Why does nutrition play a role in pain management?
Nutrition is vital for our health and well-being; in this section we will review the role of good nutrition in pain control. Foods that we eat contain various nutrients in addition to anti-inflammatory agents that can help manage and control pain fueled by chronic inflammation.
Chronic non-cancer pain:
Chronic non-cancer pain is defined as pain that can occur for 3 months or more. The economic burden of this type of pain exceeded $600 billion in 2010 alone, far surpassing the burden incurred by cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
A whole-person approach to pain management helps us address the biologic, psychosocial, and lifestyle modulators of chronic pain. We are basically looking at dietary and nutritional approaches and monitoring mental health, sleep, and lifestyle to better help a patient manage pain and improve quality of life.
Salient points:
Chronic inflammation at a low grade is a well-known pathogenic mechanism that is implicated in chronic pain conditions.
Diet is a modifiable factor that can help decrease this inflammation through the addition of nutrients that can counteract this process and help alleviate symptoms.
Persistent high glucose levels after eating, along with high insulin levels, are markers of chronic inflammation in conditions like obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
High adiposity and insulin resistance also create a chronic inflammatory environment within our bodies that fuels this inflammatory pathway, as adipose tissue—particularly in visceral areas (around organs)—is pro-inflammatory in character.
A high-fat, high-carb westernized diet can cause an imbalance in the intake of omega fatty acids, leading to an increase in omega-6 fatty acids as opposed to omega-3 fatty acids—this causes a pro-inflammatory state. This also points to how diet is crucial to decreasing levels of chronic inflammation.
This state of inflammation is not limited to the systemic body alone but can also progress in the neurological system within the glial cells of the central nervous system. This also creates sensitization within the central nervous system with respect to pain impulses.
The harmful Western diet also negatively affects the gut microbiome and our immune system, increasing the risk of autoimmune disease, which is also a major cause of non-cancer pain.
Harmful dietary patterns that include the ingestion of dyes and emulsifiers can also increase the permeability of the gastrointestinal tract, causing the influx of toxins that can further worsen the integrity and health of the gut.
While the aforementioned pathways increase damage through oxidative stress, nutrients in foods with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects can help mitigate the damage.
Foods rich in polyphenols, like tea, cacao, coffee, fruits, and vegetables, help support cardio-metabolic and neurological health.
In short, pain is a complex biochemical pathway that is multifactorial; however, modifiable factors like diet and nutrition can help make a difference. I encourage my readers to make an investment in their nutrition, stay in touch with their physician, and live long and strong!
