{"id":1410,"date":"2023-02-28T16:54:58","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T16:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/?p=1410"},"modified":"2023-02-28T16:54:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T16:54:59","slug":"anti-inflammatory-diet-could-help-reduce-low-back-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/?p=1410","title":{"rendered":"Anti-inflammatory Diet Could Help Reduce Low Back Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re one of the millions of Americans with low back pain<\/a>, chances are you\u2019ve tried a variety of lifestyle adjustments and remedies to improve your symptoms. Although it may help to upgrade to a high-tech mattress or an ergonomic office chair, new research suggests that you may be able to improve your back pain via a less obvious (and less expensive) route: by changing the foods you eat every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research<\/a>, presented at the February 2021 Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) digital conference, found a link between what people ate and their chances of having low back pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur findings suggest that diets that are more anti-inflammatory tend to be better for back pain,\u201d says Valerio Tonelli Enrico, a physical therapist, research assistant, and doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh, who presented the findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn anti-inflammatory diet<\/a> would include whole grains and lots of fruits and vegetables \u2014 similar to the Mediterranean diet<\/a>,\u201d Tonelli Enrico says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chronic Inflammation\u2019s Role in Disease and Pain<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Inflammation isn\u2019t always a bad thing: Acute inflammation is actually an important immune response that helps heal injuries or fight illness. But chronic inflammation \u2014 inflammation that occurs in healthy tissues or that lasts for months or years \u2014 can cause damage and contribute to many chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and depression, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.<\/a> Chronic inflammation can also play a role in conditions such as arthritis or back pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low back pain is the most common type of pain reported in the United States; one out of every four adults report having low back pain in the previous three months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Best Home Remedies for Low Back Pain: Advice From a Physical Therapist<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low Back Pain Is More Likely in People With a Pro-inflammatory Diet<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The study used data from the 2003\u20132004 National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) survey database and included 3,966 subjects. The incidence of back pain was assessed by whether or not a participant had experienced low back pain at any time in the three months before the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diet was evaluated through a survey in which participants were asked to recall all the foods they ate in a 24-hour period. Researchers used the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), a measure based on nearly 2,000 studies on different foods and their effect on different inflammatory markers, according to a paper published in 2019 in Advances in Nutrition<\/em><\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A DII score was assigned to each participant in the trial on the basis of the foods they reported eating; the higher the score, the more likely the diet was considered \u201cpro-inflammatory,\u201d or likely to cause inflammation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers ranked the participants and placed them into quartiles according to their DII score. People in the top quartile, who had the most inflammatory diet, had a 42 percent higher chance of having low back pain compared with the group with the least pro-inflammatory diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom my clinical experience, these findings make sense,\u201d says Ryanne Lachman, RDN<\/a>, a registered dietitian with the Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. \u201cWe do commonly see pain associated with inflammation,” she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA 42 percent higher chance of having low back pain with a pro-inflammatory diet is absolutely significant and worth paying attention to,\u201d says Lachman. The DII measurement tool and the inflammatory biomarkers the researchers used are both reliable sources of information, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe researchers controlled for physical activity, body mass index (BMI)<\/a>, and education, which adds some weight to their findings,\u201d says Lachman. Low back pain can be associated with a higher BMI<\/a>, and so it\u2019s meaningful that the improvements weren\u2019t just because some people on a low-inflammatory diet weighed less, she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: <\/strong>U.S. News & World Report\u2019s Best and Worst Diets of 2021<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Pro-Inflammatory Diet?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many of the foods that increase inflammation, or are \u201cpro-inflammatory,\u201d can be found in the standard American diet, also known as the SAD diet, says Lachman. \u201cThis is a diet where we consume mainly refined grains that are too easily absorbed and create lingering blood sugar problems and weight gain,\u201d she says. Sodas, fruit juices, trans fats, and meat from grain-fed animals can be pro-inflammatory as well, says Lachman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne source of inflammation that I think a lot of people don\u2019t realize are refined vegetable oils such as soybean oil, vegetable oil, and corn oil. They\u2019ve all gone through a high level of processing, and they contain omega-6 fats which are inherently pro-inflammatory,\u201d she says. These oils are not only used in cooking, but often used in baked goods such as cookies or cupcakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of these things aren\u2019t outright harmful in small doses, but when we have them embedded in every product, every processed food, and every restaurant uses them, that\u2019s when chronic inflammation can ensue \u2014 from chronic exposure,\u201d says Lachman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Good Fats vs. Bad Fats: Everything You Should Know About Fats and Heart Health<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anti-Inflammatory Diet More Likely to Improve Back Pain Related to Inflammation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For this study, everyone who had experienced lower back pain within a three-month period was included in the study, no matter what the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLow back pain is a complex syndrome that be caused by many different issues, and not all these individuals who experienced low back pain had inflammation as a main driving cause. Some people might have back pain because of an injury or mechanical issue,\u201d says Tonelli Enrico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflammatory back pain<\/a> is typically caused by a form of inflammatory arthritis, such as ankylosing spondylitis<\/a> or psoriatic arthritis<\/a>, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mechanical causes of back pain can result from such things as sleeping on a bad mattress, straining your back during a workout, or being injured in a fall or a car accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we can zero in on the subset of people with back pain where inflammation is the most important factor, I think that an anti-inflammatory diet might even make a bigger difference in reducing the likelihood of lower back pain,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expert Tips on Reducing Inflammation in Your Diet<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although diet may help improve pain, people shouldn\u2019t think that food has the immediate effect that pain medications may provide, says Lachman. \u201cIf you change your diet and don\u2019t feel different in the short-term, don\u2019t get discouraged,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following an anti-inflammatory diet isn\u2019t just about eliminating foods that cause inflammation, says Lachman. \u201cWe also need to eat enough of the kinds of foods that will reduce the triggers for inflammation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n