Can Chocolate Cure Back Pain?

I was having a conversation with my girlfriend this morning and she wanted to know if chocolate can cure back pain. At first I thought that this was a really stupid question, and just a desperate excuse to each chocolate. But let’s take a look at some facts.

First though, I want you to understand that most back pain problems are caused by poor posture or muscular imbalances and that by correcting these issues you will probably notice the most significant improvement in back pain.

However, your diet can play a big role in inflammation. There are specific foods that can cause inflammation in your body and other foods that can relieve inflammation. Inflammation can cause pressure to be put on the nerves in your back and it can result in back pain. Your diet, actually can help or hurt your back. But where does chocolate fall in this debate?

Well, let’s take a closer look at exactly what sorts of foods cause and cure back pain.

The Ones That Hurt - These foods contain trans fats, saturated fats, and have a high glycemic index. You can probably recognize these foods as fast food, red meats, muffins, pastries, cakes, and other things that probably know on some level aren’t really good for you.

The Ones That Heal - These foods contain antioxidants, vitami
D, and omega 3 fatty acids. You might be able to recognize these foods as salmon, walnuts, blueberries, and other fish and fruits.

Already, we can see that this isn’t really looking good for the chocolate debate. But let’s take a look at chocolate itself.

Cacao, the plant that chocolate is made out of actually contains antioxidants. Antioxidants combat free radicals in your body, which you probably know if you’ve read any sort of health or nutrition research put out recently. But what you might not know is that free radicals can increase sensitivity to pain in the nerves in the spine. Antioxidants can help with this problem.

But don’t pour that gallon of chocolate syrup down your throat just yet. There’s more.

Notice that the last part was specifically about cacao, not chocolate as we know it in most western cultures. The chocolate bar you eat and the chocolate cake you look forward to on the weekend are filled with sugar and dairy products.

Most forms of chocolate have saturated fats in them, which are not in the “good for your back pain” category. The same with the dairy products that go into chocolate with their high glycemic index.

These foods actually increase the inflammation in your back and around your spinal nerves.

I’m sorry to say this, but most forms of chocolate will actually make your back pain worse. Yes, chocolate does contain some antioxidants, but that is like washing down a high-fat fast food meal with a diet soda and expecting that to make you lose weight.

If you want to use chocolate to relieve back pain, you’ll need to use 100% pure chocolate without the added sugars and dairy that make it taste so good to many people.