Scoliosis Dietary Tips

What is Scoliosis?

Scoliosis, for those of you that don’t know, is the abnormal curvature of a person’s spine and is described by either an S-shaped or C-shaped curvature of the spine to either side of the body (left or right) that deviates from the normal straight down the middle form of the spine.

Scoliosis in a person is pretty hard to detect, especially in minor cases or at the very onset of the condition. A good measure in determining if a certain person has scoliosis is to observe how they stand. People with scoliosis will tend to lean more to one side, and will definitely have hips or shoulders that look uneven compared to a normal person.

As for now, scoliosis has no clear cause and is often described as an idiopathic condition, a disease or case in which the true cause is unknown.

Modifying your Diet

If you or one of your loved ones is experiencing scoliosis, then you might be on the lookout for alternative treatments as opposed to bouncing from one specialist to another with nothing but consultations and a lot of medical prescriptions.

What you may now know is that treating or preventing scoliosis can be as simple as altering your diet. Doctors might tell you that they know of no cause that can set of scoliosis, but there are already direct pieces of evidence that link nutrition to scoliosis. This is an important discovery as you may be able to improve your condition by engaging in a scoliosis diet.

However, it is important to note that nutrition and scoliosis diet isn’t enough to fix the condition alone. But simply by engaging in a good scoliosis diet you can achieve one or two of these conditions:

1. You may be able to prevent the condition from getting worse
2. You can use the scoliosis diet as a supplement to the actual scoliosis treatment

Food Types You Should Eat

• Collagen Rich Food– Surprisingly our bones are actually made up of a lot of collagen. Collagen is a type of protein that forms the soft matrix of our bones. Calcium, another prominent element in our bone’s structure, is carefully interwoven with collagen to effectively make our bones hard. Collagen can be introduced to your scoliosis diet through the inclusion of a simple bone broth in your meals. Bone broth is easy to make at home, but can also be purchased online and in supermarkets. It comes in frozen form and can simply be reheated if you want to consume it.
• Calcium Rich Food- calcium, along with collagen is probably one of the most prominent minerals that make up your bone. Calcium can be found in a whole host of dietary products and can be included in your scoliosis diet through the inclusion of dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt. It is also available in dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, and bok choy, among many others as well as in oily fishes too such as sardines and salmon.
• Magnesium– Magnesium is often overlooked as an important component of your bone’s health and structure. Magnesium has many functions with regards to the numerous biological processes in our body, but it also plays an important role with regards to your bones. Magnesium is found in foods such as in green leafy vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts and whole grains, as well as in yogurts, dark chocolate and in certain fruits such as avocados and bananas. Make sure to include these food types into your scoliosis diet.

Food Types You Should Avoid

• Greasy Foods– this includes fried foods that are commonly found in fast food restaurants
• Corn Syrup– Avoid products containing high fructose corn syrup
• Packaged Meats– prepackaged and preserved meats tend to contain a lot of preservatives and food additives that can be detrimental to your overall health.
• MSG and Other Additives– commonly found in junk foods, beverages, and unhealthy snacks and processed foods.

Food Types You Should Limit

• Coffee, Soda, and Tea– avoid drinking copious amounts of beverages that contain caffeine. Not only can they affect your scoliosis diet, they can affect all sorts of processes from the quality of your sleep to the healing process of your body
• Sugar- Stevia is a great natural and organic substitute for the popular sweetener
• Chocolate– chocolate, as it contains caffeine is bad for your scoliosis diet, but dark chocolate is actually beneficial to your scoliosis as long as it is consumed in moderation.
• Salt– Food containing large amounts of salt should be avoided, but moderate amounts of salt are okay, especially if it is sea salt.
• Alcohol– alcohol is also a big No-No, as it affects many processes in your body that can be detrimental to the proper healing of your condition.