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 hangs
around too long. Inflammation is a cellular level event and may be a
factor in a multitude of chronic diseases: cardiovascular,
gastrointestinal, lung, mental, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and more. (1)
Vancouver Disc Centers works to reduce inflammation’s
influence on the health of our Vancouver
chiropractic patients experiencing issues like
back pain, headache/migraine, depression and even cognitive issues associated
with Alzheimer’s. An anti-inflammatory diet plays a
role in this effort.
INFLAMMATION LINKED TO BACK PAIN, DEPRESSION, ALZHEIMER’S…
A systematic review and meta-analysis of current
medical studies concerning the role of inflammation and
depression reported that a pro-inflammatory diet was associated with a greater risk of depression symptoms
and diagnosis contrasted with those who chose an
anti-inflammatory diet. (2) Another study recommended a link
between low back pain and pro-inflammatory diets as well. A study of 7346
people revealed that those who said they followed a highest inflammatory diet had higher risk of saying they have
low back pain, too. (3) Links between diet, nutrition and Alzheimer’s
disease have been reported. The good news is that
nutrition was written to be able to regulate
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 rated as the greatest
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 a bit of a mystery. Researchers summarized
that many factors are involved: vascular function,
trigeminovascular pathway activation, pro-inflammatory and oxidative stats may impact migraine pain. Studies related
to the role of dietary interventions are few, but a recent
data search found that Ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diets, and low glycemic
diets may better mitochondrial function and energy metabolism, decrease
CGRP (calcitonin gene related peptide) level, balance serotonin,
and suppress neuroinflammation. Through inflammation and
irregular hypothalamic function, obesity and headaches (migraines too) may be linked. The inflammatory link emerged in the published papers. Dietary interventions like the intake of essential fatty acids (decreasing omega-6
and increasing omega-3 which were documented to affect inflammation)
were described as beneficial. (5) Vancouver Disc Centers
understands the power diet and nutrition may have in disease processes
like migraine, back pain, depression, and cognition.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET
Vancouver Disc Centers also knows many of us don’t like
the word diet. It often reminds us of things what we can’t
eat. A good diet allows a lot of good food though. Basic guidelines
for an anti-inflammatory diet design incorporate eating
eggs, coffee, tea, fish, lean meat, legumes, vegetables, honey and plain dairy
like milk, yogurt, hard cheeses, kefir with limited consumption 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 Vancouver Disc Centers
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on the Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes how inflammation and the immune system work and how
chiropractic care and the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may well help.
Make your next Vancouver
chiropractic visit with Vancouver Disc Centers. If inflammation has hung
around past its good and normal welcome, we can talk about taking some steps toward a better
anti-inflammatory diet.