What is the Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

You may have read or heard by now that eating a certain way has been shown to reduce pain caused by the inflammation of arthritis; by auto-immune disorders like fibromyalgia; and by other disorders caused by inflammation, like heart disease. In particular, this diet has been endorsed and made popular by Dr. Andrew Weil, a noted doctor specializing in alternative medicine and natural healing, in latest book, "Healthy Aging."

Dr. Weil, along with other nutritionalists, purports that to reduce pain (and, as a bonus, improve your general health), you should follow these guidelines:

• Eliminate or reduce your intake of all irritating "omega 6" oils such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Instead, include in your diet healthful "omega 3" oils, such as those found in olive oil, flax, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and fatty cold-water oily fish like salmon. Other healthy oils include grapeseed oil, walnut oil and canola oil.

• Avoid junk food, and eliminate or reduce processed foods, sugar, simple carbohydrates (such as pasta and white bread), and heavy caffeine and alcohol use

• Drink a lot of water to prevent dehydration

• Avoid the "nightshade" family of vegetables, which includes tomatoes, onions and potatoes. These have a chemical alkaloid called solanine, which can be irritating. Believe me, I'm walking evidence. My favorite comfort food is french fries (a nightshade vegetable fried in who knows what kind of oil), and boy, do I pay for it afterward.

• Include fresh vegetables and fruits in your daily meal plan, except for the nightshades as indicated above.

• Spice up your meals liberally with ginger, turmeric and rosemary, all of which have been shown to reduce inflammation.

• Reduce your consumption of animal fats, including eggs, butter and dairy products. You don't necessarily have to go vegetarian, but cut out the red meat (unless it's bison or venison, and raised organically). Other good choices include lean poultry and seafood, nuts (except for peanuts), beans and tofu or soy products.

Right now you're probably thinking that all you're going to be able to live on is oatmeal and green beans. But don't despair! You can still eat a bounty of food, and never go hungry. There are lots of whole grain choices - rice, oats and quinoa are only a few of them. Minimally-processed whole grain and spelt breads are getting very popular. Look for them in the "natural foods" aisles of many grocery stores (just read your labels). And thanks to a "heart-healthy" marketing push by the FDA, many foods list their "trans-fat" levels and have been reducing the amount of overall fat in their recipes.

You can fill your kitchen with all the "right" foods and make wonderful, flavorful meals at home. But what happens when you go out?

It just requires some planning and discipline. For example:

Eating In Restaurants

Take a tip from Weight Watchers® members, who've been eating successfully in restaurants for years. For instance:

• Ask how dishes are prepared. Don't be shy to tell your server that you'd like to make a change. After all, you are paying for the experience and (I'd assume) they want happy customers who will come back again and again.

• Know the terms that tell you that a dish is going to be served fried. Crunchy, golden-brown, or batter-dipped are just a few. That crunchy, golden-brown, batter-dipped onion blossom is probably not your ideal choice of appetizer.

• The healthiest way to order your entrée is grilled, either with no fat or with olive oil.

• You can get rice instead of the potato, and you can ask for a "no fat" preparation for your meat. If you want to add a little olive oil for flavor, ask for some. Most restaurants have this in little carafes for salads. Lemon juice is also good.

• Speaking of salads, yes, the list of dressings sounds wonderful, but to avoid additional aches the next morning, ask for olive oil and vinegar on the side (and NOT the vinaigrettes: you don't know what kind of oils these are made with), I've never had a problem doing this. And you'll almost always find someone at the table who wants your tomatoes.

• Ask that the bread basket be taken away if this is a problem for you; or if dining with a bunch of people, move the basket to their side of the table.

• Sip an herbal tea or decaffeinated espresso so you won't feel completely left out while others order dessert. A bonus if the restaurant offers fresh fruit.

Other People's Houses

A special diet should never mean that you are confined to dine in your own abode like a hermit. This diet is a way of living, not a way of punishing yourself. But when you come in and say hello and all they have for pre-dinner snacks are cheese and crackers, salsa and fried chips or cherry tomatoes, what do you do?

• Bring your own. If it's a cocktail-and-snack sort of affair, great. Bring crudités such as sliced carrots, celery and broccoli florets, and a spicy hummus or flavorful bean dip made with olive oil (find heart-healthy recipes either in Dr. Weil's book, Dr. Dean Ornish's book, or at epicurious.com.) If someone has already set out hummus, don't assume it's made from olive oil (even though that's the traditional preparation). Check the labels: many store-bought dips used vegetable oils.

• If dinner is something like lasagna, with no other choices, this could be a problem. You can either have a small portion if you feel the need to be polite (if you don't mind a little aching the next day) or, as above, you can bring your own. With so many people on special diets these days, it's becoming more and more acceptable to bring your own Tupperware. Or, don't make a fuss and just eat the salad. It's up to you. Most of your fellow diners won't notice, and if they do, you could say you're allergic to wheat, or tomatoes, or whatever (which is partially true). More people are sympathetic to that than if you say you're on a special diet. Then you become the center of attention and have to fend off all kinds of questions. If this happens, try not to preach. Nobody likes to be lectured, especially about his or her diet.

• Another tactic is to ask the host in advance what will be served. If everything on the menu is a red flag for you, and you know the host well, he or she might offer to prepare something that you could eat. I'd feel bad if someone came to my house for dinner but couldn't eat what I'd made. For example, if I knew in advance that someone was a vegetarian, I'd either prepare an alternate entrée; or, if there wasn't time, I'd modify a side dish by adding more protein (for example, I'd put chick peas on the salad or offer tofu cubes on the side.)

On The Road

It's all too tempting to hit the vending machines or the junk food counters when you're on the road. Try to have healthy snacks on hand like fresh fruit or nuts or whole grain breads. But if you get stuck and your only alternatives are fast food or starvation, here are some of the healthier choices:

• Most fast-food chains have salads. Get the broiled (not breaded) chicken and avoid the fatty additions like cheese, croutons or dressings. Although they'll offer fat-free dressings, these are usually loaded with sugar and chemicals. Stick with packets of lemon juice (which they are bound to have).

• At the vending machine, use your coins wisely. Most have packages of nuts, or granola bars (these usually have sugar but in a pinch, they're better than falling prey to the peanut butter cups).

• At a sub shop, get a whole-grain roll with turkey and vegetables (no tomatoes). Skip the cheese and the dressing, unless they have olive oil.

• Fortunately, in this era of body-consciousness, nearly every place has bottled water. Drink a lot. And get another bottle for the road.

I can tell you that this diet works. I've been eating this way for a while now (and since I'm human, some days I'm more successful than others…just dangle a few french fries or the offer of eggplant parmiagiana in front of me when I'm going through a rough time and watch what happens), and when I keep to the above guidelines, I have less pain from my fibromyalgia and feel better. So it's worth a little extra planning (and maybe getting over a little embarrassment) to have a "normal" social life that includes dining out.