Chemical (Nutritional) Causes of Back Pain

"We are what we eat and that can cause back pain" is a statement that always causes patients to raise their eyebrows and look at me quizzically. Their skepticism generally arises because in the Western view of medicine, our bodies are viewed as a nonintegrated collection of separate systems, and the idea that diet could cause back pain is revolutionary. It comes down to the head-scratching question: How could something you eat affect your back?

Because we get such surprised responses when we start asking people about what they eat, there are plenty of days when I think it would be easier to say to a patient, "Yeah, you're right...it's that disc that's bothering you. We'll do some adjustments. You should put heat [or ice] on it, and come back next week." Instead, our office is committed to educating our patients on how a chemical or dietary imbalance can contribute to back pain.

Have you ever had a hangover? At some point most people have. And how did you feel? "Nauseous" and "achy all over" are usually among the symptoms. If what you eat or drink has nothing to do with your musculoskeletal system, why do you feel so sick and achy after drinking too much? And what do you do for relief? Usually you take some kind of medication, such as an anti-inflammatory or muscle relaxant. Now you can clearly see the chemical/dietary connection.

Because our bodies are very advanced machines, it makes sense that the quality of the "fuel" we put in it makes a difference. Just as your car functions poorly with dirty oil or conks out without enough gas, your body relies on the excellence of what you put into it.

In Finland, researchers conducted autopsies on people who had died from non-back-related causes but were on record as having suffered from back pain. What they discovered was that people who suffered back pain were more likely to have blocked arteries to the spine than were the comparison group of people who did not have back pain. The average person with back pain was found to have two arteries to the lower back completely blocked and at least one more artery narrowed. This is a notable example of how proper circulation brings nutrients to the spine and removes the cells' waste products. If this isn't happening efficiently, inflammation can result.

Unfortunately, average Americans are not good nutritionists. They'll eat almost anything! It is remarkable how quickly perfectly sane people will take up with the latest fad diet. Shortly after the news media writes about the most recent food-related study, a new diet will have been created to capitalize on the findings. In the early 1990s, everything was low fat, even though some fat is a vital component to health. Then Americans switched to a high-fat, low-carb diet, even though carbohydrates are vital for health.

Now we're swinging toward super-enriched foods, which can also be quite problematic. For example, many breakfast cereals now advertise that they contain 100 percent of our daily requirement of fiber. Although these cereals might be great for you if that's all you ate all day, you don't really need to pack every ounce of fiber into your morning meal. What's wrong with eating healthy foods throughout the day? The same goes regarding the current fad for vitamins and nutritional supplements. Since most of us don't know what we're really eating in the first place, loading up on excess-or even harmful-supplements is not the way to compensate for poor eating habits.

The simple fact is that extremes of anything are not healthy. Too much in the way of simple carbohydrates can lead to diabetes; too much protein can lead to ketoacidosis (a harmful process that breaks down tissues); too much fiber can lead to gas and bloating and digestive issues, all of which can affect arthritis and back pain.