We’ve explained how our treatment can seriously reduce your pain and give you a far better quality of life, however, there are ways that you can help yourself during and after the treatment to make you feel even better. Healthy eating is just one of those ways.
We probably all know in our heads that “we are what we eat”, but we probably also lead busy lives, which means it’s easy to forget. That’s a problem at the best of times and it can become an even bigger problem if we’re already dealing with medical issues and especially if we’re dealing with pain. The fact is that eating well can help improve the condition of your body, literally from the inside out.
A healthy diet helps prevent obesity
In principle, you can eat a healthy diet and still be overweight, although even then you’d at least be getting the benefit of the nutrition in your food. In practice, it’s much easier to slip into obesity if you eat a lot of “junk” food. Junk food not only contains a lot of “empty calories”, in other words, calories with no nutritional value, but it also tends to be low in fibre, protein and complex carbohydrates, so it doesn’t fill you up. What’s more, it is often high in sugar, salt and artificial ingredients such as colourings, flavourings and preservatives.
Obesity and pain
In simple terms, excess fat places a strain on the body. This can be a challenge even for healthy people. For example, a healthy obese person may find it difficult to run any distance or to climb stairs. They may not find it painful, but they will usually find that it wears them out more easily. When you’re already in pain, or susceptible to it, then the issues caused by obesity can make the pain worse. This is particularly likely if you have joint pain as the excess weight will put additional strain on your joints.
The right nutrition helps our body take care of itself
Food is fuel for the body. It doesn’t just help to keep us going. It helps the body perform vital functions such as self-repair. For example, fibre keeps our digestive system in good working order. Protein is essential for muscle strength and calcium is vital to bone health. This means that in order to maintain our physical health, we need to eat the right foods in the right proportions.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet becomes even more important if you’re dealing with pain as you will want to avoid creating further problems for your body. You particularly want to avoid creating further problems which could worsen an existing condition. For example, if your joints have already been compromised, say due to arthritis, then the last thing you want to do is risk making your bones brittle through lack of calcium.
Cutting back on alcohol, caffeine and chemicals makes life easier on the body
You don’t necessarily have to cut out alcohol and caffeine, but it is a very good idea to keep them as occasional treats. This is particularly true of alcohol as it is very high in calories and hence can contribute to obesity, especially if you’re dealing with pain and find it difficult to exercise.
If you like to socialize and see alcohol as a part of that, then try swapping “short” drinks, like wine and neat spirits for “long” drinks like spritzers and spirits with plenty of mixer. You could even try swapping long drinks like beer for even longer ones like a shandy. That way you can still have the social experience but with minimal alcohol. If at all possible, eat a proper meal before you go so you don’t start filling up your stomach with alcoholic liquid because you’re hungry.
You also want to be careful about chemical-filled food and drinks, especially energy drinks. These can be very high in sugar and even if they’re not they often contain vast quantities of caffeine as well as other miscellaneous chemicals.
Make sure you get professional help before starting any serious dietary change.
