Healthy Diet Plan And Chronic Pain Treatment
We all know that maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is extremely necessary for our overall well-being. This is because, when you are taking in foods that are rich in plenty of health-beneficial substances in your regular diet, such as vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, antioxidants, fiber, and so on, that too in balanced and proper quantities, then your body will be able to build up a strong immune system and as a result, this will help you to stay away from different types of diseases. There are several types of chronic inflammatory diseases that occur to people because of improper lifestyle, and lack of enough health-beneficial nutrients in their daily diet. One such condition is chronic pain. When a person experiences chronic pain, then the conditions become severe if the person already has symptoms and conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteo- malacia, or any other condition that involves chronic pain because of joint pains, muscle aches, or pain because of cramps or muscular spasms. Chronic pain is an inflammatory condition that can cause aches in different parts of the body and this condition is common among aged individuals. Chronic pain is quite a common occurrence in your body, mostly in old age. So, it is important to know in vivid detail what chronic pain is, how this disease occurs, and most importantly, whether a healthy and nutrition-rich diet can help cure chronic pain in your body.
What Is All About Chronic Pain?
As said by several orthopedic surgeons and experts, chronic pain is a type of pain that occurs in different parts of the body and continues to stay for at least three months or a bit more. The amount of pain can differ from one person to the other. This type of pain can occur in different parts of the body and this pain can seriously bother you in severe cases.
Once you develop chronic pain, then some of your regular activities might get disrupted, and will feel pain anywhere in the body even for performing a simple daily chore. So, it is important to treat chronic pain and follow the advice of your concerned healthcare expert.
Difference Between Chronic Pain And Other Forms Of Pain
Pain in the human body can be of various forms. Among them, chronic pain, and other types of pain, also known as acute pain, are two broad categories. When we are referring to acute pain, it means that the pain is developing from hurt or a minor cut, or for example, if you have fallen or stumbled on the ground and have hurt your legs or had minor cuts in your hands then you might experience a little bit of pain. This pain will gradually subside once the cut or the area of the wound recovers.
But, in the case of chronic pain, the scenario is completely different and the opposite. When a person has chronic pain, then the pain seems to continue to bother the person for quite a long time, sometimes for months, and it requires a long time to recover from chronic pain. There can be different types of reasons that are responsible for the occurrence of chronic pain, but there is no such exact reason. The causes vary from one person to the other.
Areas Where Chronic Pain Occurs
Chronic pain may occur in any part of the body and the place where chronic pain occurs will differ from one person to the other. In fact, chronic pain can occur in different forms. Some such forms can be listed here as follows:
- Backache
- Pain in the testicles known as orchialgia
- Pain that lasts in the muscles for quite a long time
- Excessive pain in the limbs, muscles, and bone joints
- Osteoarthritis
- Chronic headaches or migraine
- Neck pain
- Neurogenic pain and pain in nerves and some parts of the nervous system.
To get rid of all these types of chronic pains, the first thing you must do is to include essential and health-beneficial food substances in your daily diet. There are different types of healthy and nutrient-rich food components that you should have in your daily diet so that you can lower the amount of chronic pain or reduce the risks the chances of developing chronic pain.
If we try to analyze the reason, we are often developing chronic pain, the conclusion that will be derived is due to inflammation. Chronic inflammation is often considered a possible reason that will cause you to develop symptoms of chronic pain. So, it is important to include food substances in your body that consists of anti-inflammatory properties. These food components when included in your daily diet will help you to lower the risks of developing inflammation in the body and as a result, you are less likely to develop disorders such as chronic pain.
Now, many people remain confused about the fact that which anti-inflammatory foods should be included in their diet. For this, some such food components can be listed here as follows:
- 1. Fruits and vegetables : Doctors, dieticians, and health care experts always advise having plenty of healthy and fresh fruits such as apples, bananas, guava, peach, pears, pineapple, and so on. Along with fruits, you should also consume plenty of green leafy vegetables in your regular diet such as kale, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and similar others that are rich in enough amounts of dietary antioxidants and vitamin K that are filled with anti-inflammatory properties, and help to lower down the chances of chronic pain.
- 2. Fish: Fish is an essential animal protein that helps you to reduce the chances of developing inflammation and chronic pain in the body. In fact, dieticians and health care experts always advise having fatty fish such as salmon and similar food substances because these types of fish are filled with essential antioxidants and they are rich in anti-inflammatory properties so that you do not suffer from chronic pain because of inflammatory conditions in your body. Apart from salmon, you can also include fatty fishes and fishes that are rich in healthy fats, such as omega- 3 fatty acids that also help to provide anti-inflammatory functions such as tuna, sardines, mackerel, and so on. But you must keep one thing in mind, there are some fatty fishes that are rich in the content of omega- 6 fatty acids. Some such fishes are catfish, tilapia, and so on. The fat content in these types of fish is quite high and might lead to the occurrence of further inflammation. So, it is better to avoid these types of fish to reduce inflammation and chronic pain.
- 3. Ginger: We all know that ginger is a plant-based product that is filled with the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant properties of plants. In fact, we find the mention of garlic and its nutritional benefits in the ancient text and even in the Ayurveda and Vedic literature. Ginger is filled with medicinal components that not only help to reduce the risks of inflammation and chronic pain in the body, but the health-beneficial properties in ginger extracts also help to cure disorders like osteoarthritis, stomach aches, and cramps during menstruation, and so on. Moreover, ginger is an over-the-counter medicinal food component because its anti-inflammatory properties such as ibuprofen can help to ease period pain and cramps.
- 4. Turmeric: Turmeric is another type of plant component that is also a rich source of plant nutrients. Turmeric extracts contain high levels of antioxidants that help to reduce inflammation in the body because of oxidative damage caused by disease-causing free radicals. This helps in lowering the chances of developing chronic pain, arthritis, and other inflammation-related disorders.
- 5. Cherries: Physicians and several health care experts often advise including cherries in the regular diet of mostly aged people and those who have chronic pain. In fact, it has been found in recent studies and experimental research that cherries are filled with rich amounts of antioxidants such as anthocyanins and essential anti-inflammatory components that are required to be taken into your body to lower inflammation and result in chronic pain. Apart from these, cherries are rich in essential vitamins such as vitamin C and chemical compounds such as polyphenols that are required to cure chronic pain-related issues such as arthritis and osteoarthritis.