Dietary changes are often implemented to help relieve a medical or health condition. If you have lower back pain, you may be wondering if your diet plays a role in how much pain you feel. The Macrobiotic Diet may help reduce your pain by strictly restricting what types of foods you are allowed to eat. Speak with your doctor about your lower back pain, as well as whether the Macrobiotic Diet may help relieve your symptoms.
Macrobiotic Diet
The Macrobiotic Diet is a restrictive eating plan that focuses on natural and unprocessed foods, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. It includes healthy fats while restricting unhealthy saturated fats. On the Macrobiotic Diet, half of your daily intake of food is in the form of whole grains. Another 25 percent of your daily food intake is vegetables. The remaining 25 percent of your food is from sea vegetables, soup, fruits, nuts, seeds and protein sources like fish.
Lower Back Pain
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, back pain is the second most common neurological disorder in the United States. Of the two types of lower back pain, acute pain lasts for a short time and is often a result of trauma or injury. Chronic pain lasts for longer than three months, and the cause is not always easy to determine. If you experience lower back pain, you know how uncomfortable and frustrating it can be to go about your daily activities. Your doctor can recommend pain-relieving strategies, but your diet may also play a role.
Connections
While the pain-relieving effects of the Macrobiotic Diet have not been proven in clinical trials, some people claim to experience relief after incorporating the diet into their lives. The concept of the Macrobiotic Diet is based on yin and yang, which help create a balance in all areas of your life, including your eating habits, Paul Insel notes in his book "Nutrition." The Macrobiotic Diet claims to improve physical health, including a reduction in pain. The theory is that eating a healthy balance of certain foods enables your body to work properly, which may reduce the presence of pain. Ask your doctor if the Macrobiotic Diet is healthy and appropriate for the cause of your lower back pain.
Considerations
Do not attempt to relieve your lower back pain by going on the Macrobiotic Diet without the approval of your doctor. Because of the restrictions on what you can eat, you may experience nutritional deficiencies. Calcium is one nutrient that may be lacking when you go on the Macrobiotic Diet, which can ultimately decrease the health of your lower back by placing your bones in danger of fractures or thinning. You may also become deficient in iron because you are not permitted to eat a variety of meat. Simply restricting certain foods from your diet is not guaranteed to relieve your lower back pain. If you continue to have pain, speak with your doctor about alternate treatments.
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