Managing Pain: Inflammatory Foods That Worsen Pain
When you’re in pain, it’s easy to look for an answer everywhere except your diet. However, when it comes to fibromyalgia or any type of phantom pain, your dietary choices must be placed under a microscope.
We’d all like a miracle pill that can fix our problems but unfortunately one does not exist. Treating chronic pain, like most other disorders, involves a commitment to change.
And that starts with the food you eat.
Common Foods that Can Cause Inflammation and Increased Pain
Patients who experience chronic pain may want to consider a food sensitivity test before undergoing an elimination diet. This test can help show you what foods you’re sensitive to.
Most people are not aware of the foods their body is sensitive to. Food sensitivity or intolerance is not like an allergic reaction where it immediately becomes apparent you’ve consumed something your body doesn’t like. In the case of sensitivity, you can experience symptoms like phantom pain, chronic fatigue, and irritability. There’s a lot of foods you could be sensitive to, but the most common include:
- Shellfish
- Eggs
- Dairy
- >Gluten
- Fish
- Soy
- Nuts
And some foods are just inherently inflammatory in nature. Processed foods with oxidized fats can promote an inflammatory response in your body which can lead to pain, especially for those suffering from fibromyalgia. Sugar and excessive carbs can spike your insulin levels which are also associated with pain.
Getting to the Bottom of Your Pain
Whether you’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or you’re experiencing chronic pain, it may seem like no one understands how you feel. And unfortunately, this is often the case with modern doctors. In addition to finding a doctor who helps with pain, consider paying special attention to the foods you eat. It may also be helpful to create a “pain diary” that records your flare ups. This can help you and your chronic pain specialist with pinpointing the cause of your pain.
