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Foods That Naturally Help Ease Pain

I saw this recently on momseveryday and thought it was a very interesting article:

Foods That Ease Pain

This article, entitled Have Pain? Foods That Naturally Help Ease It comes from partner site 719woman.com.

Sore muscles? Backache, neck pain or headaches? Yes you can pop over-the-counter pain medications but what if you could help ease the pain with a few simple changes in your diet? Here’s a list of 6 “superfoods” that can actually help with chronic pain. Most of these foods are items you probably already have in your kitchen and are easy to add to your daily menu. As always, if you’re pregnant or have an illness that’s being treated by a doctor, always check with your physician first.

GINGER
Ginger contains very potent anti-inflammatory compounds called gingerols which can help reduce pain and inflammation. In the journal Arthritis, a new study compared ginger to cortisone and ibuprofen for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In a Danish study, ginger eased chronic stiffness and achiness for 63% of people within a week. Backaches and neck pain can be kept at bay by flavoring recipes with 1 teaspoon of ginger daily. Ginger can also help with stomach problems like motion sickness, colic, gas, diarrhea, nausea and menstrual cramps.

Ways you can add ginger to your diet…

• Add chopped fresh ginger to soups, stews, stir-fries, and other recipes


• Add fresh ginger to a juicer while making juices, or add to smoothies.


• Chopped fresh ginger can be added to water and boiled in a pot for about 45 minutes. Drink it warm or with ice. You can also add a bit of honey or stevia.

OLIVE OIL
Olive oil has a compound called oleocanthal that switches off pain-triggering COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes as effectively as ibuprofen. Scientists at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington suggest that by drizzling 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil on meals daily, it can actually ease chronic pain in just 2 weeks. A bonus…the fat in olive oil is monounsaturated fatty acids that are considered a healthy dietary fat. It’s also full of polyphenols which helps protect your cells from damage. It can also help lower cholesterol and control insulin levels in the body and help lower some heart risks. There are also ongoing studies of how it can help with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ways you can add olive oil to your diet…

• Drizzle it over salad or mix it into salad dressings.


• Use in marinades or sauces for meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables.


• Drizzle over cooked pasta or vegetables.


• Two of my favorite ways to use olive oil…
  
  • Toast baguette slices under the broiler, rub lightly with a cut clove of garlic and add a little drizzle of olive oil.
  
  
  • For an easy but delicious bread dip (which means you can skip the butter), pour a little olive oil into a small side dish and add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, which will pool in the middle and look pretty.

SEAFOOD
Seafood can help soothe back pain, neck pain and chronic headaches, plus cut the ache of allover joint stiffness in half because they contain omega-3 fatty acids. Think tuna, shrimp, anchovies, herring, sardines and salmon (wild salmon has more omega-3s than farmed). Researchers at the Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, Massachusetts also credit omega-3 fatty acids with helping ease internal inflammation. Research also shows strong evidence that omega-3 can also help lower triglycerides and blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, depression and more. A 6-ounce serving of seafood three times a week has been shown to alleviate back pain, chronic headaches and neck pain for 60% of people.

BLACK BEANS
Black beans are rich in magnesium and potassium – minerals that help relax muscle tension and improve blood flow to speed the healing of damaged tissues. They are an excellent remedy for over-worked muscles. A study in The Journal of Pain suggests that eating 1/2 cup per day can cut the incidence of cramps, spasms and soreness by 33%. They are also high in fiber and a good source of plant-based protein. Decreased levels of magnesium have been shown to be related to high blood pressure, kidney stones, heart disease, fatigue and PMS syndrome. Potassium is an essential mineral for normal growth, to stimulate nerve impulses for muscle contraction and preserve proper alkalinity of the body fluid and regulate the water balance and acid-base balance in the blood and tissues. So eat your beans.

Ways you can add black beans to your diet…

• Make soup or puree black beans and add to soups and stews as a thickener.


• Make dips or salsa.


• Eat as a side. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder or cilantro for added flavor. I like raw chopped red onion on mine.


• Make burgers with pureed black beans, add to wraps, tacos, or burritos.


• Also good with eggs, added to rice dishes, salads, or chili.

LAVENDER TEA
A simple mug of steaming lavender tea can help relieve minor headaches or muscle aches in as little as 5 minutes, according to a Korean research team. Why? Because the aroma of lavender boosts the brain’s production of alpha waves, which are electrical impulses that calm sensitive pain nerves. Lavender also helps with upset stomachs, insomnia, migraines, and nerve pain. Lavender contains an oil that seems to have sedating effects and might relax certain muscles. Not only can you make a lavender tea, you can also add it to bath water to treat circulation disorders and improve mental well-being. You can buy lavender teas at the grocery store or make your own by adding fresh lavender to a tea ball or sachet and steeping in hot water for about 20 minutes. Just smelling lavender oil can make you feel good too.

