Can­di­da Khan

Every day, women ex­pe­ri­ence chron­ic pains that can be com­plex, but need a strong nu­tri­tion­al foun­da­tion to as­sist in re­duc­ing the symp­toms ex­pe­ri­enced. Some ex­am­ples in­clude pains from fi­bromyal­gia, en­dometrio­sis, os­teoarthri­tis, mi­graines, ir­ri­ta­ble bow­el syn­drome and chron­ic back pain, to name a few. These are some foods that can as­sist in the re­duc­tion of pain with these con­di­tions.

1) An­ti-in­flam­ma­to­ry di­et:

Re­duc­ing in­flam­ma­tion in the body with the right nu­tri­ents can be ben­e­fi­cial since many pains are usu­al­ly as­so­ci­at­ed with in­flam­ma­tion. This can be ac­com­plished by in­creas­ing in­take of foods rich in an­tiox­i­dants, for ex­am­ple, fruits, veg­eta­bles, fat­ty fish and lim­it­ing foods that pro­mote in­flam­ma­tion, such as sug­ar, re­fined carbs and processed foods. My favourite lo­cal veg­etable that is high in an­tiox­i­dant prop­er­ties in­cludes bell pep­pers, and my favourite lo­cal fruit is wa­ter­mel­on. In­flam­ma­tion in the body can be re­duced based on what is con­sumed on a dai­ly ba­sis. As a reg­is­tered di­etit­ian nu­tri­tion­ist, I would rec­om­mend in­clud­ing some favourite an­ti-in­flam­ma­to­ry foods dai­ly.

2) Vi­t­a­min D:

We tend to for­get the im­por­tance of vi­t­a­min D be­cause we live in a trop­i­cal coun­try. Be­sides the ba­sic needs of vi­t­a­min D to build bones and keep them healthy, it al­so helps with the ab­sorp­tion of cal­ci­um and sup­ports im­mune health, mus­cle and brain func­tion. The ma­jor­i­ty of us can still be de­fi­cient in vi­t­a­min D even though Trinidad and To­ba­go has suf­fi­cient sun­light all year round. What I would rec­om­mend is get­ting sun­light dai­ly be­tween 10 am and 2 pm for about 10-15 min­utes for suf­fi­cient vi­t­a­min D ab­sorp­tion and con­sum­ing foods high in vi­t­a­min D. These foods in­clude, but are not lim­it­ed to, fat­ty fish, for­ti­fied foods like dairy, ce­re­al and egg yolk.

3) Mag­ne­sium:

This min­er­al is very use­ful to re­duce chron­ic pain through its role in mus­cle func­tion, en­er­gy pro­duc­tion, sleep im­prove­ment and fa­tigue re­duc­tion. It is com­mon­ly found in our favourite go-to snack such as nuts and seeds.

4) Hy­dra­tion:

An­oth­er un­der­rat­ed nu­tri­ent is wa­ter. It is suf­fi­cient to re­duce mus­cle cramps and sup­port joint func­tion, to name a few. Our en­tire body is made up of wa­ter, and it should take up be­tween 66-77%. My favourite way of hy­drat­ing my body is through herbal teas and fruit-in­fused wa­ter with lemon slices. It’s worth a try!

From my ex­pe­ri­ence, it’s vi­tal to learn how to bal­ance to avoid chron­ic pains caused by lifestyle habits. I help my clients dai­ly with their bal­ances through nu­tri­tion. It’s time to start fo­cus­ing on foods to re­duce the pain in­stead of in­creas­ing it.

Can­di­da Khan, MSc RD al­so known as Di­di, is a reg­is­tered di­etit­ian nu­tri­tion­ist.

She is al­so the CEO of Di­di's Nu­tri­tion Con­sul­tan­cy