For one reason or another you may suffer from joint pain or muscle soreness. This article is going to cover the 10 best pain fighting foods. Not only do these healing foods taste great but they come without the nasty side effects caused by most prescription medications
1. Ginger
Ginger reduces prostaglandin levels in the body which cause pain. It is widely used in sub continent to treat pain and inflammation. Some Indian researchers found that when people suffering muscle soreness were given ginger, the pain subsided.
2. Cherries
Muraleedharan Nair, PhD, professor of natural products and chemistry at Michigan State University, found that tart cherry extract is ten times more effective than aspirin at relieving inflammation. He advises that you consume 2 table spoons of concentrated cherry juice for reducing pain and inflammation. If you can’t get hold of the concentrated cherry juice then just eat sweet cherries as they have been found to be very effective too.
3. Berries
It has also been found that berries like blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries have the same anti-pain compound as cherries do so if you are suffering from pain eat some berries. Make sure you get organic as berries, and in particular strawberries are heavily sprayed with pesticides which are not what you want to consume.
4. Turmeric
Turmeric is an Asian spice commonly used in curries. Through extensive research it has been shown to be a more effective anti-inflammatory than steroid medications when dealing with acute inflammation. Circumin is ingredient responsible for suppressing pain and inflammation. It works in a similar way to drugs like COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors but it comes without the side effects.
5. Fish
Fish like Salmon contain Omega-3s which are digested in the body and converted into hormone-like substances that decrease inflammation and pain. Fish oil acts directly on the immune system by suppressing around 50 percent of the release of cytokines, the compounds are known to destroy joints. There have been many other studies which prove that that eating moderate amounts of fish or taking fish oil reduces pain and inflammation, particularly for arthritis sufferers.
6. Raw Walnuts and Walnut Oil
Like fish raw walnuts and walnut oil contain the same powerful Omega-3 fatty acids that fight pain and inflammation in the body. So a handful of organic raw walnuts a day will really go a long way to reducing any pain you are suffering from.
7. Flax Seeds and Flax Oil
Freshly-ground flax seeds and cold-pressed flax oil, contain plentiful amounts of fatty acids known as Omega-3s. Do not cook with flax oil otherwise it will have the opposite effect-irritating the body’s tissues and causing pain.
Moral of the story here is that when it comes to pain, eating these foods is your best bet. Forget about the artificial crap you are getting prescribed. Just eat these foods or get a supplement from a well known source. If you want to learn some cool recipes that you easily put together with these foods in them then get yourself a copy of Gourmet Nutrition. It’s absolutely brilliant!
