• When looking for alternatives (like almond, hemp, oat, coconut, or soy milk), also look for “unsweetened” on the front of the box.

Why to eat them:

Eating a handful or two of nuts regularly has been shown to reduce the risk of inflammation. The specific nuts and seeds your plan highlights are those that are significant sources of beneficial omega-3 oils.

Serving size:

Aim for a generous 3-4 servings a day—and eat a variety of nuts, to ensure a variety of phytonutrients.

Therapeutic foods:

• Almonds
• Chia seeds
• Coconut
• Flaxseed
• Hemp seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Walnuts

Special tips:

• Don’t buy nuts that are heavily salted or roasted in oil.
• Add nuts to snacks, meals, smoothies, and salads. (You want a lot of daily servings!)

Why to eat them:

Good-quality fats help keep inflammatory processes in balance (which is great news, since fats and oils are so key in cooking techniques—from stovetop to salad prep).

Serving size:

Aim for several servings a day.

Therapeutic foods:

• Avocado
• Olives (black or green)
• Olive oil (extra-virgin, cold-pressed)
• Flaxseed oil
• Coconut butter
• Coconut oil (organic and virgin)
• Coconut milk
• Ghee (clarified butter)*
• Butter (from grass-fed cows)*

*Eat these in limited quantities.

Special tips:

• Using olive oil for salads? Read the label to make sure it’s unfiltered, cold-pressed, and extra-virgin.
• Look for butter made from grass-fed cows.
• For medium to high heat cooking, use avocado oil, coconut oil, or ghee. They’re less likely to oxidize than other oils because of their high smoke point.

Why to eat them:

Non-starchy vegetables are your treasure trove of phytonutrients and antioxidants! In other words, they nourish your body and protect it from free radicals, supporting your immune health and keeping inflammation at bay.

(On the other hand, there’s a category of vegetables you should move away from: the starchy ones, like potatoes, corn, peas, and lentils. These vegetables are moderate to high on the glycemic index and tend to impact blood sugar.)

Serving size:

Aim for a minimum of 4-6 servings a day—ideally, you want to increase this to 10-12. (Keep in mind: a serving is ½ cup of most cooked vegetables or 1 cup of raw leafy greens.)

For the starchy vegetables you’re trying to avoid: aim for no more than 1-2 servings per day

Therapeutic foods:

• Spinach, broccoli, and all other cruciferous vegetables
• Seaweeds
• Asparagus
• Swiss chard
• Okra
• Onions (garlic, scallion, leeks, shallot)
• Fermented vegetables
• Sprouts
• Sweet potato

Special tips:

• Eat the rainbow! While you should go after your therapeutic foods, you should also strive for high variety and color on any given day. That’s easy to achieve with non-starchy vegetables, like red peppers, orange pumpkins, green asparagus, purple cabbage, and white onions. (The list goes on and on.)
• Think veggies around the clock—starting at breakfast. Add a handful of greens to a morning smoothie; add leftover veggies to broth to make a soup for lunch; pulse cauliflower in the food processor and steam it for a rice alternative at dinner.
• Buy fresh, and seek out organic produce. When it’s not possible to purchase an organic option, take special care in washing and peeling the vegetable prior to eating.

Why to eat them:

The fruits in your food plan are bursting with phytonutrients. Plus, they’re an excellent source of antioxidants that aid in memory in cognition, while reducing inflammation in the body. As a final bonus, they also provide an important way for you to satisfy any sweets cravings!

Serving size:

2-3 servings a day.

Therapeutic foods:

• Kiwi
• All berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc)
• Cherries
• Oranges
• Pomegranate seeds

Special tips:

• Go for fruits that are low on the glycemic index. (Your food plan includes just these!)
• Eat the rainbow! While you should go after your therapeutic foods, you should also strive for high variety and color on any given day.
• Avoid fruit juices—they’re dense with sugar.
• Try to couple your fruit with a source of protein (like nuts or nut butter), to offset any blood sugar spikes.
• Buy organic when possible.

Why to eat them:

Gluten-free whole grains can provide fiber and other phytonutrients that assist with blood sugar stability. However, they’re still packed with carbs, so you should eat them sparingly! Your body can get the wealth of phytonutrients and fiber it needs from your generous fruit and non-starchy vegetable allowance.

(Note: In addition, it’s important to avoid any grains with gluten. Proteins in gluten called gliadins can break down the microvilli in the small intestine, leading to leaky gut. In turn, leaky gut which may cause food allergies, sensitivities, or intolerances, as well as other digestive disturbances or autoimmune conditions.)

Serving size:

Try to eat no more than 1 -2 serving per day

Special tips:

• Learn to identify where gluten lurks, like sauces, dressings, or seasonings.
• Make efforts to replace your grain (carb) cravings with fruit and vegetable substitutes.
• Some gluten-free grains include millet, rice, quinoa, sorghum, amaranth, and buckwheat.

Why to eat them:

These ingredients are complementary to any meal and boast a big power: they have great antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties. These qualities are all important for reducing pain and inflammation.

Therapeutic foods:

• Ginger
• Miso
• Turmeric

Special tips:

• It’s all about seasoning. These recommended foods can be easily integrated into meals. Never forget your spice cabinet!
• Looking for help with gastrointestinal distress? Cook with cayenne pepper, chili powder, cilantro, ginger, nutmeg, or paprika.
• Looking for help with detox? Think cloves, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

Why to drink them:

Healthy beverages (like clean, filtered water, broths, and herbal teas) support all the good food you’re eating—and make you feel even better. Quite simply, by staying hydrated, you rid the body of toxins, build resilience to stress, enhance your metabolism, and promote your satiety (feeling of fullness).

Serving size:

Water: To calculate this, divide your body weight (in pounds) in half. The resulting number is how many ounces of water you should consume each day. (So, for example, if you weigh 160 lbs, you should drink at least 80 oz of water daily.)

Green tea: Try to add 2 cups of this daily, to benefit from this therapeutic food’s high polyphenol (EGCG) content, which can significantly help with inflammation.

Therapeutic foods:

• Herbal teas: Ginseng, licorice root, echinacea root, chamomile, turmeric and peppermint
• Green Tea

Special tips:

• Your main source of hydration should be clean, filtered water—but you can also enjoy vegetable and bone broths and cold-pressed vegetable juices.
• Seek out herbal teas. You can especially benefit from those made from those made from herbs like Ginseng (which enhances the immune system and balances the nervous system), licorice root (which reduces pain and supports adrenal health), echinacea root (which enhances immune support), chamomile (which soothes bowels), and peppermint and turmeric tea (which reduces inflammation). (In fact, they’re your full list of therapeutic foods for this category!)