Is My Diet Helping or Hurting My Joint Pain?
Internal inflammation has the potential to create havoc with your health. You may already be seeing a physical therapist for inflammation-related health issues, such as arthritis. Whether you have a specific diagnosis or generalized pain in your back and joints, ProResults Physical Therapy in San Marcos can help! Your physical therapist may also suggest an anti-inflammatory diet for additional pain relief.
What kind of foods should you avoid?
One of the quickest ways to reverse nutrition-based inflammation is to stop eating the foods most associated with it. Unfortunately, for many people, these foods tend to be convenience items. That means that you may need to readjust how you think about preparing meals and snacks in your quest for pain relief.
There are few surprises in the types of foods that make inflammation worse. You probably already know to stay away from foods that are bad for your heart and your waistline. So whether your guilty pleasures are savory or sweet, begin to ease them out of your meal plans.
Packaged meals and junk food snacks are often full of trans fat, sugar and preservatives. In addition, avoid fatty and fried foods, red meat, pastries and donuts, white breads, white rice and semolina pasta. If you’re at all sensitive to inflammatory foods, these are among the worst when it comes to bringing on painful flare-ups.
How do you replace inflammatory foods?
Many “bad guys” in the food world have easy alternatives. Substitute white bread with whole-grain bread, white rice with brown rice, and semolina pasta with wheat or garbanzo pasta. In place of hamburger, chops and meatloaf, focus on fish, chicken and veggie “steaks.”
Preparation is also an important component of an anti-inflammatory diet. Avoid frying foods or ordering fried foods when eating out. Instead, opt for the same ingredients that have been grilled, roasted or steamed. Rather than topping main courses and side dishes with creamy sauces and dressings, choose healthier alternatives. Topping options for various salads, side dishes and main courses include vinaigrette, Greek yogurt, tomato salsa, fruit salsa, lemon juice and herbal olive oil.
What are the best anti-inflammatory foods?
Along with healthy substitutions of inflammatory foods, look for nutritional choices you can make that directly address internal swelling, Make sure to add these to your meal plans each week, and assess whether your health issues seem to ease in response.
Certain anti-inflammatory herbs, spices and supplements may provide some pain relief. Multivitamins and fish oil pills are among the supplements noted for their anti-inflammatory properties. Good herbal supplement choices include boswellia, green tea, cat’s claw and devil’s claw. Other non-food items are turmeric and fresh or powdered ginger for seasoning and green tea as a soothing beverage. (Enjoy green tea hot or chilled.)
The “rainbow” of fruits and vegetables that you’ve heard of for heart health and boosted immunity may also fight inflammation. Eat more colorful fruits like berries and mangos. Vegetables that range from dark green (kale and spinach) to orange (carrots and sweet potatoes) to red/purple (beets and tomatoes) to yellow (sweet peppers and corn) are also great choices.
Along with fish oil pills for omega-3 inflammation protection, add more actual fish to your diet. The types highest in Omega-3 fats are, not surprisingly, fatty fish. Salmon, herring, sardines, trout, mackerel and tuna all may provide some pain relief when inflammation is the culprit.
Long-term pain relief can rarely be achieved with diet alone. As important as nutrition is, it’s also crucial to consult your doctor about other ways to gain flexibility and reduce pain. Physical therapy can help to work with your dietary changes. Together, these changes address the inflammation that’s causing stiffness and discomfort.
CLICK HERE to schedule your complimentary discovery visit or telephone consultation today to see if ProResults Physical Therapy can help you get back to the active, on-the-go lifestyle you deserve!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Garrett Desrosiers PT, DPT
Garrett is the CEO and Co-Owner of ProResults Physical Therapy Inc. in San Marcos, CA (North San Diego County). Garrett has been helping on-the-go active adults and athletes across the south western United States return to a pain-free active lifestyle without medications, injections, surgery or making unnecessary trips to the physician’s office since 2015. He graduated in 2013 with his Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology then went on to receive his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Husson University in 2015. After working for three years in multiple fast paced outpatient orthopedic physical therapy clinics, Garrett quickly realized he was not able to provide the elite quality care he knew his clients deserved. Garrett felt clients were more than just a number or diagnosis and that in order to provide the time, empathy, passion, and high-quality treatment they deserved, starting his own private practice was the only option. Garrett is committed to helping every client make the best decision in regard to their health. His unique, personalized, eclectic, multifaceted approach takes those individuals who have decreased their activities or stopped being active all together to a real solution.