Four things you can do to reduce inflammation and cut heart disease risk, according to the experts

Many foods, supplements and even workouts nowadays claim to have anti-inflammatory properties. This certainly sounds like a good thing, adding to a product’s allure, but what does it actually mean? In appropriate doses, inflammation is a good thing, senior biomedical sciences lecturer and immunology specialist Dr Owen Kavanagh tells me. It is simply the body’s first line of defence against invaders such as certain harmful bacteria – combating the common cold, for example.

However, this process has a habit of going too far. By staying switched on beyond the point of usefulness, chronic low-level inflammation can damage the body’s internal systems, making it a “primary driver of age-related diseases” such as heart disease and some cancers.

This has long been considered a hallmark of ageing, but recent research published in the Nature Aging journal challenged the notion. It suggests that lifestyle factors and environment could impact inflammation levels, as well as the way they influence our bodies as we grow older. These interventions could also have varying impacts on different populations.

Below, Dr Kavanagh explains the implications of this research, as well as his four free and actionable tips for limiting unwanted inflammation in the body.

“Your body has an immune system that protects it against all foreign challenges – there are two arms to that immune system,” Dr Kavanagh says. “There’s something called the innate immune system, which is what we’re born with and cannot change. Then there’s the adaptive immune system, and that involves lymphocytes and immune cells that we can train to attack and kill foreign threats.”

Inflammation is part of the innate immune system: “A complex full-body reaction to a foreign threat like a pathogen or an allergen – something that shouldn’t be there.”

It raises body temperature and increases blood flow, bringing more immune cells to the site of the threat in an attempt to see it off. This provides a quick fix to the problem at hand, whether that’s curing a cold or healing a wound.

“But because inflammation is something we’re born with, it is possible for it to go wrong,” Dr Kavanagh explains. “Low-grade inflammation is the perfect example of that.”

Signs of low-grade inflammation may be as subtle as a persistent stomach ache or joint discomfort.

“This is your body constantly trying to fix what it sees as being wrong, whether that’s right or wrong,” says Dr Kavanagh. “The theory is that this process, over many years, results in damage to whatever organ or tissue is involved.

“[...] Inflammation is very clearly linked to heart disease, some cancers and many other types of disease. The very thing that is meant to be protecting us as a short-term solution is causing us long-term harm.”

Read more: The common foods that can reduce inflammation and improve heart health, according to experts

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Historically, it was believed that inflammation increases as you age, and with it comes an increased risk of several conditions such as heart disease, dementia and diabetes. This has been termed “inflammaging”.

Research published in the Nature Aging journal in 2025 found that this process was not guaranteed. It discovered this by comparing those in industrial societies (Singapore and Italy) with people from non-industrial societies (indigenous communities in the Amazon and forests of Malaysia).

“In the non-industrial groups, they didn’t see inflammaging or the connection with disease,” Dr Kavanagh says. This suggests that it is not just how long we live, but also how we live, that can determine the impact of inflammation on our health.

These findings pave the way for future studies in this area, Dr Kavanagh says. But when it comes to drawing concrete conclusions, “it’s complicated”.

“I think new research needs to be done,” he continues. “The most obvious place to start is with pollution – there are going to be different pollution levels in the Amazonian jungle and a city like Singapore, and that wasn’t accounted for in this research.

“Our immune systems also have very different genetic backgrounds – this showed during Covid. People who were unlucky enough to have the worst genotype, or the worst type of immune system, suffered the worst cases. Other people would just sneeze it off in a couple of days.

“Then there’s diet and physical exercise, so you can see what I mean by ‘it’s complicated’. This study opens a door to new thinking, and now we need to walk through that door and expand the studies to get more conclusive answers.”

Read more: I interview nutritionists for a living – here are the diet tips they all agree on

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There is still a lot to learn about inflammation, and we have zero control over certain factors that impact it, such as genetics. There are also limited pharmaceutical options that have delivered long-term results in combating chronic inflammation without side effects, Dr Kavanagh adds.

But we are not powerless, and there are several natural lifestyle interventions that can reduce inflammation, lowering your risk of several non-communicable diseases. Dr Kavanagh outlines these below.

