Defining an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

When I first started researching how to decrease my pain, something that kept coming up was an anti-inflammatory diet. As someone who lived off of Chinese take out, a daily donut, and ate pancakes every morning, I was completely unaware of an anti-inflammatory diet. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was willing to do anything to put my pain to an end, I never would have pursued this diet. And now I can’t be more grateful that I made a change.

Inflammation is one of the biggest causes and contributors of chronic pain. An unhealthy diet can promote inflammation, causing pain to worsen. Foods that promote inflammation include simple sugars like high fructose corn syrup, processed meat, trans and saturated fats, white bread, white pasta, foods with additives and preservatives,  and any food high in refined carbohydrates. Red meat should be saved for special occasions such as holidays. Unfortunately, a Western diet promotes the intake of proinflammatory foods, especially with fast food being offered on every corner.

Switching to a vegan or Mediterranean diet has been known to have high anti-inflammatory qualities. These diets control insulin levels, lower cholesterol, and reduce inflammation. They also contain antioxidants that can soothe and prevent flare ups. Regardless of what type of diet you choose, you need to be introducing anti-inflammatory food into your meals and snacks each day. This includes whole fruits, dark leafy vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, and certain types of fish. Whole grains include barley, buckwheat, oats, quinoa, brown rice, rye, spelt, and wheat. Olive oil, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, salmon, mackerels, and sardines contain Omega-3s which have anti-inflammatory properties. Ideally, you should be having 8-9 servings of  vegetables a day. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower are known to be very beneficial.

Certain foods act directly with your nervous and immune system to decrease pain. 75% of the immune system is located in the gut, so the immune system is deeply affected by the diet. Antioxidants, omega-3s, polyphenols, prebiotics, and probiotics can decrease inflammation in the gut. Another food group known as carotenoids reduces inflammation in the central nervous system. Carotenoids include foods such as carrots, squash, potatoes, cantaloup, watermelon, and peaches. Flavonoids inhibit foods that increase inflammation. Flavonoids include berries, onions, cocoa, coffee, tea, and apples. Prebiotics and probiotics help develop a healthy microbiome. This includes yogurt, kefir, and fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi. Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and are found in fish, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. A lack of magnesium is associated with chronic pain. Magnesium can be found in nuts, dark leafy greens, whole grains, beans, and yogurt.

Benefits of a Healthier Diet

Eating healthy foods will lead to a healthier body. Eating unhealthy foods will lead to an unhealthy body. How different foods interact with our bodies can be quite complex. Certain foods promote inflammation while other foods decrease it. Inflammation can damage cells and organs which then leads to pain in muscles, tissues, and joints. Overtime, there will be an increased risk for developing heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and alzheimers. The immune system is reactive to an unhealthy diet and often reacts as if there was a bacterial infection. Deficiencies in zinc, selenium, iron, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, C, and E which will result in an altered immune system.

As it is exposed to unhealthy foods, the gut will send messages to the central nervous system which may trigger chronic pain. It can also lead to depression. Pro-inflammatory mediators are released. These include interleukins, histamine, TNF-alpha, bradykinin, and free radicals. Pro-inflammatory mediators sensitize the neurons and the body is put in a state of inflammation.

A healthier diet will take the body out of the state of inflammation and start to heal damaged tissues. There will be a decreased risk for developing diseases. There can also be a significant decrease in chronic pain. Decreasing inflammation throughout the body can improve mental and physical health. Specific examples are listed in the research.

The Research

A lot of research has been put into how certain diets affect the body. One study showed a decrease in pain in conditions such as chronic pelvic pain, low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain, inflammatory bowel disease, migraine, and arthralgia in the breasts. A gluten free diet has shown benefits in inflammatory bowel syndrome. People with fibromyalgia often have deficiencies in magnesium, selenium, vitamin B and D. They may also have toxins in their body, such as cadmium, mercury, and lead. A hypocaloric diet is beneficial in obese patients who have low back pain and knee osteoarthritis. People with migraines have responded well to a keto diet. Omega-3 has been beneficial to people with lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Another study show improvement in diabetics with neuropathic pain when they started a low fat, plant based diet with vitamin B12 and vitamin E supplementation. Prebiotics, probiotics, and a low-FODMAP diet have been beneficial in people who have irritable bowel syndrome.

My Experience with Dieting

Dieting is hard because ultimately it is a lifestyle change and a change in habits. It takes time to stop craving certain foods and to start enjoying the healthier foods. Western culture has made unhealthy foods cheap and easily accessible, while healthy foods tend to be more expensive and less appetizing. Switching to a healthier diet is a learning process. It won’t happen overnight. Being healthy requires time and effort, but it is worth it.

My first attempt at dieting was when I decided that I wanted to be gluten free. I went to my pantry and fridge and threw out everything that had gluten. I then went grocery shopping and spent way too much money on every gluten free thing that I could find in the store. I quickly realized that I didn’t like half of the stuff that I had bought, and I missed the foods that I had thrown out.

But I was in pain, and I stopped myself from buying fast food and unhealthy foods at grocery stores. I started eating very little and that’s when the weight loss started. I was hungry all the time and my anxiety was getting worse. I also started to feel dizzy all the time. My friends started to point out that I looked a lot thinner than usual. When I finally decided to weigh myself, I weighed 92 pounds. I normally weigh 115 pounds. I was scared of all my weight loss so I went right back to fast food. My first attempt at dieting to help with my pain was unsuccessful. And I was scared to try again.

Months later, my mom bought a book on how to do an anti-inflammatory diet. The next day, she was making me an anti-inflammatory smoothie with berries, kale, spinach, chia seeds, flax seeds, almond butter, and some other ingredients. I started drinking one of these smoothies every day. Next, I started drinking green tea every night to help me wind down. Then I was taking fish oil supplements with the pain medications that I was taking each day. I discovered how to make overnight oats and fill them with healthy ingredients. I started incorporating broccoli into each meal because it is one of the few vegetables that I like. I figured out which restaurants in my area served the healthiest foods and I discovered so many amazing dishes. Now, I cook from home and I look through YouTube channels that teach how to make healthy dishes. I stopped having flare ups, I was feeling better emotionally and physically, and I was sleeping a lot better.

Here is my advice for transitioning to a healthier diet:

• Do some research. Be educated on your condition and what type of diet would be most beneficial for you.

• Slowly start eliminating unhealthy foods. Maybe stop buying candy bars everytime you go to the store.

• Start incorporating more fruits and vegetables into each meal.

• Add ginger, turmeric, fresh herbs, and garlic to your meals.

• Try having fish for dinner twice a week. Don’t have too much fish (such as 7 times a week) because fish have small amounts of mercury.

• Have nuts and nut butter as snacks.

• Here are some helpful YouTube channels: Rainbow Plant Life, Pick Up Limes, and Well+Good

Sources

Dragan, S., Șerban, M.-C., Damian, G., Buleu, F., Valcovici, M., & Christodorescu, R. (2020, August 19). Dietary patterns and interventions to alleviate chronic pain. Nutrients. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7551034/.

Black, R. (2020, August 7). Anti-inflammatory diets for pain. Practical Pain Management. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/patient/anti-inflammatory-diets-for-pain.

Cleveland Clinics. (2021, August 14). Anti-inflammatory diet to relieve pain. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/anti-inflammatory-diet-can-relieve-pain-age/.

Harvard Health Publishing. (2021, February 15). Can diet heal chronic pain? Harvard Health. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/can-diet-heal-chronic-pain.