Managing Your Pain

I came across an article which may prove to offer some helpful advice to those of us suffering from chronic unrelenting pain.

Pain can be devasting. It can interrupt and disrupt your entire life. One of the suggested ways to help with managing your pain was diet. The suggestion was that by including foods in your diet which have a chemical composition that is anti-inflammatory, they should help to reduce any pain cause by inflammation such as arthritis.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Diet. The impact of diet on pain rests on the fact that inflammation is a major cause of pain. So, the theory goes, if you can reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals in the body, you can reduce the pain.

For instance, studies find that certain antioxidants such as glutathione can help tissue recover from inflammation. One study found that supplementing with the nutrient n-acetyl-cystine, a precursor to glutathione, can reduce pain from nerve damage.

Other dietary-related evidence:

he nutritional supplements glucosamine and chondrotin sulfate can benefit patients with osteoarthritis.

Dietary soy and tart cherries contain antioxidants that may reduce neuropathic pain. In fact, cherries, which are high in anti-inflammatory anthocyanins, plant-based chemicals that give the fruit its dark red color, have been linked anecdotally to reduction of pain in arthritis and gout, with animals studies showing it can reduce swelling and inflammation in rats.

Sweet foods (think chocolate) can stimulate the release of pain-relieving endorphins in the brain

Oh, puhleeze, bring on the chocolate!

To read the article in full plcease go to the link below:

http://www.painfoundation.org/page.asp?file=documents/doc_014.htm