“The clearest example is regular exercise – even moderate exercise,” Dr Kavanagh says. “Exercise releases chemicals that will reduce inflammation, it makes your immune system stronger and it makes your body stronger so it can effectively fight infections.”

He says this can be as simple as going for a short walk after eating “to help digest your food”.

A study published in the International Journal of General Medicine found that a 30-minute walk immediately after a meal “seems to be more effective for weight loss than waiting for one hour to walk after a meal”. This may be linked to exercise’s role in recruiting muscles and regulating blood sugar levels.

Read more: A cardiac nurse says these five daily behaviours can reduce your risk of heart disease

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Eating a healthy diet with an appropriate number of calories for your frame, genetics and activity levels can help keep inflammation in check. “By eating well, I mean reducing ultra-processed foods because they cause inflammation in the gut,” Dr Kavanagh explains. “Think of bad food choices like a pathogen or a threat. Your body recognises these unfamiliar added ingredients as something foreign and rejects them, and it does this through inflammation.

“Put simply: if you ingest something harmful or even moderately toxic, you’re going to cause inflammation. By giving your body natural, healthy, nutritious food, you're going to cause the opposite.”

Gut health should also be a key consideration, he adds, before encouraging people to seek out foods that promote gut microbiome diversity.

“The gut microbiome is complicated with billions of bacteria in there,” Dr Kavanagh says. “It’s the composition that benefits our health. Research shows that you can take the microbiome from an obese mouse, put it into a skinny mouse, and they will become obese, and vice versa.”

To increase gut microbiome diversity, aiming for colourful plates comprising a variety of plant-based foods (ie fruit and vegetables) is always a good foundation to build from. Dr Kavanagh also recommends consuming probiotics (like yoghurt and kefir) and prebiotics (such as beans, garlic, leeks and onions).

Finally, immune system-boosting foods are worthy of inclusion too.

“Selenium is a very rare mineral that your immune system needs,” says Dr Kavanagh. “It’s found in nuts and not much else, so nuts are a superfood. Ginger can also boost the immune system.”

Ticking all of these boxes can be an expensive endeavour – the provision of “affordable, cheap, healthy food” would go a long way to improving the nation’s health and taking strain off the NHS, Dr Kavanagh adds. But if you are able to move the nutrition needle in the right direction in a wallet-friendly way, it will have real-world perks.

Read more: As a fitness writer, I eat a few protein bars a week – after watching Joe Wicks’ UPF documentary, will I give them up?

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“Getting outside in the open air – what I call vitamin O – is another activity that is going to help with inflammation levels,” says Dr Kavanagh. “It’s been shown that, if you live in a very busy street with a lot of traffic outside, there are increased rates of Alzheimer’s and dementia because you’re constantly breathing in pollutants. Try to get out in clear, open air, away from pollutants.”

Getting out in the sun can also top up your vitamin D levels – another natural yet powerful way to enjoy anti-inflammatory effects.

Dr Kavanagh’s next suggestion falls under the same banner as heading into nature, but it might come as a bit of a surprise to some.

“In the study mentioned before, they showed that in the non-industrial group, there was a high parasite infection rate,” he says. “I’m a big proponent of getting your kids out and getting them dirty – messing around in the muck at a young age and training their immune system. If you’re exposed to a bacteria, you develop protection against it.

“Every day the bacteria in your gut are prodding and poking your immune system, and that strengthens it.”

Read more: The science-backed exercise method that can help fight the effects of ageing

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Dr Kavanagh says most of the behaviours that have historically been filed under “bad habits” will trigger inflammation; chronic stress, smoking and drinking alcohol.

“When you get a cold, it drags you down a bit, and when people had Covid a lot of them had severe depression and anxiety – that’s through inflammation,” leading neuropsychopharmacologist and Sentia co-creator Professor Nutt adds.

“Alcohol produces the same kind of inflammation in the brain. A hangover is partly due to neuroadaptation – the brain adapting to try and offset the effects of alcohol – and partly through the toxicity of alcohol leading to inflammation.”

Cutting back on your alcohol intake can reduce this, Dr Kavanagh advises.

Read more: Scientists reveal the small lifestyle changes that can reduce your risk of heart disease and add 10 years to your life