Why is there a food pain connection?

Because science says so.

- - -

That is really the bottom line. It does not mean that food causes pain. . . in everyone. It might in some people. However, food can aggravate pain in anyone. The trick is in finding out which foods are problematic for you. Science is pointing toward inflammation as a component of most all diseases and conditions. So, we should pay attention.

• A food allergy can set off an inflammatory reaction.
• A food reaction can set off an inflammatory reaction.
• But, a food reaction in itself is not an inflammatory reaction.

An inflammatory reaction means the immune system is involved. There are many food reactions that do not involve the immune system. Inflammation is not an infection (germ invasion). With inflammation there is some sort of irritating stimulation. The increased blood flow (inflammation) is a response to the irritation. That increased blood flow brings a lot more than just red blood cells. White blood cells come along and endocrine hormones. The inflammation is supposed to be a measured response but the body most always overestimates the stress and sets the inflammation quite high. After all that there are many scenarios that can unfold.

- - -

So, Allergies are different than food reactions because food reactions do not necessarily have to have an inflammatory base. For instance, taking in a concentrated carbohydrate like a sweet beverage on an empty stomach, may set off a nausea reaction especially if one is already under the weather a bit so to speak. That nausea is not an inflammation, it is just a reaction to not enough acid in the stomach. Normally proteins start the acid production in a meal. If you take in a sweet beverage you may not get acid production enough to digest the beverage and so the body says uh uh, don’t do this. That nausea is your body talking to you. If you ignore the conversation, then you do so at your own risk. Unfortunately, many people shorten their life and create a lot of suffering for themselves by ignoring their body-talk.

Yes, there is a fairly simple, and inexpensive, solution. We will leave that up to you to figure out as it is not very difficult but it does fall into the category of a secret.

- - -

The six hours of nutrition training that medical doctors get is completely inadequate for them to be competent in nutrition advice and for sure, they will not have training in the FoodPainConnection or even a cursory mention. If you take six hours of a dance lesson you will learn some very basic moves. If you don’t practice them at a dance then you lose them. They fall out of your memory. Medical doctors, and medical schools, do not prioritize nutrition. Nutrition hours are generally the first hours a medical student will cut out when they need some extra sleep time so, we do not really know how many real hours of nutrition a medical student has received. The entire concept of nutrition is lost in the learning maze that medical schools consider priorities for doctors to know. Don’t necessarily hold that against medical doctors, just be very wary of any nutrition advice they might give. Even following the Canada food guide can be problematic because that food pyramid is upside down, Bass Acword so to speak. Let’s not get into all that here and now. The take home is that food has a place to play in pain and so, should have some consideration.

As clinicians we have a problem with asking patients to self-help at home. Most people are not efficient enough at directing themselves with the science that says they should be doing this and they should not be doing that. We need a new model of Wellness that helps measure people at the self-help end of the scale and then offers them effective help to improve their numbers. Wellness Risk Management is such a model.

Return to Home Page