What does food actually have to do with back pain? And why is healthy nutrition important for back problems? Below I would like to share my knowledge about the influence of diet on back pain.

We like to focus on healthy food and the effect this has on physical complaints such as back pain. Many clients forget that nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are important to work on a healthy back.

Because did you know, for example, that an intervertebral disc of your back consists largely of water? This is one of the reasons why it is so important to drink enough water when you have back problems. Below I would like to share my knowledge about the influence of diet on back pain.

Overweight and back pain

Today many people are overweight. This can affect your back problems. In our daily lives, the load on the back is already very high. When you are overweight, it puts an even greater strain on the spine: one of the reasons why healthy eating is so important!

An important aspect when it comes to losing weight is that you watch your calorie intake. When you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. Healthy choices do not always mean that you lose weight: for example, a handful of nuts quickly contains a large amount of calories! Just taking in fewer calories than you consume daily will decrease your weight. When you lose weight, you will notice that moving is easier. As a result, you start to feel fitter and you feel like moving again. And moving is good for the back!

Healthy eating and back pain

Healthy eating, where do you start? What is and is not healthy? Try to eat mainly raw products and avoid sugar, sweeteners and E numbers as much as possible. A tip: read the packaging and see which ingredients are in a product. Good to know is that the ingredients are listed in the order of quantity. The most common ingredient in the product is at the front. So when ‘sugar’ is mentioned on the packaging as the first ingredient (or one of the many sugars such as fructose and glucose), you may be better off leaving this product.

Vary in healthy nutrition

Try to vary as much as possible. Do you eat the same thing every day as breakfast and / or lunch? And do these meals mainly consist of bread? Then try something different and take a salad for lunch, for example. Be creative! Salads allow you to vary endlessly and make a healthy, but above all nutritious lunch quickly and easily. My own favorite is a quinoa salad with tomatoes, egg, avocado and some nuts!

Drink water for back pain!

Drinking enough water can give you best support to delay sciatica nerve pain treatments. The intervertebral discs of your back consist largely of water. These act in our body as a kind of shock absorbers. During your daily activities such as work and sports, the pressure on the intervertebral disc increases. If you drink too little, the disc’s fluid balance will be disturbed, which can affect low back pain. That is why it is important to drink enough water when dealing with back problems.

In addition, our muscles consist of 75% percent water and a shortage of water can cause the muscles to function less well. Water shortage can also cause muscle cramps. With the following formula you can calculate the minimum amount of fluid you should drink in a day: 0.03 x your body weight = the amount of liters of water.