Super spices that knock out pain
Food, herbs and spices have been used for thousands of years for
their powerful health building and curative effects. Traditional
cultures the world over, including our very own have well developed
medical systems based on substances that appear in nature.
Folk
healing traditions of the Native Americans, Malaysians, and Europeans
all contain knowledge in the identification, procedures and uses of
herbs. Traditional Chinese medicine and our own Ayurvedic medicine are
among the oldest systems of medicine in the world, and they rely on
herbals as a cornerstone of their practices.
The use of spices for healing is less well known, but those two
traditions, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, use mixtures of
spices in their 'food as medicine' principles, including relieving
inflammation and pain.
Today, science has helped confirm that adding spices into your daily
eating habits can go a long way toward low-side effect, natural pain
relief.
The root of health, and pain relief
Turmeric is a brilliant yellow (and sometimes orange) root grated and
used as one of the most recognizable flavourings in Indian cuisine. It's
most active health enhancing component is a substance called curcumin.
Curcumin is proven to reduce inflammation while helping the body to
heal. Chronic, acute and low-grade inflammation are major causes of pain
and poor health. While acute inflammation is a natural biological
response to injury, stress and pathogens, its long-term effects are
unhealthy, causing serious health concerns like heart disease.
The US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of
Health note: "Laboratory and animal research has demonstrated
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer properties of turmeric
and its constituent curcumin."
Impressively, there are more than 5,500 peer-reviewed clinical
studies demonstrating curcumin's benefits. Recent studies suggest that
turmeric is as effective as, yet safer than, more than a dozen
prescription medications. You can read about these benefits and their
studies on pain, inflammation and cancer treatment in a few previous
articles I've written, The anti-cancer secret from India and Turmeric:
Nature's Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Root.
Red chilli prevents pain?
Chilli peppers and especially cayenne pepper have a substance in them
called capsaicin. Capsaicin is the part of the pepper that makes it hot
and burns the tongue oh-so-nicely in spicy dishes. But it's also this
heat component that is beneficial to pain relief.
When you ingest it, capsaicin works in the body like one of your
neurotransmitters, or brain chemicals. It does this by binding with the
vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1).
Why does it relieve pain? Well, when a heat increase is felt in the
body, VR1 changes its shape and signals nerve cells to feel heat. The
brain is actually 'fooled' by capsaicin, however.
When you take capsaicin when you have pain, the brain thinks the heat
signal from the capsaicin is actually an increased pain signal.
Capsaicin tricks the brain into reducing the pain (heat) signal by
depleting the nerves of "substance P." And when substance P is depleted
the nerves can no longer send a pain signal to the brain.
There have been many clinical trials on the topical and ingested use
of capsaicin for pain relief. In one double-blind clinical study, 70
patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and 31 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
received capsaicin cream or placebo for a month for treatment of
arthritic knee pain. The RA subjects experienced a 57% pain reduction,
and the OA subjects had their pain reduced by 33%.
As the study paper concludes: "According to the global evaluations,
80% of the capsaicin-treated patients experienced a reduction in pain
after two weeks of treatment. It is concluded that capsaicin cream is a
safe and effective treatment for arthritis."
A study on capsaicin for chronic neck pain found that applying
topical capsaicin cream to the affected area four times daily for five
weeks showed pain relief by deleting the sensory C-fibres of substance
P.
Another study on local capsaicin treatment on small nerve fibre
function in diabetic neuropathy, can be found here. I could go on. There
are hundreds more.
Delicious pain relief
Known the world over as a root for reducing stomach upset, nausea and
motion sickness, not to mention making vegetables and chicken taste
really good, ginger is effective in reducing inflammation, rheumatism
and many kinds of pain.
In one study on the effects of ginger on rheumatism and
musculoskeletal disorders, 56 patients were given powdered ginger. Of
these, 28 had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 19 had osteoarthritis (OA) and
10 had muscular discomfort. Over a period of 3 months to 2.5 years, an
impressive 100% of participants with muscular discomfort experienced
pain relief. What's more, 75% of arthritic participants experienced
relief in pain and swelling. No adverse side effects were reported.
In another randomised, controlled study, women with painful menses
were randomly assigned into two groups; one receiving ginger and the
other placebo. Each received 500mg capsules of ginger root powder (or
placebo) three times daily.
The researchers found, "significant differences in the severity of
pain between ginger and placebo groups." And, "Treatment of primary
(pain) in students with ginger for 5 days had a statistically
significant effect on relieving intensity and duration of pain."
Traditional cultures from around the world discovered through
thousands of years of real world experience that food is medicine.
Specifically, they found that thermogenic (heat inducing) spices like
chilli, turmeric, and ginger (among others) are excellent at reducing
inflammation and pain.
Including more of these spices in our meals in their whole food
states or in powdered spice incarnation can do much to reduce chronic
inflammation and pain. And eating tasty food with a bit of a kick has
the added benefit of zero side effects, unlike taxing the body with too
many anti-inflammatory pain meds.
- Easy Health Option |