Earlier this week, we posted a blog titled “The Importance of An Anti-Inflammatory Diet, Part 1.” In the post, we discuss five tips for keeping chronic pain at bay through a healthy diet. Here’s Part 2, which includes five more tips.

Tip 6: Try adding onions to more dishes – Onions are packed with beneficial antioxidants. These may help reduce inflammation, lower bad cholesterol and reduce heart risks. Use more onions in your food preparation from sauces to salads and on things like sandwiches.

Tip 7: Watch out for some plants that may have the reverse effect of increasing inflammation – The most notable would be potatoes and corn since they are high in starches. Others are more controversial in effects, but are most likely beneficial. These include tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. All the latter are found significantly in the Mediterranean diet and are likely to have benefits from a number of compounds they contain that are antioxidants.

Tip 8: Fiber is your friend – Fiber lowers C-reactive protein levels and is a marker of inflammation that can be detected in the bloodstream. Fiber also fills up a person, and makes one feel full during a meal. This also helps in the overall digestive process and improves gastric motility, decreasing constipation. Fresh vegetables, some fruit, and unprocessed grains are good sources. Eat popcorn without extra salt and butter for snacks as an additional bonus.

Tip 9: Avoid processed foods, like white bread or rice, chips, cookies, and many prepackaged foods – These often are high in sugar, preservatives and salt and all are linked to being unhealthy. Many of these things tend to promote inflammation. Salt also promotes unnecessary fluid retention and high blood pressure and is found in large amounts in processed food.

Tip 10: Do everything with a degree of moderation – When you eat a meal, use a smaller plate, this will encourage one to eat less. There is no need to stuff oneself and constantly be eating. The brain needs time to receive the signals that you are full, so eat less and slow down. Eat more fresh food and prepare it yourself. Adding in a small amount of wine is a good treat and many wines contain resveratrol, another anti-inflammatory compound. Coffee has also been shown to be healthy with a number of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, so you can still enjoy your morning.

Changing your diet, eating less, eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, cooking your own food and improving your lifestyle can improve pain levels. Unfortunately, it does take a fair amount of dedication to change. However, if you keep doing things the same way all the time, the same results are going to occur. Consider the benefits of change to decrease pain and inflammation. For many chronic pain conditions there is no magical solution and changing your lifestyle is necessary to obtain the desired results.