Title: "Nutrition for Back Pain Relief: Foods That Support a Healthy Spine"

 Introduction:

Back pain is a common ailment that can significantly affect our daily lives, making it challenging to perform even the simplest tasks. While various factors contribute to back pain, including injury, poor posture, and muscle imbalances, proper nutrition can play a crucial role in managing and alleviating discomfort. In this blog post, we will explore the connection between food and back pain and highlight some dietary tips and specific foods that can promote a healthy spine and provide relief.

1. The Importance of a Balanced Diet for Back Health:

- Understanding the impact of nutrition on overall spinal health.
- The role of inflammation in back pain and how diet can help reduce it.
- How excess weight can strain the back and strategies for maintaining a healthy weight.

2. Nutrients That Promote a Healthy Spine:
- Calcium and Vitamin D: Essential for bone health and preventing conditions like osteoporosis.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Known for their anti-inflammatory properties and potential benefits for back pain.
- Magnesium: Helps relax muscles and may alleviate muscle spasms often associated with back pain.
- Vitamin C: Promotes collagen formation and supports the health of spinal discs.
- Antioxidants: Protect cells from oxidative stress and inflammation, potentially reducing back pain.

3. Foods That Support Back Pain Relief:
- Leafy Green Vegetables: Excellent sources of calcium, magnesium, and vitamins.
- Fatty Fish: Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce inflammation.
- Nuts and Seeds: Provide magnesium, antioxidants, and healthy fats.
- Berries: Packed with antioxidants and vitamin C.
- Citrus Fruits: High in vitamin C, crucial for collagen synthesis.
- Turmeric: Contains curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory compound.
- Low-Fat Dairy Products: Calcium and vitamin D-rich options for strong bones.

4. Hydration and its Impact on Back Pain:
- The importance of proper hydration for spinal health.
- How dehydration can contribute to muscle stiffness and back pain.
- Tips for staying hydrated throughout the day.

5. Foods to Avoid or Limit:
- Processed Foods: Often high in additives and inflammatory ingredients.
- Sugary and Refined Foods: Can contribute to weight gain and inflammation.
- Trans Fats: Found in many processed snacks and fried foods, they may promote inflammation.

Conclusion:

While nutrition alone may not cure back pain, adopting a well-rounded, anti-inflammatory diet can be a valuable addition to your overall pain management strategy. By incorporating nutrient-dense foods and avoiding inflammatory choices, you can optimize your nutritional intake and support your spine's health, potentially reducing back pain and improving your overall well-being. Remember to consult with a healthcare professional or registered dietitian for personalized advice based on your specific needs and health conditions.

Disclaimer: This blog post is meant for informational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider before making significant changes to your diet or treatment plan.

LONG PEPPER : A part of Indian Garam Masala

We Indians are too spicy. We not only use round black pepper , we use long pepper.

It is cultivated in India to a limited extent. It contains alkaloids having a pungent pepper like taste and produces marked salivation and numbness of the mouth.The pharmacological effects are probably due to the alkaloids. It has volatile and fatty oils, resins , gum , starch and some inorganic matter. It contains an essential oil with a spicy odour resembling that of pepper and ginger oils.

It has therapeutic effects-

It is prescribed for bronchitis , cough , inflammation of the throat , tuberculosis, asthma, epilepsy .

Effective in Ischaemic Heart disease. It is considered in Ayurveda to be a heart stimulant.

Useful in certain types of gastrointestinal tract disorders. Believed to be a good tonic , digestive and antiseptic.

It is prescribed for indigestion (laxative ) and abdominal distension (carminative ).

It is considered to be a value in rheumatism and gout.

Long pepper is also prescribed for early stages of influenza. Believed to be used in the treatment of mumps.

Add flavour to your curries with Indian garam masala.

Feeling low? Stressed? Anxious? Avoid these 13 food items to boost up your mood.

