Foods for Back Pain

Here we go again.

Unsurprisingly, my back is hurting again. Might be because of too much sitting - I've been sitting in front of the computer since morning. Sure, I do take 15-minute breaks every hour (that's the recommended interval) but for guy like me with scoliosis, taking breaks just won't cut it. 

I've talked about inversion therapy on my last post but purchasing an inversion table or gravity boots right now is out of the question. They're pretty darn expensive, even the ones they say are cheap. Might try hanging upside down on monkey bars sometime.

Kidding aside, I think I also have to manage the kinds of food I eat. There must be some connection to back pain and food intake...I think.

Well, there actually is! I just recently found it.

Here are some foods that helps ease back pain. I hope they're effective because I'll really have to swing on them monkey bars if they're not. Most of these food contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body. o it might be effective against bulging discs or those with recently injured backs. For my scolio? I think not. But they're over all healthy foods so it's not a lost cause. Here's the list:

1. Berries - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body.

2. Grass-fed Beef - Contains less saturated fats and contains CLA that helps lose weight. So if you're body pain is caused by excessive weight, eating grass-fed beef is a good way to lose weight without the hassle of eating non-tasty foods.

3. Pineapples - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body.

4. Garlic - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body. Garlic is also found out to be a mild painkiller. 

5. Milk - This is pretty obvious. Calcium derived from milk will help the bones get stronger, thus more able to support the upper body weight.

6. Turmeric - Contains anti-inflammatory enzymes that heals the body. Like garlic, turmeric is also found out to be a mild painkiller. 

7. Green Tea - Just hearing about Green Tea makes me healthy already. Green tea contains a lot of flavonoids and polyphenols that helps to detoxify the body.

8. Fish with Omega-3 - Substances found in these types of fish are effective pain killers.

9. Water - The body is made up of almost 70% water. Sometimes, back pain is caused by the lack of intervertebral fluids that cushions each vertebra. Drinking adequate amounts of water keeps the spaces in the discs hydrated thus minimizing the risk of back pain.

Well, these are some foods that I found to be helpful. Honestly, I haven't eaten turmeric yet (or maybe I've eaten one but never really realized it). I'm eating (and drinking) quite a bit of those mentioned above, so we'll see how my back responds. 

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What Is Inversion Therapy?

Given my age, I’ve been recently having back pains – my bones are obviously degenerating! I’m not as strong as I used to be and it’s quite hard to accept the fact that I am getting weaker by the day. At least, the pain is an on-and-off kind of pain. But it is still annoying. Of course, I’m eating and drinking the right food – dairy foods for Calcium and fatty fish for stronger muscles, among others. But still, I’m looking for something new that I can add to my alternative med paraphernalia. And of course I want to share something new to you.

So, being an alternative medicine junkie, I’ve searched the internet about things that would make the pain stop. I know the pain is not as frequent or as painful as other back issues like sciatica of even scoliosis, but as they say, prevention is better than cure. I’m not going to sit around wait for the pain to fully take their toll.

What I found are these machinesthat turn you upside-down. They are called inversion tables and they are said to decompress the spine. I did a little bit more research and found out that inversion therapy is a healing technique that counters the effects of gravity to the spine.

You see, our spine slowly but surely get compressed under our upper body weight. This is of course aided with gravity. This compression squeezes out much needed fluids from our spine. There’s also the possibility of pinching some nerves which would further result to sharp back pains. These are the stuff of nightmares that inversion therapy wants to counter.

BUT, given that inversion therapy alters your body’s natural state (it turns you upside down), there must be some risk involved in it. It turns out that this healing technique is not for all – those with high blood pressure, glaucoma, and conjunctivitis cannot partake in inversion therapy. More harm will be done to them than good. I still have to do further research with this but of course you can do it on your own.

I haven’t been able to try one yet, but I’ve seen one in my previous physiotherapist’s office. I might go back there again sometime to try it out. These are sold on Amazon too so that’s an option. It IS quite tempting.

Has anyone of you tried inversion therapy? What can you say about it?

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The Importance of Vitamins

In modern western thought, if you mention nutrition, what comes to mind in a flash are "vitamins". From the day in 1747 when James Lind noted that limes helped his sailors recover from the dreaded scurvy disease (disease resulting from lack of vitamin C), the idea of vitamins (vital amines) has gone viral. You see, it was the vitamin C in the limes that did the curing although Lind did not know about vitamin C or any other vitamins. What he knew was that limes did the trick.

From the first discovery of what a simple lime could do for scurvy, the notion that plant life can cure grew and grew. Today, we know of hundreds of vitamins and of the fruits and vegetables from which they come. And to add to this knowledge we have have ascertained thousands of cures that come from ingesting vitamins. NOW LOOK AT THIS - we can be healed without medicines, prescriptions, pharmaceuticals and drugs!

Yes that's true! There is healing aplenty. BUT it depends on the kind of vitamins you take, too. You see, there are natural vitamins and synthetic vitamins and if you choose the synthetic ones you might just as well chew round stones, thinking they were cookies. Natural vitamins come from nature; they are not man made. They are available in avocados, oranges, apples, figs, acai berry, strawberry, peaches, prunes, and a heck of a lot of other God's natural gifts for man.

So what can you do? Well, one thing is to buy vitamins that come from natural sources, extracts if you will. There are pills and capsules that contain natural vitamins. You can upgrade your diet and eat fresh vegetables and fruit, taking care to either eat organic food or being careful to eliminate the pesticides that have been applied. 

All this said, I want to point out the importance of what you have just read. In the past sentences you have heard one true story of nutrition - something so important to longevity and living healthy lives that it simply can not be over stated.

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Here's The Logo!

This is The Alternative Healer logo. I made it myself with my measly Photoshop skills and I'm proud of it, if I may say so myself. The logo has actually a very simple meaning. The wreaths is a common symbol for peace and protection. which is what alternative healing methods are actually trying to do - to perform harmonious and peaceful healing of the body as well as protect it against diseases. Well, the A and H are just my idea and they really don't symbolize anything grand. But they do look cool, right? 

Well, I hope I get to share more alternative healing techniques to you, dear readers.

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