Spine and Back Pain and Depression and Cognition Helped by Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Inflammation is good and normal…in certain circumstances like defending a part of the body that is injured or infected. Inflammation is damaging...like when it persists too long. Inflammation is a cellular level event and may be a factor in a variety of chronic diseases: cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, lung, mental, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and more. (1) Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers strives to decrease inflammation’s effect on the health of our Baton Rouge chiropractic patients suffering with issues like back pain, headache/migraine, depression and even cognitive issues associated with Alzheimer’s. An anti-inflammatory diet has a role in this effort.
INFLAMMATION LINKED TO BACK PAIN, DEPRESSION, ALZHEIMER’S…
A systematic review and meta-analysis of current medical studies regarding the role of inflammation and depression reported that a pro-inflammatory diet was related to a greater risk of depression symptoms and diagnosis compared to those who ate an anti-inflammatory diet. (2) Another study recommended a connection between low back pain and pro-inflammatory diets as well. A study of 7346 people described that those reporting the highest inflammatory diet had higher risk of reporting low back pain, too. (3) Links between diet, nutrition and Alzheimer’s disease have been described. The good news is that nutrition was described as being able to control the immune system and even alter the neuroinflammatory processes related to Alzheimer’s and age-related cognition issues. (4) These descriptions show just how far-reaching inflammation can be.
…EVEN MIGRAINE
Migraine as primary headache is estimated to affect 14.4% of people and ranked as the largest contributor to disability in people over 50 years of age. Migraine is examined a great deal as to what its mechanism is but still continues to be somewhat of a mystery. Researchers summarized that many factors are involved: vascular function, trigeminovascular pathway activation, pro-inflammatory and oxidative stats may add to migraine pain. Studies related to the role of dietary interventions are not many, but a newer data search found that Ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diets, and low glycemic diets may improve mitochondrial function and energy metabolism, reduce CGRP (calcitonin gene related peptide) level, stabilize serotonin, and suppress neuroinflammation. Via inflammation and irregular hypothalamic function, obesity and headaches (including migraines) may be linked. The inflammatory link appeared in the published papers. Dietary interventions like the intake of essential fatty acids (reducing omega-6 and boosting omega-3 which were documented to affect inflammation) were described as helpful. (5) Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers knows the power diet and nutrition may have in disease processes like migraine, back pain, depression, and cognition.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET
Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers also knows many of us don’t like the word diet. It often reminds us of things what we can’t have. A good diet allows a lot of good food though. Basic guidelines for an anti-inflammatory diet design consist of eating lean meat, eggs, fish, fruit, legumes, coffee, tea, honey, vegetables and plain dairy like milk, yogurt, hard cheeses, kefir with limited intake of red meat and other dairy and sugar while staying away from canned/processed food, sweetened drinks, and alcohol. (6) We are sure our chiropractic patients can manage this kind of diet!
CONTACT Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers
Listen to the PODCAST with Dr. James Cox on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he shares how inflammation and the immune system interact and how chiropractic care and the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may be beneficial.
Make your next Baton Rouge chiropractic visit with Medical Spine and Sports Injury and Rehab Centers. If inflammation has overstayed its good and normal welcome, let’s set up a path toward a better anti-inflammatory diet.
