A healthy diet can help relieve chronic pain

Chronic pain can affect all elements of an individual’s day by day life and overall health. However, latest research suggests that following a healthy diet could also be one option to reduce the intensity of pain, no matter body weight.

A latest study, published in Nutritional research in October could offer an accessible and accessible tool to combat chronic pain.

The consequences could possibly be particularly significant given the number of individuals affected by this “common and disabling health problem,” study creator said Sue Wardresearcher and PhD student on the University of South Australia. Nearly 52 million Americans and one in five people worldwide experience chronic pain.

“People who experience chronic pain often have a higher weight burden compared to the general population,” Ward said Health. “Food choices that affect the overall quality of a person’s diet may contribute to pain by affecting their weight or by triggering body processes such as inflammation.”

Here’s what experts needed to say concerning the latest study and why the foods you eat can ease chronic pain.

For this study, Ward and her colleagues analyzed data on 654 Australians who had their weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and other measurements recorded in clinical settings. They also responded to surveys on quite a lot of topics, including socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviors, pain levels and regular diet. Study participants were on average 50 years old and 96% were white.

Using the official Australian Dietary Guidelines as a reference point, Ward and her team defined a healthy diet as one that features “staple foods” resembling vegetables and fruits, grains, dairy and dairy alternatives, and lean meats.

They analyzed the information and located that participants who reported less chronic pain also adhered more closely to this healthy diet. This was true no matter their BMI, waist circumference and body fat.

“Many participants had high levels of body fat and did not follow the Australian dietary guidelines [they] were characterized by low diet quality. However, people who followed these guidelines more closely had lower levels of body pain,” Ward said. “A healthy diet can help manage pain regardless of a person’s size.”

The research team also found that the connection between chronic pain and diet was different in men and ladies. Overall, women reported feeling more pain and were more prone to follow a healthy diet. However, eating healthy looked as if it would have a more significant impact on their pain.

“Women who ate a higher-quality diet reported less pain and had better physical function,” Ward explained. “This effect was less pronounced in men.”

Experts still aren’t 100% sure why this is occurring, they are saying Doctor Larissa StrathAssistant Professor within the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics (HOBI) on the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Strath is currently conducting research on whether women eat more dietary fiber than men, which could have a knock-on effect on gut health and pain. Essentially, a healthier gut can help “prevent blood sugar spikes that are associated with inflammation and pain,” she said Health.

“There may be differences in the way men and women metabolize food, as well as differences in the gut microbiome that may influence this relationship,” Strath added.

Strath said she and her colleagues noticed that “poor diet quality appears to be associated with negative pain outcomes.” Now researchers are investigating how and why.

Firstly, a poor quality diet can often cause weight gain, which can sometimes cause joint pain or other forms of pain, Robert Sorge, Ph.Dsaid a psychology professor and pain researcher on the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health.

Experts agreed that inflammation is one other likely offender. Sorge explained that low-quality foods can cause low-grade inflammation throughout the body. Scientists are still investigating why this happens. But it’s possible that eating excess ultra-processed foods or refined sugars could “wake up our immune systems” in the identical way as bacteria or viruses, Strath said. This releases pro-inflammatory chemicals throughout the body, she added.

Inflammation is related to tissue damage, nervous system excitability and chronic chronic pain, Ward says.

High intakes of sugar, saturated fat and animal protein have also been linked to oxidative stress, which is analogous to inflammation.

“Oxidative stress – a phenomenon by which the variety of free radicals is larger than the antioxidants we eat [those that] they occur naturally in our body – they can result in nerve damage [and pain]Strath said.

Conversely, nutrient-dense foods can improve the gut microbiome and likewise “provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties” that protect the body’s cells from damage, Ward explained. All of those “combined effects help reduce oxidative stress and chronic inflammation,” she said.

The issue of inflammation and oxidative stress may partly explain why latest research has found that a healthy diet is related to less chronic pain, no matter body weight.

“I have been in contact with many people with a normal BMI who still have chronic pain, so there is obviously more to the story,” Strath said. “We must look beyond an individual’s body composition and take a holistic approach when assessing, examining and treating chronic pain conditions.”

It may be one other indicator that BMI simply “isn’t a great measure of health,” Sorge added.

“New research does not clearly establish that an unhealthy diet causes chronic pain or vice versa,” Ward said. However, for people affected by chronic pain, experts agreed that this study supports the concept that healthy eating can provide some relief.

Strath said it is vital to take a “good and honest look” at your diet and discover if “feeling pain is worth changing your behavior” to vary the foods you eat.

There is not any one specific, universal food that individuals should avoid to eliminate chronic pain, Strath emphasized. This is strongly related to the person.

With that in mind, an excellent place to start out is to prioritize foods like leafy greens, greens, berries and nuts over processed foods and sugary drinks, Sorge said. With the sort of well-balanced diet, “it’s no surprise that inflammation and subsequent pain will be reduced,” he explained.

But a very powerful thing is consistency, Strath said. Adopting a healthier diet and exercising more are “two of the most significant ways to manage chronic pain,” Sorge added, although they require long-term lifestyle changes.

To be sure you are doing it safely and effectively, it can be helpful to get proper nutrition education from a dietitian or other health care skilled, Strath said. “It’s also ideal to discuss dietary changes with your doctor so they can make sure it won’t interfere with your care plan,” she said.

But she added that making dietary changes is not at all times an option, especially for people living in food deserts or those of lower socioeconomic status.

“These [issues] If we want to make meaningful change, it must be addressed on a personal and social level,” Strath stressed.

Diet aside, there are other things people can do to administer chronic pain.

“[Having] “supportive friends and family, a healthy lifestyle and good sleep can have a dramatic impact on chronic pain and many other aspects of physical and mental health,” Sorge said. “Compared to medications, these lifestyle changes are the only ones that have primarily positive side effects.”