Virtual Medical Centre

Pain & Nutrition

"Your medicine shall be your food and your food shall be your medicine." - Hippocrates. There is a strong relationship between pain and nutrition. Nutrition is defined as the processes by which an animal or plant takes in and utilizes food substances. Essential nutrients include; protein, carbohydrate and fat in varying amounts, as well as electrolytes. Normally, 85% of daily energy use is from fat and carbohydrates and 15% from protein. In humans, nutrition is mainly achieved through the process of putting foods into our mouths, chewing and swallowing it. Ongoing pain is associated with major stress on both the mind and the body. Recent studies have shown that pain is related to a disturbance of functions within our cells. Areas of importance include; omega 3 essential fatty acids and antioxidants. Glucosamine and/or chondroitin in the management of osteoarthritis is another area of interest. Excessive body weight can also worsen some types of persistent pain.

Good nutrition is important to help us feel our best and maintain our health. However, our lifestyles may be quite hectic and fast paced, leaving us little time to concentrate on eating well. By spending a bit of time to prepare proper food and eat healthily, we can help minimise any pain directly, or indirectly through methods such as weight loss.

Pain Is Related to Nutrition

Medical Conditions: Pain is associated with some medical conditions and diseases, which can interfere with nutrition by:

• physical changes
• changes in mood, with a decrease in appetite and
• metabolic changes in the other processes.

This can result in an inadequate intake of healthy foods and produce malnutrition. In these circumstances, it is very important to provide good pain relief and deal with the changes produced by feeling unwell and being in pain. Obesity: This occurs when there is an imbalance in nutrition and the total amount of calories that are consumed exceed the total that we use up through metabolic processes (such as exercising, sweating and breathing). Excess weight puts increased strain on our joints and spine. This can aggravate many painful conditions, such as arthritis and lower back pain. Loss of excessive weight has been proven to reduce pain and improve joint function in knee osteoarthritis.

Components of the Diet Linked to Pain

Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids There are three main types of fats;

1. Saturated fatty acids: This type of fat is found in foods such as butter and beef fat.
2. Monounsaturated fatty acids: This is found mainly in chicken fat and vegetable oils such as olive, canola and peanut oil.
3. Polyunsaturated fatty acids: This group includes omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids (EFA's).There are high levels found in fish oil, vegetable and nut oils. - An omega 6 EFA is Linoleic acid. This is found mainly in corn, soy, canola, safflower and sunflower oils. - An omega 3 EFA is Alpha linolenic acid . It is present in high levels in walnut oil and fish oils. Alpha linolenic acid can be converted into eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoeic acid (DHA).

Role of omega 3 EFA's in pain

Omega-3 fatty acids are called essential fatty acids, which means that they are essential to human health but cannot be manufactured by the body. Therefore, omega-3 fatty acids must be obtained from our diets. To explain the relationship between pain and these fatty acids, both omega 3 and omega 6 EFA's are taken up into the membrane that surrounds each individual cell. The structure of this cell membrane then influences the metabolic function of the cell itself. It is important to maintain an appropriate balance of omega-3 and omega-6 in the diet as these two substances work together to maintain pain pathways and promote health. Omega 6 EFA's drive the cell towards more inflammatory and pain promoting pathways. Omega 3 EFA's reduce inflammation and help prevent diseases affecting our hearts and joints, like arthritis. A healthy diet should consist of approximately one to four times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have demonstrated clinical benefit from omega 3 EFA supplementation in conditions such as; osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain. There is also ongoing research about the benefits of supplementation in other inflammatory diseases such as Crohn's disease, asthma and psoriasis. Our risk of coronary artery disease is decreased, due to improved lipid profiles and diminished clotting tendency.