3 Shockingly Common Foods That May Be Causing Your Back Pain

When you hear the word “inflammation” what comes to mind? Is it thoughts of your muscles or other tissues swelling, pain, and maybe even immobility? Inflammation is actually one of the primary causes of back pain and sciatica. Inflammation has been linked to other more serious conditions besides back pain, though, including diabetes, heart conditions, and even cancer in some cases. The degree to which you experience inflammation depends on a lot of different things. These might include how much exercise you get, how much sleep you get, how stressed you are in your day-to-day life, and even the foods that you eat. That’s right, what you eat may actually be causing you to experience back pain and sciatica. This might be difficult to wrap your mind around, but there is actually some solid scientific clout behind this. The typical American diet, as I’m sure you probably already know, isn’t very healthy. It consists of too much red meat, sugars, unhealthy fats, and processed foods. These four things not only lead to fat gain and obesity, but also inflammation. The three worst things you can eat are saturated fats, trans-fats, and foods with a high glycemic index. Saturated Fats - These fats are found in foods like bacon, eggs, fatty cuts of meat, and butter. Saturated fats actually help contribute to inflammation and back pain because, in a way, your body see them as a mild toxin. On of your body’s natural reactions to toxins is to swell or cause inflammation in order to protect the itself. Definitely make an effort to reduce these types of foods in your diet to reduce inflammation. Trans-Fats - These fats are very bad for you, and chances are you already recognize that since they often come in the form of donuts, cakes, muffins, and various fried fast foods. Many cities and countries have even got to the measure of completely banning these fats from being served in restaurants. Trans-fats contain bad cholesterol which will clog your arteries. This restricts blood flow and can result in your muscle and joints. Trans-fats have not been scientifically studied for very long, but it is believed that they cause inflammation in much the same way that saturated fats do. Foods with High Glycemic Index - The glycemic index (GI) represents how fast foods are absorbed by the body after being eaten. The higher the number, the faster they are absorbed. Common high GI foods are often considered carbs like pasta, rice, crackers, potatoes, and other “white” foods. High GI foods cause inflammation, because when we eat them, we get a quick spike in our blood sugar. Our body responds to this by releasing insulin to control blood sugar levels, but if this happens too frequently, inflammation will result. So, if it seems like you’ve tried just about every stretching exercise, painkiller, or other form of treatment out there with limited success, it might be worth it to investigate your diet. Try removing the 3 worst foods for inflammation from your diet and you might be surprised at the results you get with your back pain or sciatica pain.