What Can Help Pain and Inflammation?

Millions of Americans suffer from moderate to severe chronic joint pain. While there are many causes, foods and chemicals can act as triggers to bring on pain. Pain can be your body’s response to inflammation. To protect itself against foreign and chemical substances, your immune system secretes its own defense agents. This response can be temporary or become chronic, causing swelling, pain and reduced mobility.

The good news it that following some basic guidelines can help your body combat inflammation.

First, reduce foods that can contribute to inflammation and slow down the body’s ability for optimal detoxification. Keeping sugar, fried foods, processed and chemically-treated foods and alcohol to a minimum can lighten your body’s overall “load” and decrease inflammation.

Second, restore your body with foods that can enhance the body’s inherent metabolic processes. The following vegetables from specific categories are especially helpful to the liver:

-Dark Leafy Greens (arugula, cilantro, basil, chard, kale)

-Onions (scallions, shallots, pearl onions, red/white/yellow onions)

-Other root vegetables (beets, carrots, parsnips, burdock, Jerusalem artichokes, radish, celeriac, ginger)

The current darling of root vegetables is turmeric which contains curcumin, shown in multiple studies to be very effective at reducing inflammation and relieving pain. Curcumin’s added benefit is cellular repair and the reduction of oxidative stress. Curcumin has a powerful ability to heal and repair bodily tissues.

Consult your naturopathic physician to see what supplements can be most effective and appropriate for your specific condition. It is important to seek the advice of an expert to make sure you are taking the correct therapeutic dose and that there are no drug/nutrient interactions with what you may be already taking. Naturopathic physicians have extensive training in this area and can recommend high-grade products and explain different forms and delivery methods. All of these factors make a difference in your therapeutic outcome.

To further help with pain relief, seek treatment such as acupuncture. Acupuncture can produce an analgesic effect by releasing endorphins, the body's natural pain-killing chemicals. Acupuncture is a safe, comfortable and effective method to treat pain and the underlying causes of it