anti-inflammatories

8 Comments Posted on Pain Management, Patient Talk

Foods that can fight pain – How your diet can help with pain!

Cherries - an aid to pain reliefWe 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
5 Comments Posted on Diet, Patient Talk

An anti-inflammatory diet? What foods can help reduce inflammation?

Getting a health vegan diet

Getting a health vegan diet


Currently the most common way of reducing inflammation is to take anti-inflammatory drugs which are also called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or anti-inflammatories.

Inflammation is cause by many different things such as arthritis, hay fever or just sprains.

In recent years some doctors and healthcare professionals feel that certain food have anti-inflammatory properties.

Thus we think it would be useful to mention a few which you might like to include in your anti-inflammatory diet. Some to consider include:-

1)      Blueberries – those ever popular super foods.  For more information on super foods check out our blog – https://patienttalk.org/?p=276.

2)      Turmeric – great in curries and with so many health benefits.  Have a look at our recent post on the subject – https://patienttalk.org/?p=260

3)      Shitake mushrooms.  Even more beneficial than normal mushrooms!

4)      Green teas.

5)      Fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel.

6)      Kale and other leafy green vegetables.

7)      Ginger.  The other delicious Asian food you might want to try is ginger tea.

8)      Oil- red palm and olive oils are recommended.

9)      Brown rice and whole grain pasta.

10)   Pomegranates – another great super food.

And of course water is great as part of a healthy diet

So over to you.  We would love to know how you treat inflammation.  Have you changed your diet?  What foods do you think work best?

It would be great if you could add your thoughts and views in the comments box below.

Thanks in advance for your help!