How your diet affects back pain
One of the first things you can do to overcome your back pain discomfort is to pay attention to your diet
We live in a fast paced environment today, with little time to spare. Couple this with added stress and a sedentary lifestyle, our diet is put on the back burner. Our diet and lifestyle not only contributes to those extra pounds that gained every year. It also plays a role in the development of disease - anxiety, depression, high cholesterol, bloating, brain fog, inflammation, and even back pain. All of the listed symptoms above can be related to your back pain, everything is connected
Dr. Fred Tabung, a visiting researcher with the Department of Nutrition at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health says a lot of chronic pain is the result of chronic inflammation, and the evidence is quite strong that your diet can contribute to increased systemic inflammation
What's the best way to reduce systemic inflammation? Diet
Diet is your best way to help with pain, inflammation, and even relaxing your muscles
But aren't people just lifting more heavy stuff to cause back pain? No.
Mechanical factors, such as lifting or carrying things, probably do not play a large role in back pain. Atherosclerosis can obstruct the arteries that feed the spine, and this diminished blood flow can result in various back problems.
It's been shown that people with long-term lower back pain have constricted blood flow, those with high cholesterol appear to suffer more severe symptoms. Those with the narrowed arteries appear to be about 8.5x more likely to have suffered from chronic back pain
We know that disc degeneration has multiple factors - with genetic, occupational, and some mechanical influences, changing nutrition has been proposed as the final common pathway. Which this makes sense. We know that the discs in our lower back are the largest "avascular" tissue in the body - meaning our discs don't have blood vessels (why it's slow to heal as well). The nutrition for the discs kind of diffuses in from the outside, making it incredibly vulnerable to deprivation
Structures with a vulnerable nutrient supply, such as the intervertebral discs, may suffer and gradually degenerate, as well as herniate. Besides having a link between cholesterol levels and disc degeneration, there is also a link between cholesterol levels and disc herniation
A compromised blood flow along the spine may also damage the nerve roots, causing sciatica. The nerve roots that are most associated with sciatic pain, are supplied by some of the arteries most vulnerable to atherosclerotic plaque formations. The blockage of these arteries compromise the nutrient supply to the nerve itself. The lack of oxygen to the nerve may play a role in the sciatic pain. The reduced blow flow would limit the removal of waste products, like lactic acid, which can irritate the nerve endings - causing pain and deterioration.
This is why we highly suggest working with our nutritionist in our Health coaching program if you've had recurrent back pain or chronic pain. Even though you're feeling the tension into the muscles, your pain is more than that! Diet is the missing link to get you feeling well again
The Problem:
One problem is that you're not going to find a study about the "perfect diet for back pain" or pain in general. You might find some things that show it may help or reduce pain but everyone is biologically different, hence our personalized approach to nutrition. There's 101+ different reasons for back pain and you can't generalize it for all back pain.