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 contribute to a multitude of chronic diseases: cardiovascular,
gastrointestinal, lung, mental, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and more. (1)
Chiropractic Care works to lessen inflammation’s
impact on the health of our West Palm Beach
chiropractic patients experiencing issues like
back pain, headache/migraine, depression and even cognitive issues related to 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 related
to 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 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 reported. The good news is that
nutrition was described as being 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 extensive inflammation can be.
…EVEN MIGRAINE
Migraine as primary headache is projected to
impact 14.4% of people and ranked as the greatest
contributor to disability in people over 50 years of age. Migraine is studied
a lot as to what causes it but still remains somewhat of a mystery. Researchers summarized
that many factors play a role: vascular function,
trigeminovascular pathway activation, pro-inflammatory and oxidative stats may contribute to migraine pain. Studies associating migraine to the role of dietary interventions are not many, but a recent
data search found that Ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diets, and low glycemic
diets may better 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 (migraines too) may be related. The inflammatory link appeared in the published papers. Dietary interventions like supplementing
with essential fatty acids (decreasing omega-6
and increasing omega-3 which were documented to affect inflammation)
were discussed as helpful. (5) Chiropractic Care
understands the power diet and nutrition may have in disease processes
like migraine, back pain, depression, and cognition.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET
Chiropractic Care 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 handle this kind of diet!
CONTACT Chiropractic Care
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 work and how
chiropractic care and the Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management may be
beneficial.
Make your next West Palm Beach
chiropractic appointment with Chiropractic Care. If inflammation has overstayed its good and normal welcome, let’s talk about taking some steps toward a better
anti-inflammatory diet.