Diet and Chronic Pain

Specific "trigger" foods

Although there is no single food or group of foods that provokes pain for everyone, certainly diet can have a direct effect on many painful conditions. For example, for people with gout, eating foods high in compounds called purines (organ meats, herring, sardines, mushrooms, asparagus) can increase the risk of excruciating attacks in the joints; for people with celiac disease, a meal with grains (bread, pasta or even breading on meat or vegetables) can cause painful gas, bloating and diarrhea; and for people with acid reflux, acidic foods like tomatoes and tomato sauce and citrus fruits and juices can cause burning and pain in the esophagus in the chest and abdomen.

A balanced diet

For most people, however, there are no specific foods to eat or avoid. The key is to follow a healthy, balanced diet that focuses on getting plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and minimizes foods high in refined sugars and saturated fats. A healthy diet may help your manage chronic disease in a number of ways. For one, it can help you reach and/or maintain a healthy weight, which reduces the stress painful joints must bear and may reduce levels of inflammatory chemicals that are released by body fat. A healthy diet can also have a more direct effect on inflammation. For example, foods such as coldwater fish (salmon, mackerel and halibut) have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties, while foods high in sugar, saturated fats and transfats may contribute to inflammation.

Related benefits

Following a healthy diet can improve your sense of well being and boost your energy level so that you feel like being active, which can also reduce chronic pain. Eating healthfully can also reduce your risk of other health problems including some cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Learn more

To learn more about eating healthfully check out Choose My Plate, a U.S. government website that provides practical information to individuals, health professionals, nutrition educators, and the food industry to help consumers build healthier diets with resources and tools for dietary assessment, nutrition education, and other user-friendly nutrition information. If you have a health condition that requires a special diet, speak to your doctor or a registered dietitian about specific foods you should focus on or avoid.

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