Hi Everyone,
I’ve been traveling this whole past week, driving over 1500 miles. It really prevented me from getting onto the computer very often so I didn’t get to write on the blog. However, I found an interesting article that I want to share with you. It’s pretty long so I’m going to break it into two sections or it will just take too long to read.
The article is about eight different foods that fight pain for a variety of reasons. I’m going to type in the full article because it may be important to you if you are dealing with pain and you’re being given drugs for the inflammation. Any time you can take something natural instead of a drug your body will benefit.
Cherries
Muraleedharan Nair, Ph.D., professor of natural products and chemistry at Michigan State University found that tart cherry extract is 10 times more effective than aspirin at relieving inflammation. Only two tablespoons of concentrated juice need to be taken daily for effective results. Sweet cherries have also been found to be effective.
Other Berries
Nair later found the same anti-pain compound in other berries, specifically blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.
Celery and Celery Seeds
James Duke, Ph.D., author of The Green Pharmacy, found more than 20 anti-inflammatory compounds in celery and celery seeds, including a powerful flavonoid called apigenin. Add celery seeds to soups, stews or as a salt substitute in many recipes.
Ginger
Ginger reduces levels of pain-causing prostaglandin in the body and has been widely used in India to treat pain and inflammation. A study by Indian researchers found that when people who were suffering from muscular pain were given ginger, they all experienced improvement. New research from the University of Georgia supports these finders. If your taking medications, check with your health practitioner for possible herb-drug interactions.
This last one about ginger really interested me since everything I do has to do with muscular pain. I still get recurring pain caused by overstretched ligaments in my knee (from having my leg up for over two months while mending from the broken ankle), and the fact of a nerve being impinged in my foot and causing me to limp. I don’t know if ginger will help me since it isn’t a muscular problem, but it’s sure worth the test. I’ll let you know.
More about these foods in the next issue of The Pain Free Living Blog.
Have a great day,
Julie