Diet, like stress, is one of those factors in back care that is often omitted in physician reports as a possible cause of a problem €" yet, just like our thoughts and emotions can affect our physical wellbeing, it should be no surprise that what we eat is also a major factor; diet has far-reaching effects to most health matters so why should it be any different for low back pain?
Feeding Your Back
What does your back need to maintain its health?
This simple question is one that not enough people ask and therefore it is an area that is not focused enough on, in fixing back pain problems.
Your back is made up of bones, muscles, nerves, ligaments, tendons and so on. Just like everywhere else in your body, if your bones and tissues are not receiving exercise and the right nutrients, then they are more susceptible to fatigue, stress and injury and may not function properly.
With the lower back, it is a key support mechanism of the body, so a problem here affects the whole body; everything is connected, so it's particularly important to maintain the supportive muscles and bones of this area.
Going Raw
It's not rocket science that you need to be putting the right foods into your body to maintain health €" yet people still expect €junk€ and highly processed foods to do the job!
If you focus on reducing the amount of processed food and going €Raw€ wherever possible, while getting a good balance of all the important food groups like complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals, then you will see benefits for not only your back but for your overall wellbeing.
You should see great benefits quickly if you start including plenty of vegetables (mainly the green kind), fresh fruits, lean grass fed meats, nuts and superfoods such as chia seeds. You have to ask yourself, €am I eating food, or food like products?€
Power Foods
Power foods provide high amounts of energy released slowly. They are not about getting a quick energy €hit€ like with an energy drink. They provide a continuous supply of fuel to your muscles so that they can do their job of supporting and protecting the spine.
One of the latest products to be shown to have superfood capabilities including the ability to add much needed fibre and omega-3 fatty acids to your diet using whole food is Chia seeds. Keep in mind that Chia seeds as with any product you purchase in a retail setting can vary in the quality you are provided. We will be discussing chia in more depth in upcoming blogs post due to their ability to significantly help create an anti-inflammatory environment within your body along with numerous other benefits related to your health.
Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins and minerals play a crucial role in maintaining general health and especially with the immune and digestive systems, helping your body use the energy from food where it's needed and protecting it from disease and infection.
We will be discussing some of the more important vitamins in future blogs but for now, here are a few vitamins and minerals to pay special attention to:
- Calcium and Magnesium€" to keep your bones strong and resilient and maintain healthy muscle and nerve function
- Vitamin D- maintains bone health and aids calcium absorption which is essential for a healthy lower back.
- Vitamin C €" also assists calcium absorption to promote healthy bones and aid healing; also strengthens the immune system
- B Vitamins €" this group of vitamins includes B1, B6 and B12, which can reduce inflammation and nourish nerves
- Vitamin E €" inflammations can cause the release of toxic free radicals in your lower back, which worsen the inflammation. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that fights the free radicals.
Keep It Regular!
Not only do you need to eat the right foods, but you need to do that regularly, so your lower back muscles are receiving regular doses of all the right nutrients to maintain support.
Remember fatigue-related injuries to the lower back are common €" and fatigue can result from not eating the right foods regularly enough.
You can see that adapting your diet to include more of the right foods that your body needs can reap rich rewards for your health and wellbeing generally and can help prevent or reduce the harmful effects of low back pain.