How an Anti Inflammatory Diet Can Relieve Pain as You Age Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic. If you suffer from chronic pain, experts say a diet makeover with a focus on vegetables can have a dramatic effect. Cleveland Clinic is a non profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy. Patients who follow strict vegan or Mediterranean diets have seen a complete turnaround in their pain symptoms, according to pain management specialist William Welches, DO. Research finds that you can eliminate many of the effects of chronic pain and side effects of medications with an antiinflammatory diet, regular exercise and stress. Inflammation is a normal response to injury or irritation, but chronic inflammation isnt a good thing. These foods may help battle inflammation. He says getting regular exercise, controlling stress and eating healthy foods all work together to reduce inflammation and chronic pain. Research shows that diet should be an integral part of a pain management program especially as patients age, says Dr. Welches.  A vegan or Mediterranean diet or healthier eating inspired by these diets can control insulin and cholesterol levels and reduce inflammation which is the pain culprit. RELATED Chronic Pain Treatment Guide. Cold Brew Coffee. Foods-with-Anti-inflammatory-properties.jpg' alt='Anti Inflammatory Diet' title='Anti Inflammatory Diet' />Painful inflammation is bodys response to toxins. Inflammation is the bodys immune response to toxins as it works to purify itself. The resulting inflammation not only causes pain in the body. Over time, it also can trigger chronic diseases, such as heart disease and strokes, diabetes, Alzheimers disease and even depression. There are many ways to treat and manage chronic pain. An antiinflammatory diet can help counteract chronic inflammation that may cause many serious diseases. The antiinflammatory diet promotes optimum health. Learn more about an antiinflammatory diet and heal your body as the foods you eat have a profound affect on how you feel. Changing your diet might reduce your pain by squashing inflammation. WebMD reveals what to eat and avoid. These healing foods attack inflammation by increasing the concentration of beneficial bacteria in your gut, turning off inflammatory genes, and decreasing levels of. Get the scoop on the antiinflammatory diet. Find out what it is, benefits, foods to avoid that cause inflammation, and foods to eat on the diet. Dr. Weils AntiInflammatory Diet follows the belief that certain foods cause or combat inflammation. The goal is optimum mental and physical health, along wtih. One of the most exciting approaches, however because it is all natural is adopting an anti inflammatory diet. The other options for pain dont always work. Many patients dont benefit from neural nerve blocks, and medication therapy often leads to undesired side effects. An anti inflammatory diet, however, often eliminates the unpleasant side effects of some medications that cause fogginess, memory loss and sleepiness. Following an anti inflammatory diet is powerful therapy for pain control with many beneficial side effects, Dr. Welches says. The anti inflammatory diet is considered an integrative approach to pain management, along with exercise, stress management, osteopathic manipulation therapy and acupuncture. A good amount of research also shows that an anti inflammatory diet can ease fibromyalgia and chronic pain symptoms. RELATED How the Mediterranean Diet May Preserve Your Brain Power. The three diet basics you need to know. Dr. Welches advocates the following three basic diet guidelines, noting that physicians should encourage all of their patients to consider them Eat the rainbow Consume eight to nine servings of vegetables each day make a couple of those servings fruit, if you like. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower are best. Restrict dairy and grains Eat dairy products in limited quantities. When choosing grains, stay away from simple carbohydrates with refined sugar. Opt for whole grains, including barley, buckwheat, oats, quinoa, brown rice, rye, spelt and wheat. Avoid red meat Eat red meat the way most of us eat turkey right now twice a year, Dr. Welches says. Have it on very special occasions, very infrequently. Instead, include fish as the meat or eat vegetarian main dishes. Chicken is neutral not harmful but not beneficial in the anti inflammatory sense. RELATED The Link Between Red Meat and Cancer What You Need to Know. Take these additional steps to enhance your results. To make your diet part of an integrative lifestyle built to reduce chronic pain and reduce or eliminate inflammation, Dr. Welches recommends these additional priorities Get down to your ideal weight weight loss on its own is anti inflammatory. Get daily exercise in the form of walking. Manage stress. It is the diet, not the individual foods, that control inflammation, he says. For a chronic pain patient who is suffering, I recommend the extreme form of the diet so that is no red meat, no flour or sugar or simple carbohydrate and no dairy, he says. Exercise is an added benefit, particularly if people are overweight. If there is any extra weight, you will need to lose it, he says. Ultimately, what you need to know is that inflammation comes from a biochemical reaction initiated by your immune system or wound healing coagulation system, Dr. Welches says. Specific foods can promote or shut down the inflammatory cycle. For instance, simple carbohydrates promote it, while vegetables shut it down. Nutrition that supports a diet rich in anti inflammatory foods is the key to anti inflammation and chronic pain management, Dr. Welches says. Although there are no magic foods, putting the right combination of foods into your diet can produce remarkable results. Anti Inflammatory Diet Tips Anti Inflammatory Foods. Courtesy of Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging, Your Online Guide to the Anti Inflammatory Diet. It is becoming increasingly clear that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many serious illnesses including heart disease, many cancers, and Alzheimers disease. We all know inflammation on the surface of the body as local redness, heat, swelling and pain. It is the cornerstone of the bodys healing response, bringing more nourishment and more immune activity to a site of injury or infection. But when inflammation persists or serves no purpose, it damages the body and causes illness. Stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition, and exposure to toxins like secondhand tobacco smoke can all contribute to such chronic inflammation, but dietary choices play a big role as well. Learning how specific foods influence the inflammatory process is the best strategy for containing it and reducing long term disease risks. Find more details on the mechanics of the inflammation process and the Anti Inflammatory Food Pyramid. The Anti Inflammatory Diet is not a diet in the popular sense it is not intended as a weight loss program although people can and do lose weight on it, nor is the Anti Inflammatory Diet an eating plan to stay on for a limited period of time. Rather, it is way of selecting and preparing anti inflammatory foods based on scientific knowledge of how they can help your body maintain optimum health. Along with influencing inflammation, this natural anti inflammatory diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids dietary fiber, and protective phytonutrients. You can also adapt your existing recipes according to these anti inflammatory diet tips Aim for variety. Include as much fresh food as possible. Minimize your consumption of processed foods and fast food. Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables. Caloric Intake. Most adults need to consume between 2,0. Women and smaller and less active people need fewer calories. Men and bigger and more active people need more calories. If you are eating the appropriate number of calories for your level of activity, your weight should not fluctuate greatly. The distribution of calories you take in should be as follows 4. Try to include carbohydrates, fat, and protein at each meal. Carbohydrates. On a 2,0. Adult men should consume between 2. The majority of this should be in the form of less refined, less processed foods with a low glycemic load. Reduce your consumption of foods made with wheat flour and sugar, especially bread and most packaged snack foods including chips and pretzels. Eat more whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat, in which the grain is intact or in a few large pieces. These are preferable to whole wheat flour products, which have roughly the same glycemic index as white flour products. Eat more beans, winter squashes, and sweet potatoes. Cook pasta al dente and eat it in moderation. Avoid products made with high fructose corn syrup. Fat. On a 2,0. 00 calorie a day diet, 6. This should be in a ratio of 1 2 1 of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated fat. Reduce your intake of saturated fat by eating less butter, cream, high fat cheese, unskinned chicken and fatty meats, and products made with palm kernel oil. Use extra virgin olive oil as a main cooking oil. If you want a neutral tasting oil, use expeller pressed, organic canola oil. Organic, high oleic, expeller pressed versions of sunflower and safflower oil are also acceptable. Avoid regular safflower and sunflower oils, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and mixed vegetable oils. Strictly avoid margarine, vegetable shortening, and all products listing them as ingredients. Strictly avoid all products made with partially hydrogenated oils of any kind. Include in your diet avocados and nuts, especially walnuts, cashews, almonds, and nut butters made from these nuts. For omega 3 fatty acids, eat salmon preferably fresh or frozen wild or canned sockeye, sardines packed in water or olive oil, herring, and black cod sablefish, butterfish omega 3 fortified eggs hemp seeds and flaxseeds preferably freshly ground or take a fish oil supplement look for products that provide both EPA and DHA, in a convenient daily dosage of two to three grams. Protein. On a 2,0. Eat less protein if you have liver or kidney problems, allergies, or autoimmune disease. Decrease your consumption of animal protein except for fish and high quality natural cheese and yogurt. Eat more vegetable protein, especially from beans in general and soybeans in particular. Become familiar with the range of whole soy foods available and find ones you like. Fiber. Try to eat 4. You can achieve this by increasing your consumption of fruit, especially berries, vegetables especially beans, and whole grains. Ready made cereals can be good fiber sources, but read labels to make sure they give you at least 4 and preferably 5 grams of bran per one ounce serving. Phytonutrients. To get maximum natural protection against age related diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease as well as against environmental toxicity, eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and mushrooms. Choose fruits and vegetables from all parts of the color spectrum, especially berries, tomatoes, orange and yellow fruits, and dark leafy greens. Choose organic produce whenever possible. Learn which conventionally grown crops are most likely to carry pesticide residues and avoid them. Eat cruciferous cabbage family vegetables regularly. Include soy foods in your diet. Drink tea instead of coffee, especially good quality white, green or oolong tea. If you drink alcohol, use red wine preferentially. Enjoy plain dark chocolate in moderation with a minimum cocoa content of 7. Vitamins and Minerals. The best way to obtain all of your daily vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients is by eating a diet high in fresh foods with an abundance of fruits and vegetables. In addition, supplement your diet with the following antioxidant cocktail Vitamin C, 2. Vitamin E. Most adults should limit their daily supplement intake of vitamin E to 1. IU in the form of mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols. Selenium, 1. 00 2. Mixed carotenoids, 1. IU daily. The antioxidants can be most conveniently taken as part of a daily multivitaminmultimineral supplement. It should contain no iron unless you are a female and having regular menstrual periods and no preformed vitamin A retinol. Take these supplements with your largest meal. Women should take supplemental calcium, preferably as calcium citrate, 5. Men should avoid supplemental calcium. Other Measures To Consider. If you are not eating oily fish at least twice a week, take supplemental fish oil, in capsule or liquid form two to three grams a day of a product containing both EPA and DHA. Look for molecularly distilled products certified to be free of heavy metals and other contaminants. Talk to your doctor about going on low dose aspirin therapy, one or two baby aspirins a day 8. If you are not regularly eating ginger and turmeric, consider taking these in supplemental form. Add coenzyme Q1. 0 Co. Q1. 0 to your daily regimen 6. If you are prone to metabolic syndrome, take alpha lipoic acid, 1. Water. Drink pure water, or drinks that are mostly water tea, very diluted fruit juice, sparkling water with lemon throughout the day. Use bottled water or get a home water purifier if your tap water tastes of chlorine or other contaminants, or if you live in an area where the water is known or suspected to be contaminated. Also, read the 1. Top Sources for the Anti Inflammatory Diet. Watch Dr. Weil discuss How to Eat The Anti Inflammatory Diet. Related Resources Start your free trial of Dr. Weil on Healthy Aging for more in depth information on the anti inflammatory diet, including over 3.