Eating to reduce pain
FOOD and pain, strange bedfellows? Dear readers, read on. Researchers all over the world, especially in the United States are striving to understand the underlying mechanisms that explain why food choices have the potential to influence inflammation and cause discomfort and even pain, in certain patients. Studies have mixed results and are difficult to simplify into treatment recommendations.
To make research findings more accessible to the medical community, your columnist is happy to share the findings of diet- rich in olive oil, cereals, fruits, vegetables, fish and legumesBhawna Gupta, PhD of India and medical journalist Heather Stringer who reviewed nearly 200 studies about managing inflammation and pain with dietary interventions. In a paper published in the Frontiers of Nutrition in 2017, they described several studies showing that the so-called Mediterranean diet- rich in olive oil, cereals, fruits, vegetables, fish and legumes- can reduce inflammation by decreasing the process of oxidative stress in the body. They also examined studies focused on the Vegan diet, with interesting evidence of disease remission and improvement in participants who avoided animal products and consumed only vegetarian food.
There is also the possible benefit of shifting to the so-called “elimination diet” in which individuals give up specific foods for a certain period of time to assess whether some foods are triggers for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Emily Gesino, registered dietitian and nutrition manager at Roger Williams Medical Center I Rhode Island, recommend that the following eliminate the most common known food triggersgluten, corn, dairy, citrus, soy and eggs- for 12-14 days, and then to slowly reintroduce one food at a time to observe any change in symptoms..
Frequency and timing of meal appears to be a crucial factor in the causation of inflammation and pain, according to Dr. Victoria Maizes, executive director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Women who ate less than 30 percent or l/3 of their total daily calories in their evening meal experienced a significant decrease in the lab oratory test for Creactive protein, an important biomarker for inflammation. “Our studies suggest that a larger breakfast, smaller lunch and even a much leaner dinner is most health promoting. Longer