1. Fruit Juice- Drinking fruit juice is just drinking nutritious sugar water that can quickly hype you up --and bring you down just as fast. It can leave you hungry and angry - "hangry".
2. Regular Soda- It has blood spiking sugar with none of the nutrition. Sugar sweetened drinks like soda or cold drinks have a direct link to depression too.
3. Diet Soda- Diet soda may make you more depressed than regular soda and too much of caffeine that many soda have can be bad for anxiety, too.
4. White bread toast- The highly processed white flour quickly turns to blood sugar . That can cause energy spikes and crashes that can be bad for anxiety and depression.
5. 'Light' Dressing - The packaged ones have High fructose corn syrup and the sugar free ones have aspartame. Both are linked to anxiety and depression.
6. Ketchup - It contains lots of sugar and the lighter version have artificial sweeteners that could be linked to anxiety and depression.
7. Coffee- If you are not used to it, the caffeine in it can make you jittery and nervous.
8. Energy drinks- Can cause weird heart rhythms, anxiety and sleep issues because of the caffeine levels , sugars or artificial sweeteners.
9. Alcohol - Even a little can mess up your sleep which can raise anxiety and cause depression . Too much sleep can cause even more problems
10. Frosting- Partially hydrogenated oil is the culprit. It is also found in fried foods, pizza dough, cakes, cookies or biscuits and crackers.
    
11. Soy Sauce- It can cause anxiety and depression. It can also make feel sluggish and not at your best.
12. Processed foods- Contains sugar, salts, fats which lead to anxiety and depression.
13. Doughnuts- made up of wrong kind of fats and flour and added sugar

To feel better just steer clear of these foods. Eat whole fruits. Drink water. Use whole grain breads. read the labels. Use homemade chutneys. Eat good fats like fish, olive oil, nuts, avocados. 

These will definitely boost up your mood.

Is counting calories necessary for weight loss?

IS COUNTING CALORIES NECESSARY FOR WEIGHT LOSS?

"Calories " .We are in a modern era . We have different types of gadgets. We like to use mostly all of them . We are becoming knowledgeable day by day . We know everything about medicine. Whenever a doc prescribes a medicine we check it on the Internet. We type symptoms if we or our loved ones have some health problems on the search option and know what our problem is . We are totally dependent on the Internet for our daily lives. We have many apps to count calories, we type the food items before consuming it ,we calculate the calories so that at the end of the day we can treat ourselves with a big sundae or a cheese burger, because we have so much of "calorie balance" as per the device . Aren't we fooling ourselves? Is this the proper diet we should follow? I was spellbound by one of my dietitian friends who follow this type of app for her diet.

"Food is not just a calorie my dear. Calorie is far more important."

Sometimes many of us feel hungry after eating a meal . We have counted the calories earlier so we are happy that we have consumed less calories than we should so we will lose weight quickly but we are hungry, we are frustrated, irritated.

Calorie is the measurement of energy. We store energy in the form of fat , protein and carbohydrates.

 We need energy for ♦️ basal metabolism ♦️to build and replace tissue ♦️to compensate for excretory loss ♦️ daily physical and mental activities.♦️ Our cells also utilise energy to maintain a high intracellular concentration of potassium and low concentration of sodium.

The requirements of energy varies with

1. Age . The energy requirement is assumed to remain unchanged between 20 and 39 years of age. It decreases 5%per decade between 40 and 59 , by 10%from 60 to 69 . Beyond that, a further 10 %reduction is there. If someone has a good appetite so much of reduction will lead to craving so it has to be planned accordingly.

2. Physical activity. But if you are working in a gym to shed down the extra weight; extra calories not needed.

3. Menstrual Cycle. Healthy women consume more energy in the ten days before menses than in the ten days after. Energy intake is lowest during the ovulatory phase and high during luteal phase. But it's a myth that estrogen is an appetite suppressant.

4. Pregnancy and lactation. Lactating women needs more energy than pregnant women.

5. Climate. Energy requirements change in extreme climates.

These are the factors one should consider for counting calories, but on a daily basis there is no need of counting calories.

 We should eat well. If we eat processed food the food is easily absorbed and we feel hungry afterwards. The satiety value is less . If we eat a full meal of a balanced diet consisting of whole cereals, pulses or beans or egg or chicken or fish with two or three coloured vegetables and yoghurt and fruits . Use little oil for cooking. We don't have to count the calories.

Stop munching between the meals . If you have a full meal you won't be feeling like munching afterwards.

Sometimes we are thirsty so we feel hungry so drink one or 2 glasses of water between meals.

Eat natural foods , love your food, eat food as a food not medicine or diet supplement, do not trouble yourself by counting the calories. Let it be done by a nutritionist or dietitian. You have a lot to do in life. So enjoy yourself.