The first results of a current study by the SRH University of Health in Gera on anti-inflammatory nutrition and chronic pain point to the importance of nutrition in therapy. “The project runs in collaboration with the Department of Interdisciplinary Pain Therapy at the Zeitz Clinic. The patients showed a reduced sense of pain through a holistic program that also included nutritional therapy,” says Professor Dorothea Portius, who heads the Chair of Nutritional Therapy in Gera directs. However, the study also showed that further improvements are needed in nutritional therapy, particularly with anti-inflammatory foods.
Inflammatory drivers: sausage, sugar, wheat
But which foods are anti-inflammatory and which are drivers of inflammation? “Many of our food products contain bad or inflammatory fats, hidden sugars and are relatively low in nutrients, which all in all fan the flames of inflammation,” points out Professor Dorothea Portius.
The main drivers of inflammation include highly processed foods such as sausage, fast food or white flour products. They often contain preservatives and additives, which also accelerate the development of inflammatory processes. Caution should also be exercised when it comes to supposedly healthy foods. “Even though more and more products contain the word ‘organic’ or ‘purely plant-based,’ they can still be highly processed and contain many inflammatory substances,” says Portius. That’s why she recommends always paying attention to the small print.
