Diet and Nutrition Ideas for Back Pain

Back pain is often seen as a structural problem related to an injury, a degenerative illness, or poor posture. And it is true that these are often the main causes of the pain itself. Sometimes we need to take a step further back and see what we are doing which may be contributing to our back pain, or making it worse than it needs to be. And often there is an element of diet which has not been considered.

Tip! Try not to slouch while completing your housecleaning chores. If you notice that while you vacuum you have to bend over to reach and push the vacuum forward, your back will start to hurt.

Our whole bodies are one unit, working together. What happens to our heart will affect how our lungs and brain work? How our hormones are regulated will impact our appetite and mood. And the foods we eat are both the fuel and the building blocks for everything else that happens inside our bodies, including what goes into and happens to our backs.

And what we eat definitely affects how we experience back pain. Back pain does not happen in a vacuum. Like all other pains, changing our hormones will change how intensely we experience back pain. And depending on what is causing it, eating the right foods could actually promote healing and help get us to a place where we are no longer suffering back pain.

Tip! When moving heavy objects such as furniture, push it rather than pull it. Pulling on a heavy object places much strain on your back and spine.

Inflammatory foods can be very bad for someone with chronic back pain. Chronic back pain, that is back pain which we have on and off, or permanently, for over four months continually, is usually caused by a disease, not an illness or an injury. Whether your condition is autoimmune or allergy based, or just unknown, chances are inflammation is playing a huge role in how much pain you are experiencing.

Different people have different bodies, and you may find that grains, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, meats, citrus fruits, etc., cause inflammation in you. Working out which foods promote inflammation in your body and excluding them is a great way of reducing back pain.

You need to focus on your micronutrients if osteoporosis is a real risk for you. Calcium is a great place to start. Calcium deficiency is the leading cause of osteoporosis. If you eat dairy and digest it well, chances are you are getting enough calcium. If you are not able to eat dairy or do not digest it well, then you will need to consider dietary changes or even supplements to make sure you get enough calcium. 

Tip! When you have bad back pain, you need to try to calm the muscle spasms you are experiencing. The fastest, easiest way to accomplish this is by laying down and applying some heat directily to the tense, spasming muscles.

Collagen production also protects against osteoporosis. Collagen is a type of elastic protein which binds together all the cells in our bodies. And our bones are no exception: all those minerals are glued together with collagen. It is not enough to eat foods containing glucosamine and other compounds which our bodies use to make collagen. If you want to make collagen efficiently, you need to get enough iron and vitamin C.

Not only does under eating make it very hard to get all the nutrients your bones need, but not getting enough calories means your body does not have the energy to repair itself. If you do not, then you are at risk of osteoporosis and back pain.

Tip! Make sure that your home and work environment is set up safely. You do not want to have a bunch of stuff on the floor that you could easily trip on and seriously hurt your back.

Don't go too far the other way! The human body is designed to carry a certain amount of weight, in certain places. If we over eat we are adding weight our bodies can not handle, and this extra weight puts strain on the muscles around our spine. This not only causes back pain, but puts us at risk of serious injury, which could lead to future back pain.

 Sometimes we need to take a step further back and see what we are doing which may be contributing to our back pain, or making it worse than it needs to be. Like all other pains, changing our hormones will change how intensely we experience back pain. And depending on what is causing it, eating the right foods could actually promote healing and help get us to a place where we are no longer suffering back pain.

 Chronic back pain, that is back pain which we have on and off, or permanently, for over four months continually, is usually caused by a disease, not an injury or an illness. Working out which foods promote inflammation in your body and excluding them is a great way of reducing back pain.