Standard American diet causes chronic pain and inflammation, study shows – it is high in the wrong kind of fat

Add chronic pain and inflammation to the ailments a Western-style diet triggers, such as obesity, heart disease and cancer. The cause? Too many omega-6 fats

These fats are largely found in processed foods, and researchers have linked them to the sensation of burning pain. More oily fish and walnuts are the answer

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The Western-style diet of processed and high-fat foods has been linked to neuropathic, or nerve, pain by researchers. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:15pm, 1 Jul 2021Updated: 12:09pm, 2 Jul 2021

The Western-style diet – also called the meat-sweet diet or standard American diet – is associated with many ills, and now chronic pain may be added to the list.

The diet generally has servings that are too large, with plenty of high-fat foods, high-sugar desserts and drinks, red meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products. It generally lacks fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts and seeds. It has been linked to obesity, heart disease, cancer and a host of other ailments.

Fats provide important health benefits, but you can have too much of a good thing. Most people eat too much food high in omega-6 fats and not enough that is high in omega-3 fats. A new study looks at the potential for omega-6 fats’ influence on neuropathic pain – often described as shooting or burning pain – in people with diabetes and other conditions.

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio studied the effects of omega-6 fatty acids by measuring their role in pain conditions and found that the substances seem to cause pain and inflammation.

Healthy omega-3 fats are found in oily fish and other sources including flaxseed and nuts. Photo: Shutterstock

The abundance of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats prominent in the typical Western diet “served as a significant risk factor for both inflammatory and neuropathic pain”, the researchers said.

Diabetes, autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular diseases are known to be affected by what we eat, the researchers said. But excessive consumption of omega-6 fats, found largely in processed foods, had not been studied in terms of the fatty acids themselves and their role specifically in pain.