Foods That Fight Pain

by Neal Barnard, M.D.

We all suffer pain from time to time, and for some of us that pain
has become a recurring, and sometimes constant, presence in our
lives. I would like to offer you an approach to pain that is
different -- and perhaps more powerful -- than anything you have ever
tried. It is based on the premise that foods have medicinal value, a
notion which has long been accepted in the medical
traditions of China, India, Native America, and other cultures around
the world, and is now being confirmed by the latest Western medical
research.
Foods can fight pain. I want to establish something important: There
is nothing speculative or far-out about the premise that foods can
fight pain.
On the contrary. The ideas presented in my book, Foods That Fight
Pain, are drawn from a wealth of new research from prestigious
medical centers around the world.

Years ago, findings showing that foods work against pain, even pain
in its most severe forms, emerged as tentative and sometimes
controversial theories.
Physicians and scientists then rigorously investigated these concepts
in human research volunteers. Today, after years of testing,
discarding, and refining, we arrived at a revolutionary way of
thinking about pain. Research studies have given us the scientific
basis, not only for why foods work this magic, but also how to put it
to use.

Nutrients work against pain in four ways. They can reduce damage at
the site of injury, cool your body's inflammatory response, provide
analgesia on pain nerves themselves, and even work within the brain
to reduce pain sensitivity.

The most important approach for you depends on the kind of pain you
have. If you have arthritis, your goal is to stop the joint damage
along with the pain.
If you have cancer pain or chest pain, you can choose foods to affect
the disease process itself. If you have shingles, diabetic nerve
pains, or carpal tunnel syndrome, you need to fix a problem within
the nerves. If you have a chronic backache, headaches, abdominal
pain, or cramps, you just want the pain to disappear. Specific foods
can help with all of these.
Different Foods for Different Kinds of Pain
Research studies have revealed special effects of certain foods and
nutrients.
Rice or peppermint oil, for example, can soothe your digestive tract.
Ginger and the herb feverfew can prevent migraines, and coffee
sometimes cures them.
Natural plant oils can reduce arthritis pain. Cranberry juice can
fight the pain of bladder infections. Vitamin B6 can even increase
your pain resistance, to name just a few.

Whether we are talking about back pain, migraines, cancer pain, or
anything else, there are three basic principles to using foods to
fight pain.

Choose pain-safe foods. In headaches, joint pains, and digestive
pains, for example, the key is not so much in adding new foods as in
finding out which foods have caused your pain and avoiding them,
while building your meals from foods that virtually never cause
symptoms for anyone.

In the Lancet of October 12, 1991, arthritis researchers announced
the results of a carefully controlled study that tested how avoiding
certain foods could reduce inflammation. Often the culprits were as
seemingly innocent as a glass of milk, a tomato, wheat bread, or
eggs. By avoiding specific foods, many patients improved
dramatically: pain diminished or went away, and joint
stiffness was no longer the routine morning misery. The same benefit
has been seen for migraines. While there are also benefits to be
gained from certain supplements, particularly natural
anti-inflammatory plant oils, identifying your own sensitivities is
an enormously important first step.

Sugar may affect pain, at least in certain circumstances. Researchers
at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis tested
its effects on a group of young men. They attached a clip to the web
of skin between their fingers, and wired the clip to an electrical
stimulator. They gradually
increased the voltage, and asked the men to say when they felt any
pain and at what point they found it intolerable. As the researchers
then infused a dose of sugar, the volunteers found that they could
feel the pain sooner and felt it more intensely. The researchers then
tested diabetics, who tend to have more
sugar in their blood than other people, and found that they too were
more sensitive to pain than other people.

What would it mean if some part of your diet, whether it was sugar or
anything else, were to cause pain to hurt just a bit extra, without
your realizing what was causing this problem? In fact, there are many
foods that trigger pain and aggravate inflammation. Choosing
pain-safe foods is as important as
bringing the special healing foods in.

