Nutritional Supplements in Pain Practice

The body produces its own powerful pain–modulating neurotransmitters. Chronic pain and other chronic stressors, combined with a diet low in protein, can create deficiencies in the three most critical of these pain–modulators: serotonin, gamma–amino–butyric acid (GABA), and endorphin. This article targets the use of diet and amino acids in the optimization of the endogenous opiates, the endorphins – our most potent natural analgesics. Utilizing milk thistle to detoxify a liver may maximize pain relief by reducing the challenge to a chronic pain patient’s liver attempting to metabolize an opioid and adjunctive medication regimen.

Practical Pain Management, 01/05/10