Healing Foods For Back Pain

The fact that certain foods can be used to reduce the symptoms of back pain has been known by athletes for some time.

For example, when you sweat you lose minerals and trace elements from your body. If these are not replaced, you are likely to suffer from muscle pains and cramps in your back.

This is why you often see athletes drinking special drink formulations, as these help to replenish the body with the minerals it has lost.

Eating To Prevent Back Pain

Sodium and potassium are two important things that need to be replaced after sweating. Sodium can be obtained from a chicken or beef bouillon, whilst potassium can be obtained from bananas.

Another important nutrient when it comes to preventing muscle pains and cramps is calcium. This can best be obtained through dark green vegetables such as broccoli.

Although many people think that milk is a good source of calcium, actually it is not, because the calcium in cow’s milk is poorly absorbed by the body.

Cow’s milk can also cause some people to develop arthritis like symptoms later in life which can lead to very painful spinal discomfort.

In addition to helping to reduce the occurrence of muscle pains in your back, when combined with magnesium and vitamin D, calcium can be an effective way to help strengthen your bones and reduce the likelihood of more serious back problems from occurring later in life.

Inflammation And Back Pain

Inflammation can very often lead to long term chronic back pain, and one of the major causes of inflammation are the foods you eat on a daily basis.

Put quite simply, eating sugary, refined and processed foods can cause you to develop back pain or make existing back pain worse.

Some of the foods which can cause back pain include:

• Sugar, from any source
• Processed foods
• French Fries
• Fast Foods
• White bread
• Pasta
• Ice Cream
• Cheddar Cheeses
• Snack Foods
• Oils such as vegetable and corn
• Soda, caffeine and alcohol
• White flour

It is worth mentioning that milk and any food containing gluten can also cause back problems and bone problems in general.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods For Back Pain

Fortunately, nature has provided us with many anti-inflammatory foods which help to reduce the back pain that it typically associated with inflammation.

Some of anti-inflammatory foods to eat for back pain include:

• Atlantic Salmon
• Fresh whole fruits, vegetables
• Bright multi-colored vegetables
• Water
• Olive oil
• Lean poultry
• Cod liver oil
• Nuts, legumes and seeds
• Dark green leafy vegetables
• Old fashioned oatmeal
• Turmeric and Ginger

Out of all of these, turmeric is perhaps the most powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-aging spice that you can take. It has tremendous power as a healer, and offers truly remarkable health benefits.

Turmeric For Back Pain

The ingredient in turmeric which is thought to be responsible for its anti-inflammatory abilities is curcumin.

As such, you are likely to find curcumin capsules offering a high level of curcumin content which could not normally be found in the turmeric spice alone.

If you are planning on taking turmeric in its spice form for back pain, below are some tips on how to increase its bioavailability so that it is better absorbed by the body.

Turmeric – Back Pain Remedy

• Put a teaspoon of turmeric and a little black pepper into a cup and mix it into boiling water.

• Allow to cool, and then try to drink it directly after a meal which contains fat. Alternatively, you can eat fats such as cod liver oil* or coconut oil from a spoon and then take your turmeric.

• To further increase bioavailability, take a digestive supplement with your turmeric.

* Cod liver oil contains vitamin D which is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Some medical practitioners recommend taking 5000 IU of vitamin D daily.

Turmeric is definitely something you want to be taking on a daily basis if you have back pain, or are just interested in slowing down aging and detoxifying the body.

So whether you take it in spice form or tablet form, just be sure you do!

Teas For Back Pain

Drinking tea can be an easy and convenient way to reduce the symptoms of back pain. Two teas which can be especially helpful are rooibos tea and green tea, as both contain many powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-aging compounds.

Of course, drinking tea alone won’t cure your back pain, but when combined with some of the other suggestions in this article, it can certainly help to make your life a lot more comfortable.