PINEAPPLE
Pineapple contains an anti-inflammatory enzyme called bromelain. New research shows that bromelain soothes your cells by reducing the migration of white blood cells to site of inflammation, like injured muscles and arthritic joints. Stanford University researchers report that nibbling on 1 cup of pineapple a day can soothe sore muscles in as little as 10 days. It can also help with headaches.

Ways to add pineapple to your diet…

• Mix in fruit smoothies.


• Add to yogurt.


• Make salsa.


• Make fresh fruit kabobs.


• Add to salads.


• Add to cottage cheese.

The Skinny on Juice

To Your Health August, 2008 (Vol. 02, Issue 08)

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The Skinny on Juice

By Editorial Staff

Scan the grocery store shelves and you'll find a variety of juices on display. The old favorites still remain - apple, orange and grape - but you'll also see some new flavors these days, such as blueberry-pomegranate, cranberry-raspberry, guava and even "lychee" (an edible fruit native to the Kwangtung and Fukein provinces of China).

Juice can provide many health benefits, especially for those trying to squeeze in the recommended number of servings. Just 6 ounces or ¾ of a cup of 100-percent fruit juice can equal one serving of a fruit or vegetable. Fruit juices can contain a number of important vitamins and nutrients our bodies need including potassium, antioxidants and vitamins A and C.

It's important to read the labels as you make your juice selection. You want to look for labels that say "100% juice." Only juice with this on the label can truly be considered juice. Anything less than 100-percent juice means the drink must clearly be labeled a juice "drink," "beverage," "cocktail," "punch," "blend" or "sparkler." These products might contain as little as 10 percent or as much as 99 percent juice. The rest of the ingredients might include artificial sweeteners, sugar or other artificial ingredients. Review the list of ingredients on the products. Ingredients must be listed in order of volume. The farther down the list of ingredients juice appears, the less there is of it in the drink.

In your grocer's freezer section, you'll find juices from concentrate. These are the same as the original juice, except most of the water has been removed. Once you add the water back in, the juice has the same nutritional profile as it does in its original form. Many people think fresh-squeezed juice offers a nutritional advantage and some experts might agree. However, the important thing is to realize that the goal is to incorporate the right amount of fruits and vegetables into your diet, and when juice is consumed as part of a well-balanced diet, this can be achieved without consuming fresh-squeezed juice all the time.

Some juice is fortified with extra vitamins, minerals, cholesterol-lowering sterols and omega-3 fatty acids - something to consider if you aren't getting enough of any of these nutrients in your normal diet. Recent research indicates certain juices also might help in protecting against certain health conditions and diseases. Pomegranate juice has been shown to lower total cholesterol and reduce systolic blood pressure, while cranberry juice helps women maintain proper urinary tract health.

Check with your doctor to make sure certain juices won't interfere with any prescription medication you're taking. For example, grapefruit contains a natural substance that inhibits the liver's ability to metabolize certain drugs. These restrictions aside, 100-percent juice is a great way to get those recommended daily servings of fruits (and vegetables) into your diet.

Know Your Numbers!

Check out this very interesting article on your body's numbers:

To Your Health October, 2007 (Vol. 01, Issue 10)

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Know Your Numbers

By Editorial Staff

Ignorance may be bliss, but not when it comes to cholesterol. While most people understand the health risks associated with high cholesterol, women in particular aren't taking the time to proactively monitor and control it.

According to a nationwide survey released by the Society for Women's Health Research, 79 percent of women know how much they weighed in high school, but less than one-third know their cholesterol number. Moreover, only half of the women surveyed had a cholesterol test done in the past year. Although 63 percent said they were concerned about cholesterol and nearly 60 percent indicated they were actively trying to control their cholesterol, only 32 percent knew their actual cholesterol number.

Women generally are well-educated about cholesterol and its impact on their overall health. Almost nine out of 10 women (88 percent) surveyed know high cholesterol is linked to hardening of the arteries and heart disease, and almost as many (85 percent) know it can lead to stroke. In terms of prevention, the vast majority of women know how to control cholesterol: exercise (96 percent), eating more fruits and vegetables (95 percent) and eating foods low in fat (94 percent).

