Lower Back Pain and Weight Loss

Notice how the article title isn't "Lower Back Pain and Dieting"?

There's a reason for that, and you probably heard it before. While lifestyle changes work, diets don't. It makes a lot of sense, yet it's so widely overlooked by people from all walks of life, and that includes back pain sufferers.

There is at least one connection between extra weight and back pain: The spine is designed to sustain a certain amount of weight, when the spine is forced to carry an extra load, most of the added pressure is put on the lower back, which is the area most back pain sufferers complain about. Over one third of all adult Americans are categorized as obese; over 60% of all adult Americans are either overweight or obese. Lack of exercise in combination with a weakened muscular-skeletal system are a sure-fire recipe for back pain. Most people, when facing back pain, reduce their activity levels even more, which in turn results in weight gain, which result, at least partially, in added pressure on the lower back.

So how do most people treat back pain? The most common approach is drugs; analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, are used to treat mild to moderate back pain. Acute back pain is treated with opioids, which are considerably more potent and can only be purchased by prescription. Going back to anti-inflammatory drugs, you might find it interesting that one anti-inflammatory drug that is accessible to anyone is... food! There are food choices out there that are highly anti-inflammatory, and the beauty of that fact is that, provided that the right choices are made, one can cook and eat anti-inflammatory meals that will empower them in the fight against back pain; in addition, inflammation has been linked to other diseases like cancer, arthritis, etc. There are plenty of resources out there that can guide you in the search for anti-inflammatory foods.

Making the right food choices can and will change the way your entire body functions. Choosing your foods right and eating the amount that your body needs to function, are a must, whether you're suffering from back pain or you are in the best shape of your life. If you search the Internet for "nutrition", "weight loss", or any related terms, you'll find hundreds if not thousands of websites, articles and blogs on the topic. Some of them contradict each other, some claim to be the single best resource, while others are simply informative - those are my favourite.

From my experience, the one resource you need to listen to is your body reacting to whatever you put in it. You'll notice that you might feel less energetic after eating an entire bowl of pasta, or on the flip side, a balanced grilled chicken breast salad will make you feel nourished, light and energetic. Learn to listen to the signals your body gives you, tune in to the reaction it has to food and adjust your intake so it'll suit your body's needs. A few principles I learned to live by have been working for me, so I'll share them below. They're simple, yet easy to follow. This is not one of those " 8 tips to stay in shape" or "5 foods you should avoid if you don't want to stay obese", and so forth. They're just *some* principles that work if you apply them:

- Try to incorporate a a balanced percentage of all three food groups in your meals: protein, carbs, and fat. Personally, I go for 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat.

- Make sure your protein sources are high quality: white meats, lean beef cuts, skim cheese.

- Not all carbs are created equal; stay away from the refined ones like sugar, white bread, white pasta. You know which ones are not good, so it should be easy to avoid them.

- Fat needs to be a part of your every meal and it needs to be high quality fat, like olive oil. Nuts are also an excellent source of fat.

- Drink your water. Ditch the sodas.

- Eat well, but don't overfill yourself. You want to reach and maintain a healthy weight, so your spine will have to work only as hard as it should, as opposed to being overloaded with extra pounds.

Like I said, there are plenty of articles and resources out there, so feel free to try them out and adapt them to your needs.

The battle against back pain is not an easy one, so it needs to be carried out on all fronts: diet, exercise and a healthy mind. All three are interconnected and when you improve them all, there's no way you can't win this battle. I can't stress enough the importance of eating right and exercising. It's the combination that took me from suffering from back pain at 190-192 pounds and barely active, to 162-165 pounds, active, and most importantly, vibrant and happy. Oh, and back pain-free as well.