The range of health diets can be bewildering – some popular examples that counter specific types of pain, or pain in general, are briefly summarized below. Research has shown that while many people may benefit from such diets, not everybody will. However, some minor modifications – such as increasing your intake of fish or vegetables and reducing animal fats – can only be helpful.
• The anti-candida diet is a strict low-sugar, low-yeast regime. It aims to control overgrowth in the body of naturally occurring yeasts such as candida albicans. Yeast overgrowth, sometimes as a result of antibiotic use, may trigger allergic reactions and pain in muscles, joints and the digestive tract (and the genital organs if thrush is a feature). The diet seems to be effective, but many people misdiagnose themselves. Seek expert advice to determine whether or not you need to control your body’s yeasts before embarking on this type of diet.
• If you are suffering pain as a result of toxicity of any sort, a detox diet may help cleanse your system and support liver function. This may involve fasting or consuming only raw food or juices for a period. However, seek expert advice – a detox diet is unsuitable for many groups of people, such as those taking prescription medication or those who are severely underweight.
• The Hay diet – said to increase energy levels and reduce pain – is named after its creator, Dr William Hay. A key part of the method involves not eating proteins and carbohydrates in the same meal. There has been no scientific validation of Hay’s ideas – any benefit may actually derive from the increased attention that followers of the diet give to what they eat.
• A low-oxalate diet may be followed by people who are prone to kidney stones, or painful cystitis symptoms that seem unrelated to infection. Foods rich in oxalic acid (such as leafy green vegetables) are avoided, while low-oxalate foods, such as eggs, poultry, lentils, avocado, cauliflower, nectarines, peas, raisins, bread and breakfast cereals, become a major part of the diet.
• A Mediterranean-type diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, fish and olive oil, limiting red meat, has been shown to improve health and ease pain.5
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826)