Back problems

Time of India

11-05-2025

Lalit Kapoor is a 1971 graduate from IIT Kanpur and has done his MBA from UCLA. Lalit is a successful serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. With age, he developed lifestyle diseases and decided to reverse them by changing diet and lifestyle. This led him to study and research in the field of nutrition and plant-based whole food field. Eventually, he successfully got rid of all his chronic diseases and reinvented himself. Lalit became an inspiration for his IIT-K batch mates and started to guide them with his learnings. Many of them benefitted and successfully reversed their chronic diseases. He further incorporated the Nobel prize winning work by Nobel laureates Dr Yoshinori Ohsumi (2016) on autophagy, Dr Jeffery Hall (2017) on circadian rhythm and Dr Tasuko Honzo (2018) on immunotherapy into his recommendations. He has conducted over 450 course sessions which have been attended by over 150,000 people in over 50 countries with thousands of success stories. He runs over 100 active social groups and his NGO 'Plant Based Wellness Foundation' has over 40 centers worldwide. Lalit has also taught a course as a visiting faculty on Nutrition & Health at IIT Kanpur for one semester. LESS ... MORE
The human back is made up of several vertebrae separated by intervertebral discs (IVDs). These vertebrae form a column through which the spinal cord passes. The spinal cord, an extension of the brain, governs many reflexive responses. Numerous nerves originate from the spinal cord and extend to various parts of the body, such as the arms and legs, helping control their movement.
An interesting fact about intervertebral discs is that they do not have a direct blood supply. Instead, they receive their nutrition from the vertebrae above and below them.
All chronic diseases are caused by either nutrient deficiencies or toxicity. Blood is the primary carrier of nutrition throughout the body, and approximately 70,000 miles of blood vessels deliver it to nearly every part—except a few, including the discs between the vertebrae, which lack arteries or veins.
Intervertebral discs are shaped like tiny donuts, with a jelly-like core surrounded by sponge-like material. The outer edge is a tough, impervious layer, while the interior is porous and absorbent. Although the core cannot be compressed (being solid jello like material) it can change shape under pressure. The disc's outer ring bulges under pressure but does not rupture under normal operations. This sponge-like body, filled with fluid, functions in a unique way. When the vertebrae stretch and create space, low pressure draws nutrients into the disc from the adjacent vertebrae. When the vertebrae are compressed, the disc expels waste fluid. Thus, each compression-expansion cycle acts like a feeding and excretion process.
Since there are no arteries or veins to nourish the discs or remove toxins, this function depends entirely on movement. Activities such as walking, climbing up and down stairs, jumping, or skipping stimulate these cycles. Two key points must be understood:
Inactivity—common in sedentary lifestyles—disrupts this nourishment and waste-removal process, leading to disc degeneration over time. Inflammatory diets can cause plaque-like buildup inside the porous interior of the disc. This results in: a) Reduced porosity and nutrient absorption capacity (b) Decreased flexibility of the disc and potential fusion with adjacent vertebrae
Other posture-related issues, often caused by poor ergonomics at work or home, are also significant but well-documented elsewhere. Apart from ergonomics, the two primary causes of back-related problems are:
Inactivity due to a sedentary lifestyle Plaque buildup inside the discs, reducing their ability to absorb nutrients and move flexibly—eventually leading to disc calcification and possible vertebral fusion.
Solution
Eliminating inflammatory foods halts plaque buildup and disc deterioration.
A nutrient-rich diet, especially with leafy greens and nitric oxide-boosting vegetables like beets, can help unclog disc pores and possibly loosen their attachments to adjacent vertebrae.
Reopened pores improve nutrient absorption and rejuvenate disc function.
Walking daily promotes compression-expansion cycles, enhancing disc nutrition.
Fasting regularly every week or fortnight triggers autophagy, recycling dead and damaged cells. It also increases stem cell activity, which helps regenerate damaged tissues—further supporting disc rejuvenation.
In summary, this is why a combination of a Plant-Based Whole Food (PBWF) diet, Intermittent and Ekadashi fasting and walking 10,000 steps a day can help restore and maintain spinal health.
Spondylosis vs. Spondylitis
Before we go further, it's important to clarify the difference between spondylosis and spondy litis.
Spondylosis refers to the wear and tear of the vertebral joints, leading to the degeneration of the discs between the vertebrae as well as the joints themselves. It is usually caused by poor posture over many years and is more common in older adults.
Spondylitis, on the other hand, is an inflammatory condition that causes arthritis in the joints. It is the result of an autoimmune disease and can occur at any age. There are two main types of spondylitis:
Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA): Affects the spine and/or pelvic joints. There are over 2.7 million cases of AxSpA in the United States. Peripheral Spondyloarthritis (PSpA): Affects joints outside the spine or sacroiliac joints.
I have covered both Autoimmune Diseases and Arthritis in separate blogs and I encourage everyone to refer to those. The topic of Inflammation was also covered in a separate blog and should also be reviewed.
Here is a testimonial from one of my LMKHealth members who successfully healed his Ankylosing Spondylitis of 20 years within 6 months by changing his diet to plant based whole food and following intermittent fasting.
Testimonial (June 9'21)
'Kapoor Ji
Sending this message with a lot of thanks. I'm 46 suffering from Ankylosing Spondylitis since 2001 with HLAB27 negative. Used to be very energetic sportsman during my college days but this disease made me totally helpless with zero energy.
Started following your group advice since January and miracles happened within first 3 months. Now till May end
1. Weight reduced from 88 kgs to 77 kg
2. BP medicines stopped
3. Easily walking 10 km a day and over the weekend 16/17 kms. Actually did one 25 km also over a weekend….
4. Totally vegan now and feeling same energy what i used to have 25 years back … just amazing
This journey of last 5 months has been very exciting, with a lot of energy ….
These couple of months have changed me totally and now i m doing my part of spreading this to as many people possible
Good luck and God bless you sir
Regards'
As you can see from this testimonial, and several others that I have received since, Ankylosing Spondylitis is a curable disease and changing your diet to plant based whole food one can help reverse this disease.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.