What are the different mechanisms that affect how diet reduces pain?

Diet can decrease different types of pain via different mechanisms. For example, mechanical pain occurs due to disproportionate pressure on a muscle, bone, joint, or other tissue and the subsequent stimulation of mechanical nociceptors that signal pain. A diet that causes weight loss reduces the mechanical pressure of body weight on joints and bones, and this in turn can reduce pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis. Another example is inflammatory pain, which occurs when an inflammatory cascade involving the release of cytokines and mediators such as prostaglandins sensitizes the nerve fibers that produce pain signals. A diet high in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods might reduce the extent of an inflammatory cascade and therefore reduce pain in inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid-arthritis, multiple-sclerosis, and others. Finally, visceral pain initiates in certain internal organs such as the intestines, stomach, and the heart and may be precipitated simply by distention without injury. In this example, a diet that is easily digestible and doesn’t result in intestinal distention or bloating can reduce pain in conditions such as constipation, dysmenorrhea, and irritable-bowel-syndrome.^[1][2]