Lucinda Harms, a registered pharmacist trained at the University of Iowa and owner of Nutritional Wellness, has worked for years to help people live healthier lives through better nutrition. On Wednesday, December 18th at noon, Harms will host one of her most popular presentations, the Inflammation Connection, for free at the Musser Public Library and HNI Community Center.

Through research and experiences with patients, Harms has found that, “diet is the number one source of inflammation, and there are easy changes to make to reduce it.” In the Inflammation Connection, Harms breaks down how certain foods can cause inflammation, why chronic inflammation can lead to or affect a wide variety of health problems, and how some simple dietary substitutions can substantially reduce inflammation and improve overall well-being.

To begin the Inflammation Connection, Harms gives people an inflammatory inventory to assess the likelihood that they may suffer from chronic inflammation.Harms does not request people share this information with anyone—instead, attendees may use it to privately assess how much inflammation may affect them. She then walks participants through analyzing a sample diet and finding easy substitutions that can seriously reduce inflammation. At the end of the session, Harms allows plenty of time for people to ask questions about anything they learned in the presentation. “People don’t know what they don’t know. Often, when we start tearing things apart, there can be some pretty big surprises,” she shared.

Though Harms encourages anyone wanting to learn more about reducing inflammation through healthy eating to attend, she especially recommends the Inflammation Connection to people interested in treating or preventing cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, or obesity. Because the program emphasizes making simple changes to one’s diet, Harms feels it provides an easy way for people concerned about their health to take steps to feeling better without turning their lives upside down. “You don’t have to make all of these changes,” she stressed. “Even making one can reduce your inflammation potential.”

Because Harms will lead the Inflammation Connection at midday, she will keep the program to around one hour, making it easy for people to attend over their lunch break. She also welcomes people to bring lunch with them, allowing even people with busy schedules to stop by and learn something new. As an added bonus, Harms may even bring some snacks with her to allow people to sample foods that help reduce inflammation, especially ones they might not think of right off as healthy go-tos.