Is that beer belly giving you back pain? The truth may surprise you

If you’re like most of us, you probably have a little extra padding around your waist that you’ve been wanting to get rid of for a while. But did you know that the extra weight could be causing your back pain and sciatica?

In fact, when most people go to the doctor for back pain, the first thing they are usually told is to lose some weight.

The extra weight can put extra pressure and stress on your back and spine. This will make your posture worse and the weight will be distributed unevenly across your spine.

This causes the discs in the back to bulge, putting pressure on the spinal nerves.

Alternatively, the added weight can also cause your muscles to tense up to support you. Ultimately, this will result in muscle imbalances, which will again unbalance the way stress and pressure move through your body.

So you probably know that you need to lose some weight, be it because of back pain or other reasons, but what can you do about it? Especially when you suffer from sciatica and basic exercises seem almost impossible?

Well the easiest thing to do is adjust your diet. Drinking more water is a very easy thing to do and can help you with both weight loss and back pain at the same time.

Water will help your liver work better. Your liver works to burn extra body fat, but when you are dehydrated, it actually shifts to help with kidney function. By drinking your eight glasses a day, you can help improve liver function.

Not only that, but drinking plenty of water will help you feel full longer. When your stomach is full of water, you won’t have those hunger pangs that lead many of us to eat those foods that we know we should avoid.

From a back pain point of view, water is the main component of the intervertebral discs. Without proper hydration, these discs cannot stay fluid-filled and help cushion the vertebrae adequately. By drinking your water, you can ensure that your discs are healthy and have all the fluid they need.

Another important diet consideration is that many foods that cause weight gain and obesity are also linked to inflammation. Inflammation around the soft tissues of the back and nerves can contribute to back pain or sciatica.

These foods that cause inflammation include foods that are high in saturated fat and trans fat, as well as foods that are high on the glycemic index. Common examples of these foods are cakes, pastries, fried foods, red meat, and other things that we commonly associate with fast foods.

You should also try to eat more foods that fight inflammation. These foods are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and antioxidants. You can find them in foods like salmon, berries, organic eggs, and other fruits. Many of these foods will not only help relieve inflammation and reduce back pain, but they will also help shed those pounds.