Jeff LangmaidFounder, The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Caffeine Linked to Increased Risk of Low Back Pain

24 May 2023 · 1 min

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0:58

A short spoken YouTube segment by Jeff Langmaid (uploaded May 24, 2023) summarizing epidemiologic associations and proposed mechanisms linking smoking, obesity, sedentary behavior/prolonged sitting, and caffeine/coffee consumption to increased risk of low back pain. Key mechanistic claims include disc dehydration leading to degeneration and herniation, reduced muscle strength and hyperlordosis from inactivity and obesity, vascular effects of smoking on disc blood supply, and a proposed link between coffee use, magnesium depletion, and increased paraspinal muscle contractions.

Chapters

And interestingly smokers had a higher incidence of low back pain and increased body mass index in adults and children were risk factors. So what did they identify as some of the underlying pathways of why this is occurring? Well decreased water supply to the disc in turn can lead to degenerative changes and disc herniations, reduced strength and muscular power and hyperlordosis. Those are some of the proposed pathophysiological mechanisms for why sedentary behavior can contributes to low back pain and specifically prolonged sitting can contribute to postural changes as well as muscle strength changes and of course you add onto that any obesity and that causes overload on the spinal tissue. Smoking of course can alter the blood supply to the discs versus vasoconstriction and atherosclerosis and additionally the picking on coffee here I didn't like this but coffee consumption is proposed to be associated with flushing magnesium from the body which has the opportunity to increase contractions of paraspinal muscle. So all important things to keep in mind.