Neal D. Barnard - Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief

18 Yogurt and Corn Dogs: Why Our Bodies Rebel Against Certain
Foods

PART VI: MENUS AND RECIPES
BY JENNIFER RAYMOND

I owe a debt of gratitude to the many people who made this book possible:

Patti Breitmans clarity of vision, unflagging support, and enormous skill as a literary agent nurtured this project from concept to fruition.

Peter Guzzardis editorial skill and his rare combination of enthusiasm and objectivity made the writers 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 Medicines 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.

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 differentand perhaps more powerfulthan 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, well 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 bodys inflammatory response, provide analgesia on pain nerves themselves, and even work within the brain to reduce pain sensitivity.

The most important approach for you depends on the kind of pain you have. If you have arthritis, your goal is to stop the joint damage along with the pain. If you have cancer pain or chest pain, you can choose foods to affect the disease process itself. If you have shingles, diabetic nerve pains, or carpal tunnel syndrome, you need to fix a problem within the nerves. If you have a chronic backache, headaches, abdominal pain, or cramps, you just want the pain to disappear. Specific foods can help with all of these.