3 Tips for a happy and healthy spine- or how to avoid a prolapse!
You want to know what you can do to keep your spine and discs happy and healthy? Have you ever experienced the pain and agony of a prolapsed disc? Yes, it's not fun.
#1: Stay active
Your spine and discs love it when you are active and you participate in different types of movement. The discs get pushed and squeezed, compressed and released and this is the best way for them to soak up the important nutrients.
Too much sitting or repetitive movement will build up the pressure on the discs through tightening of the muscles and connective tissue. Muscles become short and increase the pressure on your spine, which has an impact on the discs.
The solution: keep being active- play sport, stretch your spine regularly, don't sit for too long at a time, get a deep tissue massage regularly to relax the muscles and reduce the build up pressure on the spine.
#2: Sleep on your back or your tummy
Do you prefer sleeping on your side with legs bend? Well, there you have it again: the same position you were in the whole day long at work- legs bend, hip flexors short and again building up the pressure on your lower back and abdominal area through tight muscles. The body again doesn't have a change to stretch and become long.
Try to sleep on your back with just a flat pillow or if you want on your stomach without pillow. On your stomach be careful with your neck though, otherwise you may end up making it stiff and sore.
#3: Get all the important (micro)nutrients
Your body needs all sorts of important nutrients to function properly. Avoid fake foods, processed junk (packaged and manufactured) and low nutrient dense items such as pasta, flour items, rice etc. Try to avoid or minimise seeds (and seed/vegetable oils), beans and grains if at all possible.
Focus on high nutrient dense foods like good quality meats, fish, seafood, eggs, butter, greek yoghurt, some vegetables (fruit in small amounts if desired) and tubers. You need good Omega 3 and other good fats (saturated fats- yes), antioxidants, and inflammation fighting minerals such as selenium and zinc. Add anti-inflammatory spices to your dishes, such as cinnamon, turmeric, chilli, curry, ground cumin and garlic.
Supplement with Vit D3, Magnesium and possibly DHA and EPA fish oils, if you are not keen on eating fatty fish regularly.
And as always, drink plenty of water preferably mineral water.
PLEASE NOTE: This is general advice for otherwise healthy people. Obviously if you have a health condition please consult your doctor before changing anything or before taking supplements.
