Herniated disc diet - Anti inflammatory foods
I’ve been planning on writing this post for a while. But getting the information on foods that have an anti-inflammatory affect (or the opposite, pro inflammatory) was a little harder than I thought, and it’s taken me the last 3 months to trial them and see what affect they’ve had.
This is probably a pointless sentence, but just in-case, we want an anti-inflammatory affect from our diet to reduce the inflammation around our herniated disc, this will reduce the pain. It’s like taking Voltaren, but without all the bad side affects.
So, the question is how did I even know foods could give an anti-inflammatory affect?
Over the last 12 months, I’ve noticed that after eating certain foods the pain running down my leg (from my herniated disc) was much worse than it usually is. I’ve also noticed after a booze up (some serious alcoholic consumption) that my pain was worse… Although I’m not sure if it’s from the alcohol, or the dodgy kebab and other crap I ate while I was pissed (drunk, sorry Aussie slang is coming out all over the place).
(As I wrote that last sentence, I hear people thinking “his pain can’t be that bad if he’s out on the town partying it up”… I can assure you that going out with me is a real pain in the ass for those that accompany me. I can’t stand in a queue at the bar, I can’t stand anywhere for that matter, I need to sit, and it needs to have a back rest. If there are a lot of stairs around the place then that’s difficult as well. When your missus (partner/girlfriend/wife) wants to dance it’s also a problem, basically I don’t/can’t. If the pub/bar/club is really busy, then seating can be a massive problem.. because the seats are already taken and people don’t want to give up a seat for you and your friends… I find most people will usually give me a seat… ie move along the bench or whatever.. but I end up out of the action and conversations.. hence I have a tendency to drink hard and fast. Okay enough of this tangent).
So, I’ve noticed that some foods (and some drinks) can increase my pain after I’ve eaten it.
Well I’ve done some Googling, visited the local library, and yes it’s true. There are foods and drinks that have an anti-inflammatory affect, and there are others that have an inflammation affect.
So, the next question is what foods should I avoid, and what should I eat more of.
Well from the reading I’ve done, it’s the usual stuff.
Fatty foods inflame.
Natural fresh foods can reduce inflammation (although not all).
I know it was at this stage, I thought… this is the answer to everything.
If you’re fat, if you’re unhealthy, if you’ve got some sort of condition.. the answers are all the same; Less fat, more green/fresh stuff. Sorry, another tangent.
So here’s a list I’ve got, I’ve tested, and it works:
Bad foods that can cause or increase inflammation:
Potatoes (doh! french fries are worse because of the oil)
Tomatoes
Red meats - especially fatty ones
High fat milk
Coffee
Margarine/Butter
Deep fried food (any time really)
Soda (the water part is good, but the acid and sugar bit isn’t good).
Apples (I’m not 100% on this one, but I think I notice an affect)
Salami - the bad oils in this one kill me!
Pizza - probably the tomato paste, oil, salami.
Smoking - not really a food, but makes a difference (the boozy nights I smoke).
Good foods that can have an anti-inflammatory affect:
Omega-3 essential fatty acids (fish, walnuts, supplements etc)
Olive oil
Fresh ginger (I try to get a bit of this every day)
Protein rich - tofu, soy milk, replacements etc.
Low fat milk (keep it to a minimal though)
Lots of water or 100% fruit juice
Chili
Green tea - this stuff is what I use to combat the bad stuff (if I was naughty)
Capsicum (Bell Peppers for our American friends)
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Fennel Bulb
Garlic
Green Beans
Green Onions/Spring Onions
Leeks
Olives
Spinach
Blueberries
Blackberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Almost anything anti-oxidant is really good
That is a reasonable list that I’ve tried and tested, it’s pretty hard to spot the difference in 1 or 2 things, but if you add up what you eat in a day and look at how much of it is in the bad list you can see where the difference comes in.
A few tips to follow:
Breakfast: oatmeal served with fresh fruit and walnuts and a cup of soy milk and a green tea
Snacks: whole fruits, nuts, seeds, and fresh vegetables throughout the day instead of cookies and candy.
Lunch/Dinner: Eat more fish and less fatty red meat. Stay away from deep fried foods.
Lunch/Dinner: Choose green, orange, and yellow vegetables for your side dishes. Bake & stir fry is best!
Drinks: Plenty of water, fresh 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices, herbal teas and green tea.
So, I review this list, and I think sh!t… that’s all the good stuff in the bad list, and all the crap stuff in the good list. How do I get around this..! I’ve found this works really well… If I’m going to binge, make sure you have a few things from the good list (I basically always go a massive cup of green tea which seems to have a really positive affect).
I’ve also found that the timing of when I eat makes a difference, for instance if I skip breakfast I generally find I’m worse off… I’m not 100% why this is.. but it makes a difference. If I eat dinner late in the night I’m worse off (again maybe why I get more pain after a booze up?).
If you’re interested in giving this a try.. and see if it makes a difference for you, what I’d suggest is cutting out all the bad stuff for 3 weeks… and analyse the affect it has on your pain. I couldn’t notice a big difference, because it came on slow over the 3 weeks… so then I went and had a massive binge at McDonalds, and the next day I felt the difference (the pain was probably 3 fold worse). So I’d recommend that as a way to see if you notice a difference… be really good for 3 weeks, and then slam in a greasy, potato, soda, red meat meal and see what happens (I was surprised).
Here is some more reading on the whole area of diet and the anti-inflammatory affects:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_8_35/ai_n14919163
http://www.healthcastle.com/anti_inflammation_diet.shtml
http://www.metabolismadvice.com/anti_inflammatory_food/
http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/a/antiinflamfood.htm
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/ART02012
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