The Importance of Healthy Fats for Pain Relief - Zanskar

The Importance of Healthy Fats for Pain Relief

Do you avoid fat like the plague?

Traditional nutritional dogma would have you believe that fat makes you fat. In fact, the exact opposite is true and science backs this truth up.

Not only does fat help you to burn fat and drop excess weight, but fat actually plays a key role in reducing pain and inflammation among many other important jobs in the body.

What Is 'Healthy' Fat?

Unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are healthy fats. The benefits of healthy fats include:

  • Building nerve tissue and hormones
  • Controlling inflammation
  • Developing and maintaining cells
  • Helping your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D, and K
  • Lowering bad cholesterol
  • Providing your body with lasting energy

Pain and Inflammation

NSAIDs (Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) are the most commonly used over-the-counter medicines as well as the most prescribed drugs for pain and inflammation. Our body produces special enzymes called cox-1 and cox-2 which are responsible for making what are called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins cause our tissues to swell as a result of an injury.

Pain pills can help to reduce pain and inflammation. Here is the problem, however, these medicines wreak havoc inside our cells. By causing increased levels of oxidative stress, our risk of heart disease, stroke, internal bleeding and kidney failure are also increased.

How does Healthy Fat help in Pain Relief?

  • You probably already know the importance of Calcium for your bone health.  However, you may not know that increasing calcium intake alone doesn't help in absorption. You need vitamins such as Vitamin D and Vitamin K to distribute calcium to the right places and help in absorption by blood stream. Both these are fat soluble vitamins, meaning fats are vehicle for these vitamins. Not taking enough fat or not being able to digest fats (role of healthy liver healthy gallbladder) will lead to osteoporosis and inflammation
  • According to a research by Okayama University, an essential fatty acid, called Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), can help to reduce chronic pain naturally. EPA belongs to the omega-3 group of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It’s something the body cannot synthesize on its own, making it essential that people get it in a dietary form. The research found that EPA can help naturally alleviate pain by reducing pain perception. This happens in the body when the EPA targets the transporter, which exacerbates the pain perception. During the process, the purigenic chemical transmission process is targeted and blocked, leading to reduced pain perception. 

Sources of Healthy Fats

  • Omega3s rich food such as fatty fish, meat and full-fat dairy products like yoghurt
  • Eggs
  • Seeds such as Chia seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds
  • Nuts such as walnuts, almonds and pistachios
  • Coconut and Olive oil
  • Dark chocolates 
  • Peanut butter

Avoid unhealthy fats

  • Harmful fats include saturated and trans fats, which increase cardiovascular disease risk. These are found in fried foods, fatty meats and full fat dairy products like cheese and butter.
  • Avoid products that contain partially hydrogenated oils, which are considered trans fats.
  • These are especially harmful because they not only raise your bad LDL cholesterol but also lower your good HDL cholesterol.
  • Beware of including too much fat since it has more than twice as many calories as protein and carbohydrates, providing 9 calories per gram versus 4 calories for protein and carbohydrates.

About Zanskar Health

If you have joint or muscle pain that makes it hard to move, Zanskar offers the most advanced full stack pain relief solutions for you.

Now available to purchase, Zanskar® Advanced Pain Healing Cream has a unique and safe formulation of natural ingredients like Arnica, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, MSM and Capsaicin, which is trusted by over 20L+ pain sufferers globally. It provides lasting relief from muscle and joint discomfort that you can feel good about. Get your fix today - buy now.

You can also gain access to therapeutic exercises and stretches for your condition by downloading the Zanskar Health physiotherapy mobile app. Additionally, you’ll have a personal care team to guide, support, and tailor our program to you, including behavioral and nutritional coaching.

Download our mobile app here 👉 download and track your exercise streak.

Medical Review: This article is written by Dr Nishtha Mittal (Senior Health Content Editor at Zanskar Health) and has been medically reviewed by Dr Rashi Goel (Senior Physiotherapist at Zanskar Health). This article and its contents are provided for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or professional services specific to you or your medical condition.

Related Articles