The short answer is yes. As long as it’s dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is one of a number of nutritional ingredients your spine needs for optimal care. Your spine, to coin a phrase, is the backbone of an active lifestyle. That’s why it’s important to ensure your spine is getting all the help it can get. Unlike muscle, your spine is made up of different components – bones, disks, joints, nerves, soft tissue, and spinal cord. And all of them need feeding, care, and protection.

What your spine need for optimal health?

What you put into your body dictates what you get out. Like every part of your body, including your brain, your spine needs:

• Oxygenation: Good blood oxygen levels are vital for cellular metabolism and any repair your body needs to undertake in the discs between your vertebrae. The best ways to increase your blood oxygen are outdoor activities and exercise.
• Exercise: Stretching, strength training, and low-impact aerobics, will improve your muscle strength and your spine’s flexibility. This improve your current comfort level, and your future will be discomfort-free. Exercise will be easier after a lifestyle glow-up!
• Lifestyle Glow-up: Once you ensure that your sitting, standing, and sleeping postures are ergonomically correct, your life will be so much better as your spine will be under far less strain and stress.

• Stress Management: Deep-breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, and exercise result in a relaxed body and a clear mind. But even with all of these actions, what you put into your body really matters. The most important aspect of a healthy spine is great nutrition, which includes hydration and diet.
• Hydration: Sipping 8 large glasses of water or herbal tea during the day maintains the flexibility of your spine’s disks and improves their shock-absorbing ability. Avoid fruit juices, drinks with preservatives, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.
• Diet: Your body and your spine don’t work independently. A great diet is vital for your spine’s health.

8 Ways that a great diet increases the health of your spine

• Increased bone health and repair
• Increased disc health
• Increased collagen absorption
• Increased inflammation control
• Increased tissue, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and muscle repair
• Increased weight control
• Increased muscle strength
• Increased overall health
• Increased growth, repair, and maintenance abilities

A great diet provides you with all the nearly 20 nutrients your spine needs.

They are the building blocks and chemicals needed to stay healthy. These include:

• Carbohydrates – Found I fibre, starches, and sugars, carbohydrates are a source of essential nutrients that your body needs for energy.
• Lipids – Omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish
• Proteins – The body builders – literally. These large, complex molecules perform critical functions in your body. Structure, function, and the regulation tissues and organs, not to mention cells are all down to the efficient work that proteins undertake.
• Water – Pure, clean water, not sparkling or flavoured, or in tea, coffee, or soft drinks, just water is essential for every cell in your body, including your spine.
• Electrolytes – Among the many benefits of electrolytes are their natural positive or negative electrical charge they carry which help your body maintain the balance between fluids inside and outside your cells, and regulate chemical reactions.
• Minerals – Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus copper, zinc, boron
• Vitamins and antioxidants – A, all the Bs, C, D3, E, K
• Collagen – the main component of connective tissue, including the cartilage between your joints, the ligaments and tendons that hold them together which needs protein, Vitamins A, C, B6, E, and minerals zinc and copper.

Which foods provide these nutrients?

• Almonds: A small serving contains a significant portion of your daily vitamin D needs.
• Lentils and Beans: black beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lentils, kidney beans, soybeans, lentils, and pinto beans are high in essential vitamins, minerals – magnesium, potassium, and iron, protein, fibre, polyphenols, isoflavones, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory properties.
• Broccoli: One cup of broccoli contains 7% of your daily calcium requirement. While this doesn’t seem like a lot, when combined with any of the above-mentioned foods, broccoli can be a great addition to your diet.
• Cheese: Because cheese is made from milk, it’s packed with calcium.
• Dark, leafy greens: Arugula, dandelion greens, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, cabbage, lettuce, and watercress all contain enough calcium to keep your spine healthy and strong.
• Egg yolks: Egg yolks contain a moderate amount of vitamin D. Eating them can be a great way to get vitamin D at breakfast. But they’re also high in cholesterol.
• Fruit: Not only do fruits contain vitamins, but also fibre, and minerals. They also contain fructose so limited amounts of fruit is best.
• Milk: One cup contains 30% of your daily calcium needs.
• Mushrooms: Mushrooms are a super food. They contain niacin, folate, biotin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, selenium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, copper, manganese, zinc, antioxidants, dietary fibre, beta-glucans.
• Salmon: One serving has all the vitamin D you need for an entire day.
• Tuna: This fatty fish high in vitamin D.
• Yogurt: Yogurt contains more calcium than milk and only one serving provides 42% of your daily calcium needs.

But what about chocolate?

Life without chocolate would be pretty miserable. Of all the different types, dark chocolate – 70%-plus cocoa and as little added sugar as possible – is the best option.

What are the benefits of chocolate?

• Antioxidants: These lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of clotting, increase blood circulation to the heart, protect your skin from UV damage, moisturize the skin, and improve elasticity. 

• Flavanols: These increase brain function including reaction time, visual-spatial awareness, and memory. 

Will chocolate cause inflammation?

No, quite the opposite. Compounds with the dark chocolate help reduce inflammation. You can enjoy your dark chocolate guilt-free.

Yours in health,
Dr. Monica and Helen