A new study finds that eating a higher quality diet is directly associated with reducing the severity of chronic pain, regardless of weight. The findings of this study suggest that improving overall diet quality may be an easy, affordable, and effective way to manage pain.
Chronic pain is a problem for approximately 20% to 30% of the world’s population. There is a link between being overweight or obese and chronic pain. Research has shown that people with chronic pain are more likely to be overweight, and obesity may be a risk factor for developing chronic pain. And, conversely, chronic pain can contribute to weight gain.
A new study from the University of South Australia (UniSA) investigated how the quality of what we eat influences the severity of chronic pain, and whether weight plays a role.
Sue Ward, a researcher in UniSA’s Clinical Health Sciences Program and lead author of the study, said: “We know that eating well is good for health and wellbeing.” “But learning that you can offset chronic pain simply by changing your diet could be life-changing.”
Researchers collected data from 654 Australian adults (57% female) enrolled in the Whyalla Intergenerational Health Study (WISH) in 2008-2009. The WISH study was originally designed to estimate the prevalence of chronic diseases and their associated social and environmental risk factors. Whyalla is an industrial town in regional South Australia.
Demographic and socio-economic data of participants were obtained by telephone interview, and a questionnaire collected information on health behaviors such as smoking, self-rated health status (including pain), and dietary intake data. Participants attended a local clinic and had their height, weight, body composition, and physical function (grip strength) measured.
Dietary intake over the past 12 months was obtained using a 40-question food frequency questionnaire that assessed participants’ frequency of consumption of various “core” and “non-core” foods and beverages. Meal frequency estimates were used to score participants’ diet quality against the WISH Dietary Guidelines Index (DGI), which is comprised of six core food components and three non-core food components that reflect the Australian Dietary Guidelines. was used for.
Major food groups include fruits, vegetables, grains, red meat and alternatives, and dairy products and alternatives. Non-core food ingredients include unsaturated spreads and any food that is high in oil, alcohol, saturated fat, added sugars, and salt. The total DGI score ranges from 0 to 90, with higher scores indicating greater adherence to the Australian Dietary Guidelines and therefore higher diet quality. Subscores for core and non-core food components were also calculated.
For those interested in statistics, the researchers used the beta coefficient. In regression analysis, the beta coefficient is a number that represents the strength and direction of the relationship between the predictor variable (independent variable) and the outcome (dependent variable). Here, we describe the strength and direction of the relationship between body weight-adjusted dietary intake (represented by DGI score) and pain and physical function outcomes. The higher the absolute value of the beta coefficient, the stronger the influence of diet quality on the outcome.
Looking at the relationship between DGI scores of major foods and pain, positive beta values suggested that improving diet quality reduces body pain, regardless of obesity or body fat. For women, a stronger positive correlation was found between diet quality (using DGI total score) and body pain when body mass index (BMI) was taken into account. And women’s stronger positive beta values showed a similar but more pronounced association between Core Food Score and pain reduction, regardless of obesity. Beta values also showed that for women, better diet quality (DGI total score) was associated with slightly better grip strength, even when obesity was taken into account.
In summary, beta coefficients showed that a high-quality diet was associated with reduced pain and improved physical function, with some effects stronger in women and independent of obesity and body fat. .
“Our study found that higher intakes of staple foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, red meat, dairy products, and substitutes were associated with reduced pain. This was independent of weight. ” said Dr. Ward. “This is important because being overweight or obese is a known risk factor for chronic pain.
“Knowing that food choices and the overall quality of the diet can not only make a person healthier, but also help reduce pain levels is extremely valuable,” Ward continued. . “Women who ate better diets had lower pain levels and better physical function. But for men, this effect was much weaker.”
The researchers suggested a mechanism by which a higher quality diet could influence pain levels.
“It’s possible that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of healthier key food groups may reduce pain, but is it possible that poor diet quality leads to increased pain, or does pain lead to eating a poor diet?” “It’s too early to tell whether this will lead to anything,” Ward said. “A healthy, nutritious diet offers a variety of benefits for health, well-being, and pain management. And while individualized pain management strategies should be adopted, a healthy diet can help you manage your pain. It’s an accessible, affordable, and effective way to reduce your risk.”
The study was published in the journal Nutrition Research.
Source: UniSA
