Pain Elimination™ System

12 Weeks to Decreased Pain & Inflammation via an anti-inflammatory diet

We all have known and experienced inflammation.  It is a part of life:  common examples are a sore throat, a sprained ankle, a skin rash or the flu.  Typically the experience isn’t what we would consider to be a “good” one.  Many of us, however, are suffering daily from inflammation that is not quite as obvious as influenza or a sprained ankle.  Perhaps you just aren’t feeling quite right:  maybe more tired than you think you should be; you’re having difficulty making decisions; your muscles or joints feel stiff and unresponsive, but  your doctor says the x-ray is normal;  your balance is off a bit; you are easily distracted and having difficulty concentrating; your sleep is restless and your spouse mentions, in an unkind tone, that for months you have been snoring enough to awaken him/her several times a night…

When presented to a physician who is trained to treat disease, these symptoms do not typically fall into a convenient diagnostic category.  It is likely that most common lab results will be normal.  Some specific labs, however, such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP) may be elevated, representing the presence of serious inflammation.   Typically a prelude to more serious medical conditions, if left unchecked and unaddressed, this can escalate to dangerous problems and complications.  We have had the privilege of caring for more than ten thousand patients over the last 20 years, and the only effective approach to lowering CRP, in our clinical experience, has been through creating positive change in lifestyle and dietary choices.

Understanding and responding to this concept of inflammation is important because we now know that most contemporary diseases and chronic afflictions are either caused or directly influenced by it.  Osteoarthritis, autoimmune diseases such as RA, lupus, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, respiratory allergies, migraine, asthma, diabetes, and even obesity are just a few of the conditions directly driven by inflammation.

Inflammation is a sophisticated, protective biological process, usually involving the immune system, which functions to remove or manage harmful substances, including infection.  This natural process is essential to keep in balance for long term health. Symptom-based therapies usually are oriented by aggressively pharmacologically blocking (NSAIDs, steroids) the very process that needs to be rebalanced, rather than getting to the root cause of the inflammation. Naturally, this can push the system further out of balance.  Lifestyle Medicine approaches, conversely, treat the root cause (i.e. the “fire”), not merely the symptoms (i.e. the “smoke”).  Imagine a smoke detector alerting you to the presence of a fire.  Treating the symptoms, therefore, would be the equivalent of removing the battery from the smoke detector in the middle of the night, and then going back to bed!

The solution to this problem involves a combination of a scientifically applied, low-allergen, whole foods diet, along with Lifestyle Medicine approaches to balance daily stresses on the immune system.

Our clinical experience in treating obesity has shown that frequently there are coexisting intolerances to routinely eaten foods.  The elimination of these foods is a key to weight loss and physical well-being.  These food sensitivities may manifest as symptoms of weight gain, joint and muscle pain, fluid retention, reflux, irritable bowel syndrome or other digestive disorders, “brain fog”, fatigue, mood problems, sinus and nasal congestion, eczema, acne, and others.  Initially, fluid loss often occurs as the body becomes unburdened by the offending food(s) and inflammation diminishes.  This is a profound indicator that food intolerances and/or generally deficient food choices created the poor baseline state of health.

This type of food sensitivity reactions is more subtle than the  allergic reaction associated with hives, swelling, and difficulty breathing commonly seen with nuts, for example, requires emergency medical attention and can be life threatening.  While the incidence of this type of severe food allergy does seem to be increasing, it is still uncommon compared with the food sensitivities referred to above.

To determine the presence of food sensitivities, an initial phase involving the elimination of certain foods is required to allow the body to begin to heal and balance itself in concert with the immune system for a period of time. This is typically followed with careful, methodical reintroduction and vigilance and guidance to look for a variety of reactions. Frequently, associated nutrient insufficiencies/deficiencies are discovered here, which can perpetuate the inflammatory process or hamper its rebalancing.  The use of the correct therapeutic dose of a nutrient for a period of time may assist the body’s ability to balance the inflammation more rapidly.  For example, fish oil and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties; also, condition-specific supplements such as glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin and MSM have been shown in studies to be disease-modifying agents in osteoarthritis.  Because individual nutrient needs can vary greatly, it is best to seek the advice of a qualified health care professional with regards to supplementation.  While results with nutritional supplements may vary from person to person, many notice improvement in symptoms they had believed to be permanent, sometimes within the first week of use.

The use of nutrient supplementation, directed by outcomes based science can accelerate getting inflammation under control.  Multiple nutrients have been demonstrated in the scientific literature to favorably influence inflammation at various steps, pushing the process toward resolution and balance, rather than blocking a limited segment with pharmacologic doses of medicines that are associated with serious side effects. Used in concert, the combination of targeted nutrients, healthy lifestyle and dietary changes offer the most powerful and non-pharmaceutical  approach available today to control inflammation and pain.

The process of elimination/reintroduction is truly the most personalized form of Lifestyle Medicine available, short of expensive gene testing.  In this way the individual is enabled, and given the tools to navigate our current social culture and modern food arena, both of which have produced obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer at previously unseen rates.  This is a critically important tool, particularly for the young generation, for the first time in recorded history, is not expected to live as long as the previous generation.