As  I approach the five  month anniversary of having open heart surgery I am determined to do all I can not to repeat the experience.  I have been very fortunate in that the surgery and my recovery has been what the medical profession describe as ‘uneventful’ but it still hasn’t been easy and I may not be so lucky if there is a next time. Whilst death is rare there are a number of scary complications that can be life changing.

Following my diagnosis I did a huge amount of reading on what had caused the damage to my heart and what I could do to prevent it ever happening again. Most of this reading concerned food. I had previously been interested on the role of nutrition in losing weight (obviously) and training but now I became focused on its role in keeping me away from the coronary care unit.

I concluded during my quest that food has become ridiculously complicated when it should be so simple. High fat versus low fat, high carb versus low carb, snacking versus fasting. You get the picture. It seems that every week new research come out that contradicts the research that came out a week earlier. Often the research is flaky but who cares as long as a headline is forthcoming.

What really came home to me during all the reading is that the western diet is killing us. If it was a person the key would have well and truly been thrown away. And what is scary is that there is no going back. Cheap processed food is now such big business it would be impossible. And at the same time a huge health/diet food industry has developed which can be just as bad. A milkshake full of chemicals is a milkshake full of chemicals irrespective of the marketing strategy.

Jack Challem, author of The Inflammation Syndrome, makes the point that ‘Since the 1970s, the pace of dietary changes has accelerated almost beyond comprehension, with nearly all of them having a negative effect on health.’

I read Jack Challem’s book as I had concluded (and this was confirmed by my cardiologist) that the most likely cause of my aortic valve furring up is inflammation. The inflammation being a result of having psoriatic arthritis which I have had in my fingers for a number of years.

Inflammation is responsible for a number of chronic conditions in the body most notably arthritis. But also cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Good research (not flaky) would suggest that 30 percent of all cancers are caused by inflammation. Certainly my friend who was diagnosed with cancer last year would agree with this. She is convinced that her cancer was caused by a number of very bad chest infections that she had a couple of years ago.

There is also significant research (again not flaky) on the effect of food on the level of inflammation in the body. But in the decade or so that I have been treated by the NHS for my arthritis not one doctor or nurse has discussed diet with me.

It won’t come as any great surprise that the most inflammatory foods are those that are refined and processed. The best diet for reducing inflammation is the Mediterranean diet with a couple of supplements thrown in. And I think I can say without being contradicted by any research that eating a diet that focuses primarily on plants (vegetables and to a lesser extent fruit) is the way forward even if you churn them up in a blender.

Now where is my Nutribullet.