Best anti-inflammatory foods to build your meals around

Salmon leads most lists of top anti inflammatory foods because of omega-3 fat. A 3-ounce cooked fillet of farmed Atlantic salmon has about 1.8 grams of EPA and DHA, the omega-3s your body uses to settle inflammation down. A 2014 meta-analysis of 68 trials found that fish oil supplements lowered CRP, IL-6 and TNF-alpha, and that eating fish lowered IL-6 in people with chronic disease. No other food here has a signal that clear.

How to eat it: roast a fillet at 425°F for 10 to 12 minutes with olive oil and lemon, twice a week. If cooking fish isn't happening, our High Protein Meal Plan adds two extra ounces of meat to every chef-cooked meal.

Sardines tell the same omega-3 story for a fraction of the price. One 3.75-ounce can packed in oil, drained, has about 0.9 grams of EPA and DHA, 23 grams of protein and 351 milligrams of calcium from the soft bones. No cooking, and a can keeps for years.

How to eat them: mash a can with lemon, black pepper and mustard on whole-grain toast.

Ask what are some anti-inflammatory foods and most people picture produce. The surprise is the oil. In the PREDIMED trial, 164 adults at high heart risk ate a Mediterranean diet with 50 milliliters of extra-virgin olive oil a day, the same diet with nuts, or a low-fat diet. At 12 months, CRP and IL-6 in the olive oil group were 45 and 35 percent lower than in the low-fat group. That was a whole diet, not a spoon of oil on its own.

How to eat it: whisk 3 parts oil with 1 part lemon juice for the week's dressing. A tablespoon is 119 calories, so let it replace butter rather than join it.

Blueberries get their color from anthocyanins, the pigments that put them on every anti-inflammatory list. The trial evidence is moderate. A 2018 meta-analysis of 17 trials of anthocyanin supplements found a clear drop in TNF-alpha and better blood fats, but no significant change in CRP or IL-6. A good habit, not a treatment.

How to eat them: frozen berries cost less and taste the same in oatmeal or yogurt.

A cup of halved strawberries has 89 milligrams of vitamin C, more than an orange, for 49 calories, plus the same anthocyanin family as blueberries. Harvard Health lists them with blueberries, cherries and oranges as fruits that fight inflammation.

How to eat them: slice a cup over cottage cheese or Greek yogurt for a snack with 15 to 20 grams of protein.

Leafy greens are the base of the eating patterns that lowered inflammatory markers in trials. A cup of cooked spinach has 41 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein and several days of vitamin K. Raw kale is lighter at about 7 calories per chopped cup, so it takes a big bowl to count.

How to eat them: wilt a bag of spinach into eggs or soup in the last two minutes, or massage chopped kale with olive oil and lemon. If you take warfarin, MedlinePlus says to keep your vitamin K intake steady and ask your provider before changing how many greens you eat.

Broccoli brings sulforaphane, a compound with a lot of lab research behind it. The human evidence is thinner than the headlines. A 2025 review of sulforaphane trials found six small trials on inflammation with mixed results. What broccoli can promise is 5 grams of fiber and 101 milligrams of vitamin C per cooked cup for 55 calories.

How to eat it: roast florets at 425°F with olive oil and garlic for 20 minutes, or microwave frozen florets in 4.

Walnuts are the nut with the most plant omega-3, about 2.6 grams of ALA per ounce (14 halves). Your body converts only a little ALA into EPA and DHA, so they're not a swap for fish. A 2017 meta-analysis of 32 trials found nuts didn't move CRP in a meaningful way, though they did help blood vessels relax, and the nut arm of PREDIMED lowered CRP and IL-6 against a low-fat diet.

How to eat them: toast a handful and scatter it over oatmeal or salad. An ounce is 185 calories, so count the handful.

Avocado earns its spot on fat profile and fiber, not inflammation trials. A third of a medium avocado (50 grams) has 80 calories, 5 grams of monounsaturated fat, the same kind as olive oil, and 3 grams of fiber. In the MESA cohort of 5,794 adults, CRP and IL-6 were no different between frequent and rare avocado eaters. A good fat to build a plate around, with no promise beyond that.

How to eat it: mash it with lime and salt under eggs, or slice it over a grain bowl in place of cheese.

Turmeric is the yellow spice in curry, and curcumin is the compound researchers study. A 2023 umbrella review of ten meta-analyses covering 5,870 people found that curcumin supplements lowered CRP, IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Those trials used extracts of about 300 to 1,900 milligrams a day, a supplement dose, not a pinch of spice. NCCIH warns that products vary, that some high-absorption formulas have been linked to liver harm, and that turmeric supplements may be unsafe in pregnancy. Enjoy it as food. Ask your doctor before taking it as a pill.

How to eat it: stir a teaspoon into rice, lentil soup or eggs with black pepper. Our Anti-inflammatory diet for athletes guide shows how spices fit a training week.

Ginger has better trial data than most spices. A 2016 meta-analysis of nine trials found that ginger supplements lowered CRP by about 0.84 milligrams per liter, with the caveat that the studies were small and didn't all agree. NCCIH notes it can cause heartburn, and that you should check with your provider before using it as a supplement if you take medications.

How to eat it: keep a knob in the freezer and grate it frozen into stir-fries, marinades or hot water with lemon.

Green tea makes the list with an asterisk. Its catechins are strong antioxidants, and a 2025 meta-analysis of 38 trials found green tea improved antioxidant markers in the blood. The same review found no significant effect on CRP, IL-6 or TNF-alpha, and a 2015 review of 11 trial arms said the same about CRP. Drink it because it's a 2-calorie swap for soda, not because it will lower your CRP.

How to drink it: brew a big batch and chill it. A cup has about 29 milligrams of caffeine, a third of a cup of coffee.

Tomatoes are the main food source of lycopene, the red carotenoid. A medium tomato has about 3 milligrams for 22 calories. A meta-analysis of nine tomato trials found a small drop in IL-6 and no significant change in CRP. Cooked counts the same as raw, so sauce, salsa and canned tomatoes all belong here.

How to eat them: simmer a can of crushed tomatoes with garlic and olive oil for a 15-minute sauce.

Most anti inflammatory diet recipes lean on a pot of beans or lentils, and the numbers explain why. A cup of cooked lentils has 18 grams of protein and 16 grams of fiber for 230 calories, the most fiber on this list. A meta-analysis of eight trials with 464 people found a trend toward lower CRP with non-soy legumes that fell just short of significance. The fiber is the sure thing, which is why legumes top our High-fiber foods list.

How to eat them: simmer lentils 20 to 25 minutes and spoon them under salmon, or warm a rinsed can of black beans with cumin and lime.

Oats carry beta-glucan, the best-studied grain fiber. A cup cooked in water has 166 calories, 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. A 2021 meta-analysis of 23 trials found no overall change in inflammatory markers with oats, with a small, borderline drop in CRP in people who already had a health condition. Oats still earn a place as the whole grain that replaces the refined ones Harvard Health puts on the inflammatory side.

How to eat them: cook a pot of steel-cut oats on Sunday and reheat a cup with blueberries and walnuts. That's three entries before 8 a.m.