I’m a big believer in supplementation, but I’m also a big believer in using food as medicine. I also believe inflammation is a significant factor in just about every degenerative disease known to man. So I’m always looking for dietary and supplement strategies to lower inflammation. Foods like wild salmon, grass-fed beef, apples, onions, berries, papaya, and supplements like Omega-3’s, quercetin, resveratrol and curcumin.

And pineapple!

Pineapple contains a very potent anti-inflammatory enzyme called bromelain, which is also great for digestion. Everyone talks about the bromelain in pineapple, but what they forget to tell you is that most of it’s in the skin. (How much is in the actual fruit is anyone’s guess. We assume the fruit contains some bromelain but the mother lode is definitely in the skin everyone throws away.)

The other day Michelle came home with a bag full of pineapples, which were on sale in our neighborhood at the ridiculously low price of 2 for $3.

So we sliced them up and then put them through the juicer, skin and all.

This is the juicer I use.  It’s the Breville Juice Fountain and it’s terrific.  It’s just the juicer I’ve been using for years and I think it’s great. I’m not the only one… check out all the great feedback on Amazon.

To make this drink even more potent and even better tasting (if that’s possible), we added a drizzle of Barlean’s Omega Swirl Pina Colada. This adds 360 mg of EPA and 360 mg of DHA, the two omega-3’s found in fish oil, and significantly boosts the anti-inflammatory power of the drink, since omega-3’s are among the most anti-inflammatory molecules on earth.

And because fish oil is fat, adding it to the pineapple juice brings down the glycemic impact of the pure juice. The pina colada taste punches up the naturally citric sweet and sour taste of the pineapple. It’s really terrific.

The pineapple slices (with skin) juice easily, and here’s what the drink looks like:

So for less than the price of a Starbucks (a lot less), we had two glasses of the most delicious, refreshing, anti-inflammatory drink you can imagine.

Try it and let me know what you think!