When it comes to taking care of your feet, you might not immediately think of the things that you eat, but nutrients impact your entire body and well-being, so why not your feet too? Fight foot pain from your diet. The foods you eat can impact your health in all sorts of ways. From weight gain to inflammation, the nutrients that go in can altogether change the way that your body looks and feels.
While it isn’t possible to determine precisely how toe pain or a condition like heel spurs relates to the fast-food burger you had last night, it is possible to improve your health and reduce your risk of further foot pain by eliminating certain foods from your diet.
Foot Pain, Diet and Inflammation
Inflammation can cause serious foot pain—not to mention pain throughout the rest of the body. Inflammation is a common cause of heel and toe pain and can even be a contributing factor to conditions like plantar fasciitis. What is more, existing conditions like arthritis are often worsened by inflammation. Changing your diet can’t necessarily fix underlying foot problems, but it can reduce inflammation, and the benefits of a healthier diet will often spill over to other problems throughout your body.
The American diet is filled with foods that cause inflammation, such as:
- Refined grains
- Sugar
- Trans fats
- Saturated fats
- Omega-6 fats
Each of these items is commonly found in highly processed items like frozen foods, fast food items, and prepackaged snacks like cookies and chips. To avoid these negative nutrients you will need to switch over to a more natural diet strategy based on whole foods. Foods cooked in oils, especially vegetables, corn, and sunflower oils can encourage inflammation. Add a bit of sugar and the problem continues to grow.
What improvements can you make to your diet, and how will they impact your feet? Limiting your consumption of fats, reducing your intake of red meat, and eliminating as much sugar from your diet as possible can all reduce inflammation and produce an overall healthier diet. Making these types of changes to your diet can also help you to lose weight, which can reduce some of the pressure on your feet and may in turn reduce foot pain.
A good diet is a fundamental component of a healthy lifestyle. As you are seeking treatment for foot pain in Boca Raton, consider the ways that you can improve your diet, too.
