We all know that a healthy diet is important for over all wellness. But did you know using certain foods can have a real impact on your pain levels? A healthy diet may therefore be a great way of supplementing your medications as a way of managing your pain.
So what should you include? We thought that we would research the matter and give you a list of ten great food stuffs which are not just healthy but a great weapon in the war against pain.
1) Cherries seem to be the number one in many nutritionists’ lists. Cherries contain a chemical called anthocyanin which can reduce both pain and inflammation. Tart cherry is particularly recommended. Tart cherry extract is also recommended as the best way of using cherries.
2) Turmeric is also great for pain. Find out other reasons to use turmeric in your cooking in our blog exclusively about this wonder spice – https://patienttalk.org/?p=260
3) Walnuts. Both fresh walnuts and walnut oils are rich in omega oils which help fight pain.
4) Salmon and other oily fish. For the same reasons.
5) Ginger. Turns out that ginger may have similar properties to ibuprofen. You can use ginger tea as well.
6) Yogurt. A great way off fighting the pain caused by irritable bowel syndrome. This is because of the bacteria contained in live yogurt.
7) Coffee. Good news for must espresso fans. Dilated blood vessels can cause headaches which in turn can be narrowed by caffeine. It may also amplify the effects of other pain medications.
8) Chilli peppers. Capsaicin (the active ingredient) simulates our nerve endings and this helps to stop some of the chemicals which cause pain.
9) Green tea. Green tea helps reduce pain by being an anti-inflammatory!
10) Wine. This is great news at least for me. The resveratrol in wine (and in fact in grapes) operates in a way not dissimilar to aspirin. Hooray!
So all in all pretty good because we don’t need to go the path of “worthy food” to alleviate pain through diet.
Now it’s over to you. Can you help at all? Do you have any recipes which you think may be great ways of using food to fight pain? Have you tried an anti-pain diet? How did it work? Do you have any recommendations for foods which can be part of our reader’s pain management practice?
| jevemor104 | MarieDobbsBrasseit make sure when you buy the turmeric capsules, that they are selling you the cucumin (sp) capsule, which is the part of turmeric that actually helps with pain. Plain turmeric won’t do much. Hope that helps |
| LisaFinnell | Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame cause increased pain if used regularly, so limit this or remove altogether. Apple cider vinegar is extremely helpful for arthritis pain |
| VioletJet | Interesting. I’ll have to investigate if any of these have adverse reactions for people on (blood thinners). Will be trying the ones that don’t interfere. |
| mtemmthompson29 | I love and eat all of these things on a regular basis I did not realise they would help my pain |
| IzzyW | Blueberries. Also I find dried cherries really helpful. |
| AnneHanessian | I’ve heard from a reputable source (Ph.D. In biochemistry…) that Chamomile tea (“fresh leaves”) have anti inflammatory properties. |
| MarieDobbsBrasseit | Okay, wine is out cause I’m on too many maedicatiins (not just pain meds)…..i bought Turmeric Capsules and Ginger and Milk Thistle for liver cleansing. Can’t tell a difference yet, but I’m trying! Thanks for the article! Very informative |