What You Eat Matters

Can your pain and inflammation change by what you eat?

What you eat matters because there is a relationship between food and pain.

Everywhere we turn someone is talking about what we should or shouldn't eat. At times it feels like some recommendations are changing from one day to the next. I'm not here to get into the meat-vegetarian-vegan debate, you're on your own with that. However, I am here to talk about the relationship between what we eat and our pain. There are no miracle cures here. No promises. Nothing being sold (so no money-back guarantee either). Just providing you some hope for a better tomorrow.

Those of us living with chronic pain face some tremendous challenges on a daily basis. For some it's getting out of bed, others getting through their day. Many times in my past I have looked to just make it from one day to the next. Sometimes from one hour to the next. Today we are faced with huge changes taking place in the availability of the medications people need to live with their pain. Too many doctors see their patients as drug users instead of people whose lives have been drastically impacted by pain. The vast majority of people living with pain wish they did not need to take any medications. Today's pain management just doesn't manage pain well enough to help people live as well as possible.

Unfortunately, today's pain management fails to address some extremely important basic body needs. One is proper nutrition, or at least helping their patients avoid certain foods and eat others that are more beneficial. You don't need to become a "health nut" to address your pain and inflammation. Pretty exciting don't you think? Yes, you will need to make some changes to what you eat, but it's not eating celery sticks all day. For anyone, the biggest factor is being ready to make these changes. I'm still working on myself and I wasn't ready to do this even 3 years ago. Please continue reading so if nothing else you'll tuck this information away in your subconscious.

Foods that we all enjoy, and which increase inflammation and pain are milk/dairy, meat, processed foods, fried foods, gluten, eggs, trans fat, aspartame, and beer. I just made some enemies with that last one, didn't I? Never promised this would be easy.

Foods that can decrease inflammation and pain are: fish, good oils, whole grains, nuts, fruits, tart cherries (and juice), veggies - specifically dark leafy ones, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, garlic, herbs, dark chocolate, and tea are just some to look into.

Water is the best thing to drink. Our body is about 2/3's water. The spinal discs are fluid-filled sacs. When we get dehydrated the body turns to the discs to get fluid. Without proper hydration, it is "possible" for the discs to lose their height, "possibly" creating a bulge. This means the discs are not able to perform at their best.

Interesting things about dehydration: when your lips feel dry it means you're already dehydrated; caffeine and alcohol dehydrate the body which then needs even more water to stay properly hydrated. Water is a very simple "supplement".

The bottom line is you're being presented with some things you can do to help yourself. Will following this takes away all of your pain - no. Is it possible that these ideas may help you better live with your pain - yes, it is possible. Pain might not ever fully leave. However, we can find ways to live better with the pain we have. That is the key to managing your pain, how you are able to live with it.

We don't like taking medications. The system is cracking down on how pain meds are prescribed which leaves so many facing uncertain futures. So why not help yourself and get your foundation (your nutrition intake) in a better place. It's a great starting point and there are so many other things we can do to improve our lives. Keep in mind that improving your nutritional intake may also help lower your weight which will put less stress on your body overall, especially back pain issues.