Aches and pains can ruin the quality of your life by limiting movement and restricting you from doing what you want to do. What most people don’t realize is that many on-going aches and pains can be completely avoided by eating real healthy food.
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When we break down what causes aches and pains, in most instances inflammation is present. Whether it be from injury or long-term wear and tear, if you’re experiencing regular pain there is a strong chance there is some inflammation at the center of the problem. One of the easiest, most simple ways to support your body in fighting inflammation is to clean up your diet and lifestyle in 4 easy steps.
The process may be slow to adjust to but each step will help you move towards a pain-free life.
1. Reduce Processed Foods From Your Diet
The first place to start with decreasing inflammation is with your diet. Our body is an amazing thing that can adapt to nearly any environment and live off whatever it can, however, this can sometimes come at a cost.
When you eat processed foods with a handful of chemicals you can’t pronounce your body has to work to try to neutralize and flush out these chemicals often creating inflammation.
Sugar filled foods are probably the highest cause of inflammation for most people. When we consume sugar our insulin levels rise, triggering and immune response with a resulting increase in free radicals and inflammation. These days there are so many foods which may be considered healthy yet contain far too much sugar. Be careful to check the labels of food and drink but as a rule, avoid anything processed and you’ll be doing well.
2. Increase Antioxidant-Rich Foods Into Your Diet
To fight inflammation, our body produces some antioxidants itself but largely relies on the food you eat for the majority of the antioxidant it requires. Switching out processed foods for more fruits and vegetables is a great way to increase antioxidant levels for fighting inflammation.
Now that you’ve removed processed foods from your diet, replace them with:
- Berries such as blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
- Dark Green vegetables such as spinach, kale, and chard.
- Nuts such as pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts.
- Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, and garlic.
3. Undergo Weekly Resistance Training
You’ve reduced inflammatory foods from your diet and increased antioxidant rich foods, now you’re feeling better, energy levels are up and you finally feel capable of exercising. The most beneficial type of exercise for most people when it comes to long-term health and prevention of aches and pains is resistance training. All you need is 30 minutes of weights every other day and you’ll strengthen your bones, muscles, and ligaments, as well as help, reduce blood sugar levels and inflammation.
4. Get 8 Hours Of Quality Sleep
Sleep is extremely important for our bodies healing and recovery. In order to give yourself the best chance of reducing pain, make sure you get enough sleep combined with the right nutrients to let your body recover. Sleeping gives our body its best chance to recover from inflammation while falling into an anti-inflammatory state.
While you’re not going to get rid of an injury or pain overnight by improving your diet and exercising, but you will reduce inflammation throughout the body and free up your body’s own antioxidants to start fighting the inflammation that’s keeping you down. Remember, it’s a process, so don’t think you have to completely cut all the foods you enjoy out of your diet, just focus on removing the unhealthy foods as quickly as you can while building up your exercise regime.