---
title: The Food-Pain Connection
description: inflammation can be helped with nutrition changes and modifications effectively reducing pains in your body and preventing diseases
---

[Knowledge Matters by BODiWORKS Institute ](https://blog.bodiworksinstitute.com/blog)

# [The Food-Pain Connection](https://blog.bodiworksinstitute.com/blog/the-food-pain-connection)

 Written by [Krista Znebel, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and the BODiWORKS Team](https://blog.bodiworksinstitute.com/blog/author/krista-znebel-registered-holistic-nutritionist-and-the-bodiworks-team) | Apr 7, 2025 1:29:31 PM

 

Pain, especially chronic can often be a trigger that motivates us to seek out advice   
or support.  Various physical therapies like those offered at BodiWorks can be a great  
way to help strengthen areas of the body to help manage and reduce pain.   
However, when it comes to managing *chronic pain* there’s an important piece that   
when combined with exercise therapy, can make a big difference on the quality of   
life and pain experienced-that piece is your diet!

Part 1(of 2)-How Food Choices Impact Pain

Understanding Inflammation  
Inflammation is a term that is used to describe your body’s response to injury or   
illness.  Let’s explore physical injury as an example, since many people are more   
familiar with how the immune system responds those. For instance, say  
you sprain your knee; it would become red, swollen, warm and painful, the cardinal   
signs of inflammation. This is the body’s natural immune response, helping to heal   
from injury and infection, so a bit of inflammation is natural and a good thing!

This inflammatory response has a purpose though: *to control the foreign invader or   
damaging agent (which can be the food you’re eating if it doesn’t agree with you!).*   
As a result of this response, some of the healthy cells and tissues surrounding the   
area are damaged.  
The key piece in the inflammatory response is that it is ended before it damages too  
many healthy cells.

Inflammation and the Digestive Tract  
The same inflammatory response that also occurs systemically (as above example), is rooted within your digestive tract!  Often ignored or unfelt by most.  
The inflammatory response is often ongoing since foods that are causing the   
inflammation are eaten regularly. This means what you choose to eat at every meal   
influences your immune system response and its ability to function optimally and   
keep you safe!  
Reducing inflammation within the digestive tract is so important to your overall health and how you feel day to day because this is where 70% of your immune   
system lies!  This is called the 'innate immune system'.

If this inflammatory response within the digestive tract becomes chronic, the   
immune system is constantly being stimulated and inflammation levels can increase  
and travel throughout the body, contributing to worse inflammation in the areas of   
your body that are already experiencing or are prone to pain like your back, knee or   
shoulder.  Think of having regular pains and why you have them?  
This inflammatory response can feel invisible to many of us because it may not feel   
the same way as a sprain or injury would which means over time chronic

inflammation can continue creeping up until the levels are really high and the   
symptoms become severe.

Chronic inflammation left unaddressed can also lead to the development of various   
disease including: *cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, **autoimmune disorders* (RhA, Lupus etc) so it’s best to make changes to your diet and lifestyle sooner than later to reduce risk of disease development.

How to tell if you have chronic inflammation

Everyone will have some level of inflammation in their body from time to time. It’s   
the chronic, body wide inflammation that you want to focus on reducing overall   
levels which will impact your overall future health or if you currently have an   
inflammatory disease positive lifestyle and dietary changes can improve your   
overall quality of life and reduce symptom severity.

[View full post](https://blog.bodiworksinstitute.com/blog/the-food-pain-connection)

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