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Word Count: 764 Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2009 8:17 AM

Is Your Diet Causing Your Pain?

You know that what you eat will have an effect on your overall health. Some foods are good for the body, and some just aren't. Some foods help to slim you down, and some make you bulk right up. If you pay attention to your diet, then you already know that eating foods with certain vitamins or minerals or fats (or even drinking a cup of green tea) will have a great effect on your health. Which means that you know everything you need to, right?

Not really. Because different foods affect your health in more ways than one. In fact, some foods --even some well-known healthy foods-- can actually cause you pain. Pain-causing foods are found all across your diet spectrum and what you eat may be causing your aches and pains without you even knowing it.

Tomatoes and Citrus

Tomatoes, oranges, grapefruits, lemons these are all healthy foods, right? Right. But that doesn't necessarily mean that everybody should eat them whenever they want. In fact, for many people --especially those than suffer from acid reflux disease or frequent heartburn-- eating these sweet and tangy fruits is just asking for pain.

Why? Because of how these acidic foods affect the lower esophagus. When you toss a few tomato wedges in your afternoon salad or eat a grapefruit-half for breakfast, it causes the lower esophageal sphincter to relax. Sometimes, this allows stomach acids to rise into the esophagus, causing pain and heartburn.

If you experience heartburn, it doesn't mean that you need to give up on tomatoes and citrus altogether. But it does mean that eating them before you go to bed (and don't have the assistance of gravity to keep stomach acids in their place) is not a great idea.

Cheese

Were you tempted to name your free internet dating profile BrieBabe or CheddarCutie? Don't worry you're not alone in your passion for cheese. Cheese is one of those foods that most people just can't get enough of-- it's practically perfect in every way. Which is why the average American eats about 32 pounds of the stuff every year.

Unfortunately, though, cheese is also quite bad for your health. In addition to raising your cholesterol and adding a hefty number of calories to your daily count, cheese also adds to the body's inflammation. The type of protein in cheese seems to act on some people like an allergic reaction, causing pain and inflammation and worsening the symptoms of arthritis.

Very Fatty Foods

If it comes out of a deep fryer or you have to blot it on paper towels before eating it, chances are the snack you're about to eat could be causing your arthritis pain. The saturated fatty acids found in some fried foods (and especially fatty meats like bacon) make your body form arachidonic acid, which leads to inflammation through the body. And the main result of all that inflammation? More pain, of course.

Chocolate

First we go after cheese and then we attack chocolate. Unfortunately, though, we have to. Even though chocolate is actually good for your health in many ways, for some it's a real pain. Literally. In fact, eating too much of this rich and wonderful snack can bring on a migraine in some people. Why? Because phenylethylamine, a chemical found in chocolate, affects some people adversely, causing bad headaches. For very sensitive migraine sufferers, even a taste of chocolate (especially dark chocolate) is enough to cause a reaction.

Potato Chips

Is there anybody in the world who doesn't love potato chips (and have a hard time resisting eating a whole bag of them like I do)? Unfortunately, if you have any problems with arthritis or inflammation, potato chips are another food to be avoided. Potato chips don't just cause the body pain because they're high in saturated fat (and therefore cause inflammation), but also because of the potatoes themselves. Potatoes are members of the nightshade family, the consumption of which can cause pain in some people. The proteins found in potatoes also tend to affect some eaters adversely, causing migraines and arthritic pain.

I'm a firm believer in eating with moderation. If there's a food you love, you don't necessarily need to avoid it altogether. Unless, of course, it's causing you pain. Sure, sometimes that grilled cheese sandwich seems impossible to resist. But if eating it leaves you aching and unhappy is it really worth it?

About the Author

This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where we always offer free internet dating. Datepad has a massive directory of informative free dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on our dating blog.