Oh, The Food That We Eat: Helpful/Harmful

I see many patients with all sorts of diagnosis's that involve inflamed tissue, tendons, muscles and joints. You can have an acute injury where there will be inflammation in the area, but this type actually is beneficial in helping the body fight the injury or illness and protects us from harm. In most cases, it is a necessary part of healing. However, there are some individuals, that either have a chronic inflammation from the injury or from various diseases or auto immune disorders that may cause an increase in inflammation in the body, affecting the muscles, tendons, joints and other tissues in the body. On top of this, the foods we eat, also can contribute to enhancing the inflammatory reaction or process, causing all sorts of issues.

I have noticed with some of my patients, that they may be improving in their pain and function, in their hands or arm, like wrist or elbow tendonitis, but then they come in the next day with increased symptoms, even though they claim they physically did not over use their hand. I will ask them, however, what they might have eaten the day before and usually their comment will be "what does that have to do with anything?" I tell them, it could be a lot.

A great example of this is a case of a patient I had many years ago who had elbow tendonitis. After 3-4 weeks of therapy and the patient being very careful of how she used her right arm, as well as following her home exercise program and pain and swelling management, her pain level dropped to a 0 at rest and no more than a 1-2 with use. She was ready to start some strengthening. Then she came in 2 days later and her pain was a 5-7 and there was quite a bit of swelling around her elbow as well as her hand. She said she did nothing all weekend and was feeling really good until later the night before she came in. I asked her what she had done during the day that might have irritated her symptoms. She said all she did was go to a friends party where they had all her favorite foods. It was a shellfish party with crab, shrimp, oysters, clams and mussels. All I could say was UGH!!!!!!! Shellfish can be fairly toxic to many people and does seem to increase inflammation. It can be very yummy but also very harmful at the same time. Shellfish are bottom dwellers in the ocean and they feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton as well as the toxic waste that falls to the bottom of the ocean. They are also high in Cholesterol. I told her that what probably caused the flare up was a negative chemical reaction from the shellfish, causing the increase inflammation and swelling, which was the "weakest" part of her body at that time. Especially because she ate so much of it as well. It took an additional 3 weeks to get her back to the 0 resting pain. I also see this reaction with my patients who have arthritis in their hands.

I point out to all my patients, whether their diagnosis is tendonitis, arthritis, trigger fingers, carpal tunnel or even other traumatic injuries like fractures..... If they notice an increase of pain and swelling, be a SLEUTH and see if the increase might be from something they ate. Be mindful of the prepackaged and can foods that might have ingredients that might cause inflammation to increase. Have you read a label recently????? My goodness.....the things that go into our food is unbelievable... some of it I can't even pronounce. And look at how much sugar and sodium is in a product.... why do we need so much of these two items. I usually advised patients to start by eliminating the hardest things we all love....refined sugar, gluten and milk products, along with anything with the word "WHITE" in it... like white flour, white rice, white potato, etc... I tell people to try and eliminate these foods out of their diet for 1-2 weeks and then slowly bring something back... like stop eating cheese made from animals, switch to non dairy cheese, and then 2-3 weeks later try a little and see if their body reacts to it. (same thing with Yogurt). As they slowly bring back some foods, if they reach to it, then they either need to avoid eating it or know that if they do, they will have a reaction.

Here is a nice chart that does categorize the Foods to minimize and the foods that are better for you. You can also look up Alkaline vs Acidic foods. the more Alkaline foods you eat the better. https://total-wellness.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Alkalising-Food-Chart.pdf

This article is also good to check out as well. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation

As they say... "FOOD FOR THOUGHT"...... The right Food can be the medicine you need for all sorts of issues...... but on the other hand, the wrong foods can be your enemy.

Oh and Happy 4th of July everyone..... favorite holiday to eat.... but some of those yummy fun foods probably will play havoc with us tomorrow.