By Dr. Barry Sears

The first Anti-Inflammatory Medicine conference held last month in Miami was a success with attendees coming from Mexico, Chile, and Italy as well as physicians from the United States. The essence of the conference was the presentation of the newest research coming from molecular biology in understanding how nutrients interact with our innate immune system to either turn on or turn off the genetic expression of the genes that control the inflammatory response.

As the pipeline for new drugs is becoming drier, there is a growing realization of how food ingredients, such as omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols, were integral modulators of the immune response hundreds of millions years ago, and those interactions are still operational today. However, as our current diet moves further away from these ingredients as major components, the less likely that we are able to control our inflammatory responses. It is this lack of inflammatory control by our diet that fuels the development of chronic disease.

This was the lesson that the attendees took home from the conference as well as how to use innovative new dietary approaches to reinforce these ancient connections between our diet and the immune system.