Study Finds

Low back pain is one of the most common health problems in the world, affecting about 1 in 3 adults. It can feel like stiffness, tension, or pain in the lower part of your back. This kind of pain can come from different sources, such as muscle strain or nerve issues, but sometimes the exact cause isn’t clear.

Several things can increase your chances of having back pain, including:

•    Getting older
•    Being overweight
•    Feeling depressed
•    Not being physically active
•    Lifestyle habits like smoking

There’s also something called oxidative stress (basically, damage to the body’s cells from harmful molecules), which might make back pain worse over time.

Can Diet Help?

Yes, it might! A healthy diet can provide antioxidants, which are substances that help protect your cells against oxidative stress. There’s a score called CDAI that measures how rich your diet is in antioxidants. In fact, researchers wanted to see if people with higher CDAI scores (meaning healthier, antioxidant-rich diets) had less back pain and their findings were published in BMC Public Health.

The study looked at health and diet info from nearly 18,000 Americans over several years. They grouped people by how much antioxidant-rich food they ate and looked for patterns between diet and back pain.

Researchers found that people who consumed more antioxidant-rich foods were less likely to report lower back pain, especially women, who saw a 20% drop in risk if they were in the top antioxidant group. Nutrients like vitamin E, zinc, and selenium stood out as potentially protective. (Think foods like almonds, pumpkin seeds and oats). However, the story isn’t simple, when other lifestyle factors were taken into account, the connection between diet and back pain became less clear. This suggests that while eating well is important, it’s just one part of the bigger back health picture. 

Published June 1, 2025