Decrease Your Pain By Eating... Omega-3s

Yes - what you eat matters. This idea remains pretty powerful. The phrase “you are what you eat” is literally true and has some incredible applications.

Think back to middle school and try to remember the picture of a human cell. Big squishy round thing in the middle (nucleus), a covering that looks like it’s made of tiny dots (cell membrane) and with a bunch of funny looking stuff floating around inside (endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, etc).

It’s tremendously more complicated than this and each part of that cell is composed of fats and proteins that come from the food we eat.

The part of the cell that is especially important for our topic today is the cell membrane (the dotted covering). The membrane is made of the fats that you eat, primarily omega-3 and omega-6 fats. You may have heard or been advised to eat salmon, avocado or supplementing with fish oil to increase he omega-3s in your diet. These essential fats are crucial to the development and preservation of the cell membrane (made up of omega-6s and omega-3s) which is responsible for regulating inflammation in the body.

When you think of inflammation you probably think of a sprained ankle or when you hit your thumb with a hammer. This is acute inflammation, and it’s normal and healthy. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is when your body is always producing low levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals. This chronic inflammation occurs when the cell membranes have too many omega-6s and not enough omega-3s. When the body is always inflamed this leads to problems such as heart disease, arthritis, chronic pain, even cancer.

This is why supplementing with omega-3s (fish oil, flaxseed oil) and eating foods rich in omega-3s helps to fight inflammation. Even more important is limiting the amount of omega-6 fats in your diet. These are found primarily in grains, vegetable oils, and processed foods. Studies have shown that a diet rich in omega-3s helps to prevent conditions ranging from heart disease to Alzheimer’s. In Europe, fish oil is prescribed to help patients recovering from a heart attack or stroke. San Diego Center for Health patients who are supplementing with omega-3s have less pain and recover faster.

So next time you’re about to eat a meal of processed, pro-inflammatory, omega-6 laden food, decide if you want to be eating to cause pain, or if you want to choose health and wellness for your future. If back or neck pain is keeping you from doing the things you love, be aware that the inflammation in your body might be related to the inflammation from your plate!