Chiropractic care is designed to enhance your spine health, but improving your overall health will affect the effectiveness of your chiropractic treatments. Nutrition is a critical part of your wellness, as not getting enough of the recommended vitamins will lead to serious health consequences. While you need a variety of essential nutrients, the following three are especially key.  

Important Vitamins You Need to Be Healthy

1. Zinc

Zinc can be found in nuts, legumes, red meat, and shellfish. It boosts your immune system to help defend against viruses and bacteria, as well as promote wound healing. Lack of zinc can lead to slow growth in children, delayed development, impotence, diarrhea, skin lesions, and loss of appetite. In regards to your chiropractic health, it can cause improperly developed vertebrae, a weak spine, and further nutritional deficiencies due to eating less.

2. B12

This nutrient can be found in red meat, clams, poultry, liver, low-fat dairy products, eggs, and vegetarian foods that have been fortified. It’s responsible for aiding in the creation of genetic material (DNA), and it’s necessary for healthy nervous and vascular systems. If you’re not meeting nutrition guidelines for B12 intake, you’ll experience fatigue, weakness, lack of appetite, anemia, and nervous system damage. This affects your spinal health because the lack of energy and food can inhibit the physical activity needed to keep your spine aligned and your muscles strong. The damage to your nervous system can also cause numbness and tingling in your extremities due to your sciatic nerve and spinal cord, which a chiropractor can help relieve.

3. Calcium

Calcium is found in dairy, seeds, lentils, figs, and some greens, like kale. Calcium is responsible for bone strength and health. Almost all of your body’s calcium is found in your bones and teeth. It’s also crucial for blood clotting, transmitting messages along nerves from the brain to your body, muscle movement, and hormone and enzyme release. Without it, your body will begin tearing calcium from your bones, including your spine, causing bone loss and density concerns like osteoporosis and easy fractures. Serious deficiency causes seizures, tingling, and arrhythmias that can be fatal if not treated. When it comes to your chiropractic care, a lack of calcium contributes to weakened vertebrae that are more susceptible to fracture and herniation, as well as concerns with your spinal cord and nerve communication.

If you need nutrition guidance to enhance your back health, the team at Eastern Hills Chiropractic in Cincinnati, OH, are more than happy to help. With almost 20 years’ experience offering chiropractic care, their chiropractor offers skilled, effective treatments for neck and back pain and to attain overall wellness. Their nutrition services offer detailed feedback on your dietary habits in a compassionate and informational setting, too. Learn more about what to do before your nutritional consultation online. Call (513) 528-2200 to schedule an appointment today.