In my last newsletter I identified some major dietary causes which promote an imbalance favoring an excessive inflammatory response. In review, the dietary imbalances I listed were:

1. Too much saturated fat (and the related partially hydrogenated family).
2. Too many refined carbohydrates (including sugars).
3. Dietary ratio imbalance of omega-6 / omega-3 oils.
4. Dietary ratio imbalance of sodium / potassium.
5. Too many calories.

The dietary imbalances listed above yield a food pattern (fatty, starchy, sweet, and salty) that promotes overeating by triggering neurochemical responses that hyperstimulate our appetites (Basu, 2006). Most people prefer to eat these foods together. Therefore, they drive inflammation by both their individual biochemical properties and the overlooked effect of hunger and amplification during consumption.

For example, consider how a small plate of raw bell peppers and carrots affects your appetite compared to the same plate filled with fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. When you start eating the bell peppers and carrots, after a few you have had enough. However, with the cookies (remember each of which has 10-20 times more calories than the vegetables), the more you eat, the more you want until you are really full. Here's one more thing to boot. What do we get out of this plate of cookies? You guessed it - refined sugars, starch, and saturated fat! Furthermore, although chocolate chip cookies are not a significant source of polyunsaturated fats, the small amounts they do contain yield a 10:1 omega-6 / omega-3 ratio. This is not as bad as the 20:1 ratio the average American consumes, but it is still high enough to promote inflammation and symptoms in conditions such as arthritis and asthma.

Below are two lists. The first is a list of foods generally considered pro-inflammatory; the second is a list of foods generally considered anti-inflammatory. These lists are not exhaustive. I am listing those foods which are more commonly consumed or can be more easily found in grocery stores.

Pro-inflammatory foods:
cheese, bacon, breads, bagels, crackers, cake, most cereals, candy, cookies, corn chips, corn syrup, cream, French fries, onion rings, croissants, doughnuts, fried foods, hot dogs, ice cream, fruit juices, margarine, pepperoni, pizza, potato chips, pretzels, puddings, ribs, salami, sausage, pastrami, shortening, sodas / soft drinks, flour tortillas, waffles, whipped cream, whole dairy.

Anti-inflammatory foods:
vegetables (raw, steamed, lightly stir-fried, grilled), fruits and berries, avocado, tomatoes, beans, bean sprouts, beets, raw / unsalted nuts (almonds, walnuts, Brazil, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, macadamia), seeds, kale, lemons, mushrooms, onions, olive oil, salmon, sardines, tuna (water-packed), spinach, yams, sweet potatoes, wild game, free-range / grass-fed animal protein, ginger, quinoa, lentils.

   

When it comes to low back pain, especially acute low back pain, I think all too often people tend to focus on the exact time it seemed to occur rather than consider all the little "energy leaks" or weak links in our chain that have built up over time. An example is that person who seeming "throws their back out" while bending over to pick up a pencil. We have all heard of this happening before, or maybe you have even experienced it yourself.

This is oftentimes how people envision or interpret their back getting injured. "I don't understand...all I was doing was bending over to pick up a pencil, and - BAM! - my back went out on me." In reality, however, this is not how most people end up with an injured low back. Instead, as I alluded to above, I think it is often the small, subtle instances of destabilization that we subject ourselves to on a daily basis. These subtle deficiencies add up over time and when combined with either omission of stabilization training or improper training methods, end up doing some people in. Yes, in some cases the athlete going for the 1RM deadlift falls into too much lumbar flexion and he or she blows a disc or severely strains a muscle. More often, though, is is the person who is deconditioned and is subjecting themselves to various forms of biomechanical stresses on a daily basis. 

I have written on the topic before (you can view all of my past newsletters on the Newsletters Page at: www.therenkenscenter.com)  and of course much more can be written about the concept of lumbo-pelvic stabilization. What I would like to highlight in this article, however, is one simple strategy you can do now to move toward attaining effective and efficient stabilization of your lumbar spine (low back) and pelvis.  

First, get up out of your seat. Stand tall with your feet in a "V" position (heels together, toes and forefeet spread apart). Next, with your arms extended at your sides, pull your arms in against your sides and slightly back. This will activate your latissimus dorsi muscles. Now brace your abdominals as if protecting yourself from someone punching you in the abdomen. Now you have your lats and your abdominal muscles engaged. Keep them active while now squeezing your buttocks and the posterior medial part of your thighs together. Hold all of this simultaneously. You are creating a "superstiffness" effect throughout the lumbo-pelvic and core areas of your body. 

You should strive to hold this "superstiffness" for up to 10 seconds. You can begin with 3 repetitions or 10 seconds and work up to 10 repetitions of 10 seconds. The 10 seconds should feel somewhat exertional. If it feels too easy for you, you may not be activating everything you should be, or you may not be contracting the various muscle groups with enough force. The great thing about this exercise is you can do it anywhere at anytime. You can do it in line at the store, in your own home and office, or even use it as an "active" recovery between sets of a workout.

This "superstiffness" is what should be recreated with exercises such as the plank variations and one of my favorites - the kettlebell swing. I love teaching this concept and always find it rewarding when a patient has that "AH HA" moment when they get it and feel everything working for the first time.

Recently while working with a patient,  I was asked where I got my fiber from if I did not eat bread and cereal. My answer was I ate plenty of vegetables. My point was that there is in fact no comparison between fiber amounts and overall nutritional density of vegetables (particularly green vegetables) and whole grains.

Compare two important nutrients between green vegetables and whole grains: fiber and potassium. On a calorie-by-calorie basis, green vegetables contain substantially more fiber than whole grains. Two pieces of whole grain bread contains approximately 140 calories, 4 grams of fiber and 140 mg of potassium. Compare that to two cups of broccoli containing only 87 calories, more than 9 grams of fiber and approximately 1,000 mg of potassium.

You want more? Green vegetables, when combined with other healthy foods such as fruit, can play the leading role in your nutritional health. Check this: by eating 1 apple, 1 pear, 2 oranges, 2 cups of broccoli, and 4 cups of romaine / mixed leaf lettuce on a daily basis, you would get approximately 450 calories, 28 grams of fiber, and more than 2,800 mg of potassium. The average American consumes less than 15 grams of fiber per day, even though the typical recommendation is to get 25-30 grams per day (most studies now show that even that amount is too low).

Many diseases are associated with low fiber and potassium intake. Diets low in fiber may underlie or exacerbate constipation, hemorrhoids, deep-vein thrombosis, appendicitis, varicose veins, diverticulitis, and reflux. Furthermore, fiber is thought to help prevent colon cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

People rarely consider the need to eat postassium-rich foods, which include - you guessed it - vegetables and fruits (animal protein also provides substantial amounts of postassium while whole and refined grains are among the worst dietary sources of potassium). Numerous diseases are thought to be associated with low levels of potassium consumption, including high blood pressure, strokes, osteoporosis, asthma, GI tract infections, kidney stones, and insomnia.

The take home message in all of this is: green vegetables are filling, pack a wallop of a nutritional punch, are very low in calories, and need to be a part of your daily caloric consumption.