Chronic inflammation is a common underlying factor in many painful conditions, from arthritis to fibromyalgia to persistent back pain. While medication can play an important role in pain management, growing evidence suggests that dietary changes can significantly influence inflammation levels and pain perception.
Understanding Inflammation: Friend and Foe
Acute vs. Chronic Inflammation
Inflammation is a natural and necessary immune response that helps your body heal. However, this process can become problematic when it persists longer than necessary:
- Acute inflammation is your body's immediate, protective response to injury or infection. It's characterized by redness, heat, swelling, and pain that subsides as healing occurs.
- Chronic inflammation is a persistent, low-grade inflammatory response that can continue for months or years. It often has no obvious external signs but can cause ongoing tissue damage and pain.
How Food Influences Inflammation
The foods you eat can either promote or reduce inflammatory processes through several mechanisms:
- Providing antioxidants that neutralize inflammatory free radicals
- Influencing the composition of your gut microbiome, which plays a key role in immune function
- Affecting the production of inflammatory or anti-inflammatory compounds
- Modulating gene expression related to inflammation
- Altering hormone levels that influence pain and inflammation
