Inflammation is good and normal…in certain
circumstances like defending a part of the body that is injured or infected.
Inflammation is detrimental...like when it persists too long. Inflammation is a cellular level event and may contribute to a variety of chronic diseases: cardiovascular,
gastrointestinal, lung, mental, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and more. (1)
Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre strives to lessen inflammation’s
influence 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 plays 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 reported 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) Links between diet, nutrition and Alzheimer’s
disease have been published. The good news is that
nutrition was described as being able to modulate
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 lot as to what its mechanism is but still remains 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 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, stabilize serotonin,
and suppress neuroinflammation. Via inflammation and
irregular hypothalamic function, obesity and headaches (including
migraines) 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 helpful. (5) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre
understands 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 reminds us of things 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, honey, vegetables and plain dairy
like milk, yogurt, hard cheeses, kefir with limited consumption of
red meat and other dairy and sugar while avoiding canned/processed
food, sweetened drinks, and alcohol. (6) We are sure our
chiropractic patients can manage 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.
Schedule your next Toronto
chiropractic appointment with Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre. If inflammation has overstayed its good and normal welcome, we can set
up a path toward a more beneficial
anti-inflammatory diet.