Healthy Food List #5: Best Nutrition For A Healthy Back (And No Back Pain)
Food list
These are foods rich in vitamins important for a healthy back. Since many foods contain several vitamins, there are overlaps in this list.
Dark green leafy vegetables and most orange vegetables and fruits: Contain Vitamin A , which helps repair tissue and in the formation of bone.
Meat products, such as liver, fish, red meat and poultry; dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese; and eggs: Contain Vitamin B12, which is necessary for healthy bone marrow and spine.
Strawberries, kiwi fruit and citrus fruits (e.g. oranges, guavas, grapefruits) and tomatoes; vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, red and green peppers, sweet potatoes and white potatoes: Contain Vitamin C, needed for development of collagen, which helps with problems caused by injured tendons, ligaments and vertebral discs, and also for keeping bones and other tissues strong.
Egg yolks, fish oils, fortified milk: Contain Vitamin D , which helps improve calcium absorption, which is important for the development of strong and healthy bones.
Liver, pork, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli, and dairy products: Contain Vitamin K, which is needed for the bones to properly use calcium.
Pork, fish, shellfish, red meat and poultry; lentils, beans, soy, eggs, grains, and green leafy vegetables: Contain Iron, which helps produce myoglobin, healthy muscles that are needed to support the spine.
Whole grains and whole-grain breads, beans, seeds, nuts, potatoes, avocados, bananas, kiwi fruit, shrimp, and green leafy vegetables: Contain magnesium, helps with relaxing and contracting of muscles, as well as maintaining muscle tone and bone density, important in preventing back problems.
Cheese, milk etc: Contain calcium, which helps maintain an optimal level of bone mass.
Drink lots of water: Water nourishes the spinal disk. Intervertebral discs consist largely of water (at birth, discs are about eighty percent water).
Avoid smoking: Research shows smoking damages the vascular structures of the discs and joints in the back, causing weakness that leads to low back pain.