Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief

392 Pages·1999·1.99 MB·English

by  Neal D. Barnard

Praise for Foods That Fight Pain
“Dr. Neal Barnard is a brilliant visionary, one of the leading pioneers in educating
the public about the healing power of diet and nutrition. In Foods That Fight Pain he
offers scientifically based rationales for nutritional therapies to help alleviate the
everyday pains for which conventional medicine often has so little to offer. This
may be one of the most practical and useful books you will ever read. I highly
recommend it.”
—Dean Ornish, M.D., author of Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease
“Neal Barnard’s book separates the wheat from the chaff in nutritional literature.”
—Benjamin Spock, M.D.
“If we all were more careful in our choices of food and drink, our health would
improve enormously. Dr. Barnard has been advocating healthful nutrition for many
years. His message is beginning to be heard.”
—William C. Roberts, editor-in-chief, American Journal of Cardiology, and director,
Baylor Cardiovascular Institute
“Once again Dr. Barnard is pushing the frontiers of therapeutic nutrition. The
science is clearly on his side, and it will be further vindicated by those who follow
his altogether sensible and intelligent dietary lifestyle.”
—Hans Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, Lifestyle Medicine Institute
“Dr. Barnard’s Foods that Fight Pain is an incredibly valuable resource.”
—Ron Cridland, M.D., Health Promotion Clinic
“Dr. Neal Barnard is the only person who has both the scientific background and
the knowledge of nutrition to write this book. It will, in a natural way, free many
people from pain and eliminate their need for drugs that cause dangerous side
effects.”
—Henry J. Heimlich, M.D., president, The Heimlich Institute
Also by Neal Barnard, M.D.
Food for Life Eat Right, Live Longer

A Note to the Reader
M y goal is to provide you with information on the power of foods for
health. However, neither this book nor any other can take the place
of individualized medical care or advice. If you have any medical
condition, are overweight, or are on medication, please talk with your
doctor about how dietary changes, exercise, and other medical
treatments can affect your health.
The science of nutrition grows gradually as time goes on, so I
encourage you to consult other sources of information, including the
references listed in this volume.
With any dietary change, it is important to insure complete nutrition.
Be sure to include a source of vitamin B12 in your routine, which could
include any common multivitamin, fortified soymilk or cereals, or a
vitamin B12 supplement of five micrograms or more per day.
I wish you the very best of health.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: How Foods Fight Pain
PART I: CONDITIONS RELATED TO POOR CIRCULATION
1 Oh, My Aching Back!
2 Dissolving Chest Pain, Cleaning Your Arteries
PART II: FOOD SENSITIVITIES AND INFLAMMATORY PAIN
3 Migraine Knockouts
4 Foods for Other Kinds of Headaches
5 Cooling Your Joints
6 Curing Stomachaches and Digestive Problems
7 Fibromyalgia
PART III: HORMONE-RELATED CONDITIONS
8 Using Foods Against Menstrual Pain
9 Breast Pain
10 Cancer Pain
PART IV: METABOLIC AND IMMUNE PROBLEMS
11 Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
12 Diabetes
13 Herpes and Shingles
14 Sickle-Cell Anemia
15 Kidney Stones and Urinary Infections
PART V: ACTIVITY, REST, AND FOOD
16 Exercise and Endorphins
17 Rest and Sleep
18 Yogurt and Corn Dogs: Why Our Bodies Rebel Against Certain
Foods
19 From Laboratory to Kitchen
PART VI: MENUS AND RECIPES
BY JENNIFER RAYMOND
The Elimination Diet
Recipes Suitable for the Elimination Diet
Low-Fat Recipes Without Cholesterol or Animal Protein
About Baking Powder
Ingredients That May Be New to You
Notes
Resources
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgments
I owe a debt of gratitude to the many people who made this book
possible:
Patti Breitman’s clarity of vision, unflagging support, and enormous
skill as a literary agent nurtured this project from concept to fruition.
Peter Guzzardi’s editorial skill and his rare combination of enthusiasm
and objectivity made the writer’s task a pleasure.
Jennifer Raymond provided wonderful menus and recipes and also
lent her skills as a cooking instructor to our research participants,
changing many lives forever.
Andrew Nicholson, M.D., took the lead in the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine’s research that yielded a new and much
improved dietary treatment of diabetes.
Anthony Scialli, M.D., of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, shared his expertise in
designing and implementing our research on menstrual pain.
Gabe Mirkin, M.D., Diana Rich, and Pat Mill generously allowed us to
use their outstanding nutrition-teaching facility for our research.
Donna Hurlock, M.D., Lisa Talev, Miyun Park, Neva Davis, Kathy
Savory, Steven Ragland, and Cathy DeLuca devoted many late nights to
keeping our research on track, while Tony Perfetto and Quest
Diagnostics helped us over many scientific hurdles.
Our research participants put in enormous amounts of time and effort
and submitted to examinations, questionnaires, and laboratory tests in
order to contribute to our research studies.
David Perlmutter, M.D., a wise and skilled physician, provided many
helpful insights on the nutritional approach to migraines.
Richard Wurtman, M.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
Robert Zurier, M.D., of the Division of Rheumatology at the University of
Massachusetts Medical Center; David Eisenberg of Health from the Sun
supplement manufacturers of Sunapee, New Hampshire; C. Peter N.
Watson, M.D.; and Eduardo Siguel, M.D., Ph.D., generously responded to
my numerous questions about research details.
Ellen Moore, Bruce Burdick, and Claire Musickant kindly allowed me
to share their experiences to encourage others to look to the power of
foods for health.
Dean Buchanan of the Apothecary in Bethesda, Maryland, shared his
invaluable knowledge of the power of botanical treatments.
Preface
W e all suffer pain from time to time, and for some of us that pain has
become a recurring, and sometimes constant, presence in our lives.
In this book I would like to offer you an approach to pain that is
different—and perhaps more powerful—than anything else you have
ever tried. It is based on the premise that foods have medicinal value, a
notion that has long been accepted in the medical traditions of China,
India, Native America, and other cultures around the world and is now
being confirmed by the latest Western medical research.
Foods can fight pain. In the pages ahead, we’ll discuss how this works,
and specifically which foods or supplements will be most effective for
your pain, along with recipes for turning those foods into delicious
meals. But for the moment I want to establish something important:
There is nothing speculative or far-out about the premise that foods can
fight pain. On the contrary. The ideas presented in this book are drawn
from a wealth of new research from prestigious medical centers around
the world.
Years ago, findings showing that foods work against pain, even pain in
its most severe forms, led to tentative and sometimes controversial
theories. Physicians and scientists then rigorously investigated these
concepts in human research volunteers. Today, after years of testing,
discarding, and refining, we have arrived at a revolutionary way of
thinking about pain. Research studies have given us the scientific basis
not only for why foods work this magic but also how to put it to use.
This book translates these powerful new laboratory findings into simple
steps that you can use.
Nutrients work against pain in four ways. They can reduce damage at
the site of injury, cool your body’s inflammatory response, provide
analgesia on pain nerves themselves, and even work within the brain to
reduce pain sensitivity.