Add soothing foods that ease your pain. Foods that improve blood flow
are of obvious importance in angina, back pain, and leg pains. Foods
that relieve inflammation help your joints to cool down. Other foods
balance hormones and will come to your rescue if you have menstrual
pain, endometriosis, fibroids, or breast pain. Hormone-adjusting
foods have also been the subject of
a considerable amount of research in cancer, as we will see.

Use supplements if you need them. I encourage you to explore the
benefits of herbs, extracts, and vitamins that can treat painful
conditions. Some have been in use for a very long time and have been
tested in good research studies. Do this under your doctor's care, so
that a nutritional approach can be integrated with other medical
measures as needed, and so that you have a solid diagnosis.

Why Didn't My Doctor Tell Me?
Unfortunately, your doctor is not likely to tell you -- and may well
not know -- most of what you will read in my book. In treating pain,
many doctors rely on a very restricted range of treatments, while
vital research showing what is actually causing the problem and how
to correct it very often gathers dust in
medical libraries.

The fact is, when a shiny nugget of potentially life-saving
information appears in a medical journal, very few doctors will ever
even see it. For even the most conscientious doctors, it is a
challenge to keep up with more than a few of the thousands of
journals that appear every month, even though the very answers we
are seeking might be found there. Only a handful of these journals
ever publicize their findings in the popular press. The vital
information they hold is simply buried in medical archives.

Of course, it is a very different story when a research study favors
the use of a new drug. Then the drug company will hire a public
relations firm, pay for massive mailings to physicians, and advertise
in medical journals.
The company will sponsor medical conferences that highlight the role
of the drug and pay speakers to discuss it. They are skilled at
getting a busy doctor's attention, motivated by millions of dollars
in profits. But no industry makes money if you stop eating a food
that causes your migraines. No surgical supply
company makes a cent if you open your arteries naturally through diet
and lifestyle. A pharmaceutical company's bottom line does not
improve if you use natural anti-inflammatory foods instead of
expensive drugs. And without the PR machinery paid for by industry,
some of the most important findings never make their way onto a
doctor's desk. Patients with arthritis, migraines,
menstrual cramps, or even cancer who ask their doctors what they
should be eating to regain their health get no answers, simply
because no one has brought new information to the doctor's attention.

In spite of the economic forces that often slow progress, we have
every reason to be optimistic about the future of medicine. More and
more doctors are integrating nutrition into their practices, and
scientific journals are responding with reports on its efficacy.
Studies in leading allergy journals are showing the links between
migraines and food sensitivities, the Journal of
Rheumatology has published a series of reports on how foods affect
the joints, The Lancet is reporting the new approaches to back pain
and heart disease, and the Journal of the American Medical
Association confirms the value of something as simple as cranberry
juice for bladder infections.

Use What Works
When it comes to our health, we simply want what works. Very often
that means a change in diet, since every hormone, neurotransmitter,
and blood cell in your body needs nutrients in order to do its job.
On the other hand, sometimes the best choice is a prescription. Most
ulcers, for example, are caused by a
bacterial infection, and all the "ulcer diets" in the world are not
nearly as effective as two weeks of antibiotics.

Please use this information in consultation with your doctor. If you
have pain, you need a diagnosis. No matter what treatment you are
choosing, your doctor can clarify your other treatment options,
monitor your progress, look out for any adverse effects, and can be
educated by you as your symptoms improve.

However, this does not mean surrendering your good judgment. It
always pays to get a second opinion -- or a third, if necessary -- if
there is any doubt about the right treatment for your condition.

Neal Barnard, M.D., is president of the Physicians' Committee for
Responsible Medicine and editor-in-chief of Good Medicine. He is an
active clinical researcher and author of numerous scientific
publications. Dr. Barnard travels widely giving lectures on nutrition
and health. Excerpted from Foods That Fight
Pain by Neal Barnard, M.D.

Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain
Relief by Neal Barnard, M.D
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609804367/vitalessentia-20