Back when I was studying to be an Osteopath, my school was very holistic and used to teach us about the relationship between nutrition and pain.
It all made perfect sense in theory; good nutrition leads to the blood being healthier which can then supply the body with better nutrients and allow faster healing.
The problem was that I had never experienced this myself in any profound way and so I couldn’t tell if this was just good in theory or actually had substance.
In 2014 My Back Pain Began
Back in October of 2014 I was on a mission to get into great shape.
I was training hard, getting stronger, and most importantly; looking leaner.
Then one day as I was doing some squats, my back popped mid way through the set, causing me pain and a cold sweat in fear of the worst.
From then on my back was sore and I haven’t squatted heavy since.
Fast forward a couple of years later and my back, although much better, would still cause me some problems every now and then, occasionally flaring up and then disappearing again.
The Revelation Came In 2017
As we returned after our Christmas break, my better half and I did what we all do and weighed ourselves.
I was the heaviest I had ever been!
I was mortified.
In the build up to Christmas I had been eating an abundance of cakes, sweets, alcohol, desserts and every other festive treat going.
My sugar and processed food intake was through the roof!
At the start of the year my back was in constant pain.
There wasn’t much I could do to get out of pain, and even short car journeys which would have been fine before were causing me pain.
So we got into gear followed a low carbohydrate, high fat and medium protein diet.
We cut out all refined foods, ate an abundance of vegetables and really paid attention to eating super healthy.
We didn’t count calories and we certainly didn’t restrict our intake.
The Results?
Within days I noticed my weight started dropping off.
It was most likely going to be water weight at this point, but that’s normal.
But the thing I noticed the most was that within the first week, my constant back pain was about 95% better.
Within two weeks my back pain had gone!
Surely This Was Just A Coincidence?
For around three months my back pain had remained absolutely fine.
As Easter approached though my sugar intake rose again with the presence of Easter eggs… and so did my back pain.
So what did I do?
Cut out the sugar again and increased my fish oil supplement intake.
Guess what happened?
My back pain disappeared again.
My Advice To You
I’m not claiming that diet is a cure for all aches and pains.
What I am suggesting though is that with the right diet your body can deal with your long term aches and pains much more effectively and allow you to get back to feeling pain free much quicker.
There is a relationship between nutrition and chronic pain and this is very well researched.
If you can improve just one thing in your diet and lifestyle each week then it will all add up and give your body the ability to heal itself.
If you are ready to get out of pain and improve your health and you need help doing it then give me a call to see how we can work together.
Stay healthy,
Ashley