The survey also produced the following results:

• One in three (32.9 percent) did not know that women can exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet, but still have dangerously high cholesterol levels. 
• Women with a family history of high cholesterol are only slightly more likely than the general population (66 percent vs. 60 percent) to say they are actively trying to manage their cholesterol levels.
• More than one-third (36.3 percent) of women were surprised to learn that high cholesterol has no symptoms.
• Only 35 percent of women surveyed know any of the four key numbers for monitoring cholesterol: total cholesterol level, LDL level, HDL level and triglyceride (blood fat) level.
• Ninety percent of women (90.6 percent) believe that some cholesterol is good, yet only a third of women (38 percent) correctly identified HDL as the "good" cholesterol. An equal number got it wrong.
• Only 21 percent of women know their high-density lipoprotein (their HDL level - the "good" cholesterol), with an equally low number knowing their low-density lipoprotein (their LDL level - the "bad" cholesterol).

If you're concerned about your cholesterol, or if it has been a while since you had it checked, take the first step toward improving your health - find out your numbers and discuss them with your doctor.

Check out this great article from "To Your Health" Newsletter. We are getting this question quite a bit in our office about the bitter cold weather and why our patient's joints and bones are hurting more. Here's some great information about that.

To Your Health December, 2013 (Vol. 07, Issue 12)

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Pain in the Forecast

By Linsay Way, DC

It's a running joke in our clinic that the most accurate method of predicting storms is to see how full the waiting room is. But why do some people seem to be able to predict coming rains based on their aches and pains? It's a question I hear from my patients every time weather changes are on the horizon.

It's true that many people with back pain, neck pain or other joint complaints are often surprisingly accurate in predicting when storms are approaching, and believe it or not, there is some validity to their weather forecasting abilities.

The phenomenon is nothing new. As early as the 5th century B.C., Hippocrates suggested many illnesses were related to changes in the weather. Since then, a number of musculoskeletal disorders have been identified as being especially sensitive to changing weather conditions, including osteoarthritis, tension headaches, back pain and fibromyalgia.

A variety of meteorologic factors have been suggested as the culprit, including temperature, precipitation, humidity, thunderstorms and increased ionization of the air. But while reliable conclusions about the link between weather and musculoskeletal pain have yet to be established due to the lack of controlled studies, most research points to the lowered atmospheric barometric pressure that often precedes storms and other weather changes.

In one of the first empirical studies on the effect of weather on joint pain, published in 2010 by theInternational Journal of Biometeorology, researchersestablished a direct connection between low barometric pressure, inflammation and joint pain in rats. For the study, scientists artificially produced a state of chronic inflammation in the feet of lab rats, mimicking the clinical features of neuropathic pain in humans. When the rats were placed in a low-pressure environment, they exhibited signs of exacerbated foot joint pain not seen in their control counterparts.

Additional research has demonstrated the same phenomenon occurs in humans. For instance, a 2002 study from the Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques concluded that "back pain may be aggravated by atmosphere depression in patients with lumbar disc disease." And a 2007 study from the American Journal of Medicine determined that "changes in barometric pressure are independently associated with osteoarthritis knee pain severity."

Various mechanisms have been proposed to account for this relationship, but the most likely explanation involves the expansion of fluid in swollen joints following fluctuations in barometric pressure. Inflammation due to dysfunction, disease or injury will lead to swelling in and surrounding a joint. Because materials of varying densities are affected differently by pressure changes, drops in barometric pressure expand this extra fluid more than the muscle, ligaments and connective tissue that make up the joint capsule, stretching sensitized tissues and activating a nociceptive (pain) response.

A good illustration for the layperson is a balloon in a barometric chamber. If the pressure outside the balloon drops, the air on the inside expands and stretches the walls of the balloon. When the same happens to a swollen joint, the expansion stretches soft tissue, irritates nerve endings and causes pain.

It's important to note that this contraction and expansion of excess fluid in joints is happening on such a small scale that it cannot be quantified by any scientific means and the process is therefore entirely theoretical. But whatever the mechanism, the takeaway is that some degree of inflammation must already exist, whether we are aware of it or not, for barometric pressure changes to lead to joint pain. Weather changes can't cause pain by themselves; they can only exacerbate inflammation that's already there. After all, not everyone experiences pain when a storm is brewing, and those who do don't experience pain in every joint.

It really drives home what chiropractors have been saying for decades: The absence of pain isn't the same as good health! So while there's validity to the idea of "aches and pains mean coming rains," anticipation of weather changes shouldn't interfere with patients' motivation to decrease underlyinginflammation with the things they actually can control. Sunny days ahead are no substitution for proper exercise, good diet and supplementation, and regular chiropractic care.

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Linsay Way, DC, a 2010 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, practices at Wellness Way Chiropractic in Milwaukee, Wisc. (www.wellnesswaychiro.com). She is recognized for her work training and treating Milwaukee-area gymnasts.