# Nutrition + Exercise ##### Untangling Pain --- ![](https://youtu.be/yrkJcLHyhhA) --- ## tl;dr **Diet and pain management** - Diet can significantly influence pain perception and management - Healthy diets, especially plant-based and Mediterranean, may reduce pain severity - Specific changes like gluten-free or omega-3-rich diets show promise for endometriosis - Diets high in anti-inflammatory ingredients may help if chronic inflammation is a driver - The exact way it works isn’t fully understood—every woman is unique - Small changes like reducing sugar or eating more vegetables can be a good start - It’s not about a big diet plan—just start where you are **Exercise and chronic pain** - Exercise has complex effects on pain—can help, but not always - In healthy people, it reduces pain sensitivity - In chronic pain, it can sometimes make things worse - I learned this early in my career—some clients got worse with exercise - Movement is essential, but intensity and type must be personal and safe - It’s about trial and error and adapting to what’s in your “cup” at the time **DIMs, SIMs, and movement** - Exercise can be a SIM or a DIM - If it’s a DIM, how can we turn it into a SIM? - Maybe it’s the type of exercise or even the trainer - You have to find what works for you - We want you to move, to build capacity—but in a way that’s right for you --- ## Transcript On to diet and nutrition. Now, diet can significantly influence pain perception and management of pain. This has been found in a number of different chronic pain conditions. So it's been found that sticking to a healthy diet, Especially plant based and Mediterranean type diets may actually reduce pain severity in patients with chronic pain. There was also a study that I came across that showed that specific dietary changes such as gluten or diets rich in omega 3, they've been, they've basically shown promise in alleviating pain associated with endometriosis. And I'm sure there's much more research out there, regarding these types of diets for different pain conditions. But looking at the research, basically diets high in anti inflammatory ingredients, which I'm sure you've all seen the diets that promote this, may help, especially if chronic inflammation is a driver of the pain. And, to be honest, that tends to be most chronic pain conditions. As always, the exact way that this works is not fully understood, and the exact diet, or the exact nutrients, they are not, well, exact. Every person, every woman, is unique, as I always say. But I think the key point is that looking at your diet may help. And remember, It doesn't need to be a great big huge change, it doesn't need to be a diet plan, a certain thing, like, a certain type of diet. Sometimes small changes, such as reducing sugar, which can influence and increase inflammation, or eating more vegetables. is a really good place to start. So again, it doesn't need to be an actual diet plan, specific, pain reducing diet that you need to start. It's not about that. But again, it's about looking Objectively at your diet and figuring out if there are changes that you could potentially begin to make. On to exercise and movement because obviously this part wouldn't be complete without me mentioning exercise and movement. It's probably because the main focus, I would say, when it comes to pain, people think that they need to exercise and move more in order to get away from the pain. Although that may be the case for some people, exercise can help. But, exercise actually has complex effects on pain perception, especially when it comes to chronic pain. In healthy individuals, so those without pain, exercise can reduce pain sensitivity. And that's what the research shows. But in those people who have chronic pain, that's not always the case with exercise. They don't always see an improvement in their pain. And sometimes exercising can actually increase pain. Now, I'm talking about what the research is finding, but I'm also talking from experience here as well. I've been working with people in pain and with exercise for over 20 years and I learned the hard way that this was the case, especially early on in my career. This research early on in my career wasn't known. This idea that exercise could make things worse. It was just believed. I'm saying this to a point because actually you've got the two sides of it. So when it comes to things like back pain, originally, it was believed that people just need, literally need to lie in bed all day. And not exercise and not do anything to do that. Now we know that's not the case. And then you've got on the other hand when it's something different. Sometimes it's just a case "oh, get on, get on with it go to the gym, go and exercise, go and work with this remedial therapist" or whatever it is. So when I worked with a few clients early on in my career, I was actually surprised to find that exercising made things worse. Even on paper, they were hardly doing anything at all. And so I really had to change my perspective and learn from these situations and work with the client and what they could do, because the truth is that regular physical exercise and activity it is hugely beneficial. We do need it. We need to move. But the actual type of movement, the actual intensity, it is very personal. When it comes to our bodies Perceiving a threat, we need to make sure we are moving in a way that feels safe, that reinforces that safety, and that feels good. And so yes, I want you to be moving, definitely. But how you're moving, and the intensity you're moving at, is very personal to you, and it's something that you need to figure out. And a lot of this is through trial and error, and remember Again, that we are looking at the overflowing cup. So sometimes you might be able to cope with more exercise, and more intense exercise. Other times, you may have so many other things in your cup, that you may not cope with a huge amount. And that's that's life. We just need to learn to adapt. When it comes to DIMs and SIMs, this is why I said that I can't state if something is a SIM for you. So exercise could be a SIM, and it is for a lot of people, a hell of people. It makes them feel safe, it makes them feel good, it makes that, it reduces that stress response. On the other hand, it may actually be a DIM for you, and we want it to become a SIM. So if it is a DIM, how can we make it become a SIM, is it that you need to change the type of exercise that you're doing? Is it that you if you're working with a trainer, is it the trainer that's actually the DIM? And actually you need to get a different trainer? It could be a number of different factors, so you need to know what works for you. We want you to exercise, we want you to move, we want you to, increase your capacity to be able to do more, physically do more. But how it is for you, how it works for you, that is something that you need to work through. --- Next lesson → [[Untangling Pain – Module 2 Lesson 07|next lesson]] %% - [[Diet Can Influence Pain Perception]] - [[Specific Dietary Changes and Endometriosis]] - [[Anti-Inflammatory Diets and Chronic Inflammation]] - [[Start Small with Diet Changes]] - [[Exercise and Movement in Pain Management]] - [[Complex Effects of Exercise on Pain]] - [[Shifts in Thinking Around Exercise and pain]] - [[Learning from Clients in pain]] - [[Personalised Exercise Is Key with pain]] - [[Moving with Awareness and Safety when it comes to pain]] - [[Exercise as a DIM or a SIM]]