9 Foods That Prevent Joint Inflammation in Your Back
It’s Monday. You wake up, grab a coffee, maybe a donut and begin your week. You work hard Monday through Friday so when the weekend finally arrives, you are ready to relax. You earned it after all. On Saturday, maybe you want to decompress with a glass of wine or two followed by a “cheat day” where you can actually eat what you want. Monday arrives — and you have to do it all over again while in severe back pain. Life isn’t easy, but with proper nutrition and diet, you may be able to actually manage that pain by controlling what you put into your body. Sustaining a well-balanced diet aids in strengthening your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. Sciatica and back pain is actually heightened by obesity making it a necessity to trim that unwanted belly fat by finally understanding the link between what you eat, how you feel and your back pain levels.
Second generation chiropractor, pain expert and author of 3 Weeks to a Better Back, Dr. Todd Sinett confirms the link between consuming large amounts of inflammatory sugary foods and how it can actually prolong your back pain in addition to nerve and muscle discomfort.
“I want you to realize and pay attention to how you feel after you eat certain foods,” said Sinett. Do you ever notice subsequent to eating sugary foods you may feel sluggish, unmotivated and in more back pain than before? This is not a coincidence. “Major dietary causes of back pain, include excessive caffeine, alcohol, and sugar–all things that increase cortisol levels,” Sinett explained. “When there’s excess cortisol in the body, connective tissue can get inflamed, causing pain.” Processed foods, fast foods, as well as saturated fats fuel inflammation making french fries and Big Macs a key ingredient in enhancing your back pain. They may taste delicious at the time you are inputting them into your mouth, but they do more harm than good.
“Left unchecked, inflammation will run rampant through your body, causing all kinds of problems, including low-back pain,” Michael Perry M.D., said, co-founder of Laser Spine Institute and head medical director. “That’s why creating an anti-inflammatory diet with foods that help you maintain good nutrition is important to managing back pain.”
Now that you know what not to eat, you may be thinking, “So what foods can I actually eat to help decrease my back pain levels?”
Luckily, in today’s modern world, there are substitutes for almost anything.
Examples of Foods that Cause Inflammation and Should be Avoided:
Enhance your bland salad with dark leafy greens, raw walnuts, avocados and a homemade house vinaigrette. Make cooking something to look forward to again. Chronic back pain sufferers need a high-protein, low-carb and inflammatory diet. Healthy food can still be fun so you don’t have to forgo the taste in order to maintain a well-balanced regime. Get creative!
Simply remember: The greener the better (Kale, spinach, and broccoli).
Below you will find a comprehensive list of the top 9 foods you should consider adding to your diet as a chronic back pain sufferer. We did the research so you don’t have too.
“Deeply colored fruits and vegetables are a key part of an anti-inflammatory diet,” Dana Greene, MS, RD, LDN, an expert nutritionist of Brookline, MA said. “If you’re looking for foods that reduce back pain and are loaded with nutrition, try carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, cherries, berries, grapes and red wine, pomegranate and watermelon.” “Herbs and spices, including basil, cinnamon, ginger, rosemary, garlic, curcumin, onions, oregano and turmeric tend to be especially rich in anti-inflammatory agents, so season generously. Also, drink healthy herb teas and true teas (green, oolong, and white).” Consuming the items listed on the chart, as well as directly above, display essential signs in decreasing inflammatory levels throughout the cartilage in your spinal column — assisting in relieving your back pain and overall flexibility.
“Major dietary causes of back pain, include excessive caffeine, alcohol, and sugar–all things that increase cortisol levels. When there’s excess cortisol in the body, connective tissue can get inflamed, causing pain.”
Other healthy foods to consider include nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, and Brazil nuts) and lean proteins such as chicken and turkey, beans and even cocoa — especially dark chocolate, which has antioxidant properties. See, eating healthy doesn’t have taste bad.
Greek physician and the “father of modern medicine,” Hippocrates, once said, “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food.”
We want to hear from you! Share your experiences on how the foods you consume help or hurt your back pain. After all, everyone has to eat in order to live so we might as well try to eat healthy and live the best life we possibly can.
Back Pain Nutrition Cheat Sheet — Infographic:
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Originally published at backernation.com.
