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If you could make one change in your life that would lower your risk of chronic disease, help you lose weight, and make you feel happier and more energized, would you do it?

The one change I’m referring to is cutting back on processed foods. It’s widely known that refined junk foods aren’t good for your body as they’re packed with sugar (including fructose), synthetic and rancid fats, preservatives, genetically modified (GM) ingredients, additives, and more.

Lesser known, yet equally important (if not more so), is the role of poor diet on inflammation and gut health – two factors that are intricately involved in virtually every aspect of your health.

In short, nearly all processed foods are the epitome of what you shouldn’t be putting in your body. The research against processed foods is hard to deny, or ignore, any longer, especially in light of a new study highlighting processed foods’ detrimental effect on your immune system and gut health (and that of future generations).

Eating Your Way to an Early Death

In a recent review published in the
Nutrition Journal,1 Dr. Ian Myle of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases explained that our modern-day Westernized diet is setting the stage for immune-mediated diseases:2

“While today’s modern diet may provide beneficial protection from micro- and macronutrient deficiencies, our over abundance of calories and the macronutrients that compose our diet may all lead to increased inflammation, reduced control of infection, increased rates of cancer, and increased risk for allergic and auto-inflammatory disease.”

It’s important to realize that dietary components can either trigger or prevent inflammation from taking root in your body. Chronic inflammation, meanwhile, is involved in diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and much more.