80: Anti-Inflammatory Diet with Carolyn Williams, PhD, RD

<p>This week’s show is all about inflammation. What is it? What role does it play in gut health, cancer, heart disease, and other chronic conditions? What can we do to keep inflammation at bay? And what role does diet play in both causing it and preventing it? My guest is Carolyn Williams, PhD, RD, author of one of my favorite new cookbooks, Meals that Heal: 100+ Everyday Anti-Inflammatory Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less. This episode may change the way you eat forever! </p> <p>Carolyn Williams, Ph. D., is a registered dietitian, culinary nutrition expert, and author of <em>Meals that Heal: 100 Everyday Anti-inflammatory Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less</em>. Carolyn’s recipes are simple, easy, and family-friendly--and they feature many of my favorite foods. Carolyn received a 2017 James Beard Journalism Award, and her work is regularly featured in top magazines like <em>Cooking Light, Eating Well, Real Simple, All Recipes</em>, and <em>Prevention</em>. She teaches culinary arts and nutrition classes at a local college, where she is a tenured faculty member. She lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with her two children.</p> <p>In this episode, we talk about some of Carolyn’s recipes like Avocado and Tomato Chicken Salad, Salmon with Quinoa and Kale Salad, and her Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites, made with chickpeas.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Show Highlights:</strong></p> <p> </p> <ul> <li>Get to know Carolyn better</li> <li>How Carolyn honed her cooking skills with outdoor mud pie creations as a kid</li> <li>Why Carolyn wanted to understand nutrition better</li> <li>How Carolyn’s book, <em>Meals that Heal</em>, came to be</li> <li>Carolyn’s “Aha” moment of realization about inflammation and multiple health issues</li> <li>Low-grade, chronic, and acute inflammation: the good, the bad, and the ugly</li> <li>Foods to avoid to minimize inflammation: fast food, fried foods, and processed foods</li> <li>Guidelines for reading food labels to look for minimally-processed foods</li