Whole-food carbohydrates including sweet potatoes, legumes, buckwheat and quinoa may help temper inflammation by supplying fiber, resistant starch and plant compounds that support the gut microbiome and metabolic health, nutrition experts say.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Carbohydrates are often grouped together as foods that promote inflammation, but nutrition experts say that characterization overlooks a fundamental difference between highly processed products and carbohydrate-rich foods eaten close to their natural state.
Sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, buckwheat and quinoa can supply fiber, resistant starch, antioxidants and other compounds associated with healthier gut function and lower inflammatory activity, nutritionists and dietitians told The Epoch Times.
The distinction, they said, is not simply whether a food contains carbohydrates, but how extensively it has been processed and what nutrients remain when it is eaten.
Holistic nutritionist Jaz Robbins said carbohydrates developed much of their unfavorable reputation from processed products rather than whole plant foods.
“Those are the ones that contribute to inflammation,” Robbins said of shelf-stable breads and pastas.
Whole-food carbohydrate sources behave differently in the body because they frequently retain fiber and other naturally occurring compounds that are removed or altered during processing.
Fiber is central to that difference.
Dietary fiber reaches the digestive tract and serves as a food source for beneficial intestinal bacteria. Those microorganisms can ferment fiber and produce substances that help regulate inflammatory processes throughout the body.
Mark Sisson, writing in “The New Primal Blueprint,” said beneficial gut bacteria help suppress inflammation while converting dietary fiber into health-promoting fatty acids.
That relationship between food, intestinal microbes and immune activity has become an important area of nutritional research.
Resistant starch provides another pathway through which carbohydrate-rich whole foods may influence inflammation. Unlike starch that is rapidly digested and absorbed in the small intestine, resistant starch passes largely intact into the colon.
Bacteria there ferment it and generate short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate.
Butyrate has been associated with anti-inflammatory activity and helps support the cells lining the colon, creating a potential connection between carbohydrate quality, intestinal health and broader immune function.
The importance of those mechanisms is amplified by the relatively low fiber intake of many Americans. Public health data indicate that approximately 95% of people in the United States do not consume recommended amounts of dietary fiber.
Research also suggests that the microbial community in the digestive system can respond relatively quickly to dietary changes.
The article “How Everyday Carbs Reprogram Your Body’s Defenses” reported that gut bacteria can alter immune responses according to the types of carbohydrates they receive. Sugary beverages and highly processed sugars can weaken the intestinal barrier and promote inflammatory activity, while naturally occurring carbohydrate sources such as sweet potatoes can encourage beneficial microbial processes.
Sweet potatoes are among the foods registered dietitian Jessica Clancy Strawn particularly recommends.
“I love sweet potatoes – they’re comforting, colorful and incredibly versatile,” Strawn told The Epoch Times.
Sweet potatoes provide both fiber and antioxidants, which Strawn said can help support more stable blood sugar levels while reducing oxidative stress.
Laboratory findings published in 2026 also identified specific naturally occurring sweet potato compounds that may contribute to the food’s anti-inflammatory properties.
Researchers examined beta-sitosterol and campesterol and found that both compounds reduced production of interleukin-6, or IL-6, by mouse immune cells.
IL-6 is a signaling protein involved in immune and inflammatory responses. The researchers reported that beta-sitosterol and campesterol produced effects at concentrations comparable to those measured in the sweet potato extracts examined during the study.
They concluded that the compounds likely contribute to at least part of the anti-inflammatory activity associated with sweet potatoes.
Because the research involved laboratory experiments using mouse immune cells, the findings do not establish that eating sweet potatoes will produce an identical biological response in humans. They do, however, offer a possible mechanism supporting observations about the broader nutritional properties of the food.
Legumes provide another combination of carbohydrates and compounds potentially beneficial for controlling inflammation.
Beans and lentils contain substantial quantities of soluble fiber, which absorbs water and is readily fermented by intestinal bacteria.
Strawn described soluble fiber as “one of the strongest anti-inflammatory tools we have.”
Legumes also contain polyphenols, including tannins and flavonoids. Those plant compounds possess antioxidant properties and have been studied for their potential roles in moderating oxidative stress and inflammation.
Whole grains and grain-like seeds can offer similar nutritional advantages.
“Buckwheat is the underdog I’m most excited about,” Strawn said.
Despite its name, buckwheat is not wheat. It is a naturally gluten-free seed that can be prepared and eaten in many of the same ways as cereal grains.
Buckwheat contains rutin, a flavonoid associated with supporting normal blood-vessel function, in addition to fiber and other plant nutrients.
Quinoa is also technically a seed rather than a conventional cereal grain. Its combination of fiber and protein can slow digestion and contribute to steadier blood-glucose responses compared with rapidly digested refined carbohydrates.
The overall dietary pattern also matters.
Research examining whole-food eating patterns suggests individual foods may work most effectively as components of a broader diet rather than as isolated nutritional interventions.
Reviews of dietary approaches such as the Mediterranean diet have associated combinations of minimally processed foods with reductions in LDL cholesterol, improvements in blood-sugar regulation and lower inflammatory markers, according to research reported by NaturalNews.com.
The nutrition experts said incorporating anti-inflammatory carbohydrate sources does not require complicated meal planning.
Strawn described preparing a bowl containing roasted sweet potato, beans, quinoa, leafy greens, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, then adding lemon juice, hummus and unsweetened Greek yogurt.
“It’s the kind of meal that keeps me steady through a busy workday,” she said.
Robbins offered another variation centered on lentils.
She suggested combining green or brown lentils with tomato, cucumber, red onion, cilantro and arugula in a Mediterranean-style bowl.
“This gives you anti-inflammatory carbs, antioxidants, and healthy fats,” Robbins told the outlet. “And it’s delicious.”
Naturopathic physician Jodi Duval described another meal built around a roasted sweet potato filled with grass-fed ground beef, black beans, avocado and fresh coriander.
She called it “one of my family’s favorite weeknight meals.”
The examples illustrate the broader principle emphasized by the experts: carbohydrate-containing foods do not necessarily have the same metabolic or inflammatory effects simply because they share the same macronutrient category.
A refined product containing quickly digested starches or sugars may produce a substantially different nutritional response from beans, lentils, vegetables or seeds containing carbohydrates alongside fiber, protein, resistant starch, antioxidants and micronutrients.
That distinction also complicates the idea that reducing inflammation necessarily requires eliminating carbohydrates.
Whole-food carbohydrate sources can contribute nutrients that refined products frequently lack, particularly dietary fiber that feeds beneficial intestinal bacteria and provides the material needed to produce short-chain fatty acids.
Sweet potatoes add antioxidant plant compounds and resistant starch. Legumes combine soluble fiber with polyphenols. Buckwheat supplies rutin and fiber, while quinoa pairs carbohydrates with both fiber and protein.
Individual responses will vary, and no single food can independently prevent or eliminate chronic inflammation. The laboratory findings involving sweet potato compounds also should not be interpreted as proof that a particular serving of food will reproduce the effects observed under controlled experimental conditions.
Taken together, however, the research and expert recommendations suggest that carbohydrate quality is more informative than simply labeling all carbohydrate-containing foods as inflammatory.
For people seeking to build meals around foods associated with healthier inflammatory responses, the evidence cited by the nutrition experts favors selecting minimally processed carbohydrate sources and eating them as part of a varied, balanced diet rather than avoiding the entire macronutrient category.
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