Why treating pain starts at the dinner table

by Dr. Jessica Corbeille Harris, ND

I see many patients every day who struggle with pain. Sometimes joint pain, sometimes back or neck pain, sometimes muscle pain, and sometimes headaches. One thing these pains all have in common is they are symptoms. And symptoms are always a message from the body to tell us something is not quite right. When the body has all the nutrients, sleep, happiness, support, and water that it needs, the body is free of symptoms. 
 
Let’s talk today about one foundational part of your body’s needs – adequate nutrition, and this starts at the dinner table. 
 
So let’s say the body isn’t getting the right nutrients it needs. Without the proper nutrients, it cannot make enzymes work properly. Without properly working enzymes, certain things like soft tissue repair cannot happen properly. When the soft tissues are not repaired, other tissues have to work harder (i.e. muscles), and this can lead to the symptom we experience as PAIN. 
 
This means that one of the ways we can treat pain before we even use treatments like prolotherapy or PRP is by supporting the soft tissue repair. And to support soft tissue repair, we need the proper nutrients. 
 
Research has shown a few nutrients to be especially important in healing and repair of soft tissues, like collagen, for example. Some of these key nutrients are protein, vitamin C, zinc, copper, and manganese. 

• Protein: Protein is hugely important for all wound healing in the body and for providing the proper building blocks for DNA synthesis and other enzyme function. Without protein, we see muscles and soft tissues (tendons, ligaments) break down leading to more pain. A good way to ensure proper protein intake is to consume protein for at least 3 meals a day. We’ll dive into great protein sources in a future post. 

 

• Vitamin C: Vitamin C is widely accepted as one of the most important nutrients for collagen repair. Remember, we need collagen to be repaired in the body so we can build the proper scaffolding for the tendons and ligaments which support the joints and hold the body together. Great sources of vitamin C include brightly colored fruits and vegetables (eat at every meal) and sometimes supplementation through vitamins. 

 

• Zinc/Copper/Manganese: These three minerals are lumped together because they are commonly found together in supplements and sometimes in foods too. The three of these are all vitally important for tissue healing because they are all cofactors (helpers) for various enzymes. Good food sources of all three include nuts and legumes, but it’s fairly common to need an additional supplementation of these when a person is working to improve pain and healing in the body. 

 
Please note that the list above is not all-inclusive (other nutrients can be very important for treatment pain too – i.e. magnesium, calcium, MSM, etc.). Diet is a great place to start when it comes to treating pain though. It’s essential that a person is getting the proper nutrition BEFORE we start treatment with prolotherapy, PRP, or other fancy treatment options to ensure your body has the building blocks it needs to make the treatment most effective.  
 
Here’s one of my favorite products for pain and healing: ArthroSoothe by Designs for Health. You can find it on our online dispensary or at our clinic. 

Please email us or give us a quick call today if you are ready to start talking about treating your pain! 

by Dr. Jessica Corbeille Harris, ND, CES

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