Can Nutrition Help Reduce Pain?

Back to Articles

Yes!  Nutrition can help reduce pain.  On the other hand, poor nutrition can make your pain worse too.  Healthy eating habits are pretty important while you are healing and can help reduce your pain symptoms.

Let’s start with the foods to focus on.  Your body needs prebiotics, omega-3, fiber, and antioxidants to keep your body working at its optimal level, can reduce pain, and thus help you to heal.  

Foods to eat:
Leafy greens such as kale and spinach
Fish like salmon and tuna
Fruits especially berries like blueberries and strawberries
Nuts including almonds and walnuts

Now, for the food to be careful with as they can cause inflammation which can make pain worse.  

Foods to limit or eliminate:
Refined sugar (try honey or stevia instead)
Some dairy products (switch to coconut or a nut milk instead)
Processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat
Refined carbohydrates (try swapping white bread for one with nuts or rye)

Start thinking about your food as fuel for your body to function.  Everything you put in your body can either help or harm you. No one is perfect, sometimes those cravings will set in.  The key here is moderation. And learning to eat more healthfully and doing the least amount of harm.

A tip to help with this is take note how your body feels after a healthy meal and after a not-so-healthy meal.  If your pain gets significantly worse after not eating well, this is especially important for you. Noticing the correlation between your food and pain, can be helpful.  Ask yourself, is this bite of “x” really worth the extra pain?

Also, keep in mind that there is not a single “miracle” veggie or diet to cure everything.  Moderation is often the best course of action. In regards to fruits and veggies, eating an array of colors and variety helps you get all of the vitamins and minerals that nature has to offer.
 

For some ideas on what to eat here are some good recipes!
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322897.php
https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/arthritis-diet/recipes/