Can Food Help Your Back Pain?

Back pain cost society more than 30 billion dollars! A ten fold increase since 1997.   Recent evidence shows that eating certain non-inflammatory foods can help decrease your pain.

 So what should we do to take advantage of this information?

Eat more:

• Cherries, or tart cherry juice
• Olive oil
• (such as in a salad dressing, drizzled over pasta or veggies.   less value if you use it for cooking)
• Canned salmon, sardines packed in water or olive oil, mackerel, albacore tuna (preferably wild caught)
• flaxseed
• Vegetable protein
• Vegetables and fruits of every color
• Nuts of all kinds
• Green Tea
• Ginger- try steeping some grated root with boiling water

Eat LESS:

• Corn oil, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed , or mixed vegetable oils
• Margarine and vegetable shortening
• Processed foods
• Products containing high fructose corn syrup
• Foods high in saturated fat, including meat, tropical oils and full fat dairy
• Foods made with trans fats

A lack of vitamin D may also contribute to low back pain.  In one study 80% of people who had chronic low back pain also were deficient in vitamin D. When they began taking supplemental D their back pain improved.

This anti-inflammatory way of eating is great for ANY inflammatory condition, aim to eat this way all of the time!