Full article on ScoliosisNutty website

I read a very interesting article on Espine news about sweets and pain so I thought I would discuss this for a moment, it caught my attention somewhat and so I looked back at the times when I have been in constant pain, did eating sweets or chocolate help my pain or was it all in mind?

Sweet foods have always been associated with "comfort eating" does this equate to the same feeling when in pain? Is it similar to comfort eating or is there more science behind this claim?

We all know that the fattier the food the tastier it is, this is because cutting out fat, will take away the palatability of food, fatty foods always taste nicer and this is due to the fat triggering the taste buds.

Nutritionists and other scientists have said for years that fat only provides texture to foods, and that pure fat itself doesn't have any taste. Fat has been thought to be a flavor carrier that could deliver taste and odor compounds derived from different parts of food, and as a component that provided texture and what food scientists call "mouth feel" in foods.

However, over recent years we have found this claim to be wrong and humans can indeed taste fat.

In a recent study carried out relating to sweets and pain and whether sweets do actually help Chronic Pain sufferers. ScienceBlog explains:

"They started with three types of smells: sweet and pleasant (caramel), unsweet and pleasant (after shave), and unpleasant (civet musk, which I hear smells awful). The inclusion of both sweet and unsweet pleasant smells allowed Prescott and Wilkie to distinguish between the analgesic effects of the pleasantness of the smell from that of the sweetness (apparently these two properties had been confounded in previous studies). The smells were placed on the inside of a mask, which participants were told was used to measure their breathing rate so that they would have no knowledge of the experiment's purpose. Participants put on the mask, and then placed their hands into a vat of water at 5° Celsius (41° Fahrenheit) for up to 4 minutes. They did this in two trials, separated by 15 minutes, one trial with the smell and one without (they wore the mask for both). The key measure was how long participants kept their hand in the cold water. Prescott and Wilkie also asked them to rate how intense the pain was right after putting their hands in, thirty seconds later, and when they pulled their hands out of the water."

So, my question to all Chronic pain sufferers out there, do you find sweets and chocolates help combat your Chronic pain or is it just a state of the mind, where the fat is released into the body giving you relief for a short space of time because your brain is now concentrating on the fat you have just given yourself?

Whether this appears to be true or not, try eating a few choccies or sweets next time your pain is unbearable and this might help you tolerate it more and get on with your day! ;)