5 Anti-Inflammatory Breakfasts Easy Enough For Any Weekday Morning

While acute inflammation can be a positive thing, signaling your body it's time to heal, low-level, chronic inflammation is the underlying issue behind many modern diseases. "If you have symptoms like headaches, bloating, joint pain, rashes, fatigue, weight gain, allergies, asthma, or mood issues—you are most likely inflamed," explains Amy Shah, M.D., a functional medicine doctor. "Sometimes inflammation can be "silent" or difficult to detect. It's the root cause of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, hypertension, and cancer."

Golden milk is an anti-inflammatory ayurvedic staple, combining milk, turmeric, and black pepper for an earthy, grounding breakfast that tastes as beautiful as it looks (that color!). One of turmeric’s active components is curcumin1, which not only helps give the spice that bright hugh, it is also the anti-inflammatory star of this recipe. To make it, warm 1 cup of milk in a small saucepan until it just boils, then add ½ cup of rolled oats, 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric, ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, and a pinch of salt and black pepper. The black pepper may sound a little weird, but it’s essential in helping your body absorb more of that good anti-inflammatory curcumin from the turmeric (some studies2 show that black pepper can increase your body’s ability to absorb curcumin by 2000%). 

This smoothie uses green tea as its base for a refreshing way to start the day. Green tea is one of the most potent inflammation fighters around due to its high levels of the polyphenolic compound referred to as EGCG, which stops inflammation3 in its tracks by limiting the release of pro-inflammatory cytokine proteins by cells.

Broccoli is a well-studied inflammation fighter, like all of its cruciferous cousins. It's rich in sulforaphane4, which fights inflammation by reducing oxidative stress and lessening tissue and cell damage. 

Olive oil, a Mediterranean diet staple, is renowned for its inflammation-fighting properties. Besides being high in the desirable heart-healthy monounsaturated fats5, which may help improve inflammation markers like C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, olive oil and especially extra virgin olive oil has a variety of polyphenols that reduce inflammation. Oleocanthal6 is one compound in particular in olive oil that has similar anti-inflammatory properties to ibuprofen.

Chocolate for breakfast? If you're looking to fight inflammation, you've got a green light. Raw cacao is packed with flavanols7. Flavanols are a type of phytonutrient or a natural chemical that a plant produces to help protect the plant from from things like bugs and disease and have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties when consumed by people. Cacao actually has the highest concentration of flavanols8 on a per weight basis compared to all other foods, but flavanol content does decrease the more cacao is processed (so raw cacao will have more health benefits compared to a piece of milk chocolate). Some studies9 show that the consumption of cacao may help lower blood pressure and may even have some positive effects on blood cholesterol levels. More research is needed in this area though.