Inflammation is good and normal…in certain
circumstances like defending a part of the body that is injured or infected.
Inflammation is bad...like when it hangs
around 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)
The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR works to reduce inflammation’s
influence on the health of our Colorado Springs
chiropractic patients dealing 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 existing
medical studies regarding the role of inflammation and
depression discovered that a pro-inflammatory diet was related
to a higher risk of depression symptoms
and diagnosis compared to 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 described that those who said they followed a highest inflammatory diet had higher risk of saying they have
low back pain, too. (3) Connections between diet, nutrition and Alzheimer’s
disease have been described. The good news is that
nutrition was described as being able to modulate
the immune system and even modify 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 projected to
affect 14.4% of people and rated as the biggest
contributor to disability in people over 50 years of age. Migraine is studied
a lot as to what its mechanism is but still remains a bit of a mystery. Researchers summarized
that many factors play a role: vascular function,
trigeminovascular pathway activation, pro-inflammatory and oxidative stats may add
to migraine pain. Studies associating migraine 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 (including
migraines) may be linked. The inflammatory link came
out in the published papers. Dietary interventions like the intake of essential fatty acids (reducing omega-6
and increasing omega-3 which were documented to affect inflammation)
were described as beneficial. (5) The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR
understands the power diet and nutrition may have in disease processes
like migraine, back pain, depression, and cognition.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET
The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR also knows many of us don’t like
the word diet. It often brings to mind what we can’t
have. A good diet allows a lot of good food though. Basic guidelines
for an anti-inflammatory diet design include eating
lean meat, eggs, fish, fruit,
legumes, coffee, tea, vegetables, honey 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 confident our
chiropractic patients can manage this kind of diet!
CONTACT The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox on the Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he explains how inflammation and the immune system interact and how
chiropractic care and the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may well help.
Schedule your next Colorado Springs
chiropractic visit with The Chiropractic TRUhealthDR. If inflammation has overstayed its good and normal welcome, let’s set
up a path toward a better
anti-inflammatory diet.