Nutrition is a powerful way of influencing your spinal health

Along with exercise, nutrition is the best way to manage your back pain on a daily basis. Whether you are looking to keep pain away, or if you are living with chronic back pain, choosing the right foods allows you to provide embattled parts of your body with the nutrients they need to heal and maintain strength. It is also a key way of maintaining a healthy target weight that prevents you from overburdening your spine with excess pounds. The basic dietary formula to account for back pain includes plenty of water, lots of lean proteins and healthy fats. Complex (not simple) carbohydrates are also important for providing vitamins, minerals and fiber to the diet. 

Exercise control over your back pain by making the right dietary choices

Foods for back pain follow general health guidelines with a further emphasis on healthy fats, green leafy vegetables, berries and nuts to help fight inflammation. Here are our green light foods for back pain:

• Fruits and vegetables for a high fiber element 
• Potassium-rich foods for muscle and nerve function
• Omega-3 fats found in fatty fish and flax seeds, for example, to fight inflammation
• Lean protein, of the kind you find in chicken, beans and eggs to help with cellular repair

Foods to avoid also follow general health guidelines, but note that their impact is even heavier on people who already have chronic pain:

• Added/refined sugar
• Processed foods 
• Refined oils 
• Sugary drinks
• Alcohol and tobacco

It goes without saying that these foods have been exposed to be devoid of nutrients while being associated with obesity, which adds a heavier burden onto your spinal cord. 

Houston’s spinal specialists 

At Holmes Chiropractic, we specialize in helping people use natural methods such as nutrition to account for their back pain. We combine spinal adjustment with other chiropractic modalities, exercise and nutrition to help you achieve balance in the body and keep pain at bay. If you are interested in developing an individualied plan to account for your back pain, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment today.