Spine and Back Pain and Depression and Cognition Helped by Anti-Inflammatory Diet
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 multitude of chronic diseases: cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, lung, mental, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and more. (1) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre works to decrease inflammation’s impact on the health of our Toronto chiropractic patients experiencing 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 current medical studies regarding the role of inflammation and depression discovered that a pro-inflammatory diet was associated with a bigger risk of depression symptoms and diagnosis contrasted with those who chose an anti-inflammatory diet. (2) Another study recommended a connection 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 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 described as being able to control the immune system and even alter the neuroinflammatory processes related to Alzheimer’s and age-related cognition issues. (4) These descriptions demonstrate just how far-reaching inflammation can be.
…EVEN MIGRAINE
Migraine as primary headache is estimated 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 great deal as to what its mechanism is but still remains somewhat of a mystery. Researchers summarized that many factors are involved: vascular function, trigeminovascular pathway activation, pro-inflammatory and oxidative stats may contribute to migraine pain. Studies related to the role of dietary interventions are not many, but a newer data search found that Ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diets, and low glycemic diets may improve 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 (reducing omega-6 and increasing omega-3 which were documented to affect inflammation) were discussed as beneficial. (5) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre knows the power diet and nutrition may have in disease processes like migraine, back pain, depression, and cognition.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET
Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre also knows many of us don’t like the word diet. It often brings to mind what we can’t eat. 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, honey, vegetables 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 handle this kind of diet!
CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
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 well help.
Make your next Toronto chiropractic visit with Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre. If inflammation has overstayed its good and normal welcome, we can set up a path toward a better anti-inflammatory diet.
