The Right Supplements Help!
One reason why patients experience chronic pain is escalated inflammation. While acute inflammation can help fight off infections, heal wounds, and encourage muscle growth after work outs, chronic inflammation is almost always a destructive force. We’ll delve more deeply into the specific biochemical pathways that link chronic pain and chronic inflammation, but for now, suffice to say that anything we can do to reduce chronic inflammation will help us.
The supplement market is filled with products promising to reduce inflammation, but keep in mind that these claims do not have to be backed by science. In the United States, supplements are minimally regulated. In fact, independent tests continue to demonstrate that many of the supplements that earn their manufacturers many millions of dollars every year do not even contain what their labels claim they contain, much less perform as advertised.
START WITH AMINO ACIDS
There is strong scientific evidence that certain supplements, such as amino acids, do indeed reduce inflammatory markers in the human bloodstream. Clinical trials show that a reduction in inflammatory markers corelates with a reduction in daily pain scores. Hence, it should not come as a surprise that patients with chronic pain who consistently supplement amino acids report feeling better and moving more easily.
HOW AMINO ACIDS HELP:
Amino acids are the building blocks for protein. Patients in chronic pain “burn through” protein more quickly, primarily because the body’s own pain fighting chemicals, aka endorphins, are consumed at higher rates to combat continuous pain (Tenant et.al., “Amino Acids and Diet in Chronic Pain Management”, 2011). Patients with chronic pain must maintain a high protein intake to ensure that enough amino acids are reaching the cells involved in manufacturing endogenous pain fighting chemicals.
A diet rich in protein is foundational to healthy amino acid levels, but even patients who are informed and focused upon good nutrition will miss the mark from time to time. Here is where the right supplementation helps.
There are 21 amino acids in total, each one playing a role in protein building. The human body can synthesize all but nine of the 21. These nine are referred to as “essential amino acids”. We must get them directly from what we consume. If the intake of one or more of these essential amino acids is inadequate, our health will be compromised. We have no metabolic work-around, no way to make the nine essential amino acids from other amino acids or proteins.
For patients is chronic pain, the outcome of an essential amino acid shortage is predictable: reduced muscle mass, decreased strength, more inflammation, less pain fighting capability, increased misery.
Supplementation with quality essential amino acids is the surest way to prevent this unfortunate outcome. You can choose powder or tablet form, but you’ll need to supplement twice daily, taking the aminos with cold water on an empty stomach to get the best effect.
Perfect Amino is a product that is high quality, independently tested, and reasonably priced. I prefer the tablet form for convenience. I take 5-10 tablets in the morning in lieu of breakfast, and then I take 5-10 tablets in the evening. If I am planning to exercise, I’ll take that second dose about thirty minutes before my workout.
No supplement will replace a sound diet, but essential amino acids help ensure that nutritional gaps are filled. If you are just starting supplementation, I recommend you make essential amino acids the first part of your program. They are almost always well-tolerated, they support multiple essential metabolic processes, they help preserve muscle mass, and over time, they’ll help reduce your pain levels.
In the next blog, we’ll discuss other supplements that will help reduce pain levels and support increased activity.