Naturopathic physicians and other health care practitioners routinely recommend therapeutic diets as part of their medical practice.
A common example is the “anti-inflammatory” or “elimination” diet which is recommended to treat a diverse set of conditions. This diet prohibits foods that are though to promote inflammation, either directly or by stimulating an allergic response. Among the excluded foods are dairy products, eggs, wheat (or gluten), citrus fruits, nightshade vegetables, red meat, peanuts and others. While variations of this diet is taught in all naturopathic medical schools and widely used by a variety of practitioners, it has never been evaluated directly for its ability to alter inflammatory markers or modulate the immune system.
The Helfgott Research Institute, in collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), is currently conducting a pilot study to establish the feasibility of methodology for studying the anti-inflammatory diet in a clinical trial setting. The goal of the study is to assess the effects of the anti-inflammatory diet on inflammatory and metabolic parameters in participants with diabetes and pre-diabetes, as well as to determine the palatability and acceptability of these diets for study participants.
Study participants are randomly assigned to either a diet based on the American Diabetes
Association (ADA) recommendations or a strict interpretation of the anti-inflammatory diet (AI Diet). The Clinical and Translational Research Center at OHSU provides all food for the participants for six weeks. Baseline measurements are taken prior to beginning the diet, as well as throughout the study. Individuals with diabetes and pre-diabetes have been chosen as the study population due to their well-characterized abnormalities in inflammatory markers, including elevated hs-CRP, interleukins, and TNF-alpha. The study begans recruitment for participants in February 2006 and will continue through fall 2007.
If you would like information on participating in the study, contact Heather Schiffke for additional information.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
This is a very good source of information! If the ongoing anti-inflammatory study proves to be successful, it would be a great to diabetics as well as non-diabetics. Our health takes precedence over most things in life and we should wisely invest in it.