Aside from home remedies and prescribed medications and therapies, you also need to avoid certain types of foods. Junk food, meats, and white flour are the worst foods for plantar fasciitis.
Can dietary changes affect plantar fasciitis? What Foods to Avoid with Plantar Fasciitis? Well, these are the questions that may come to your mind whenever you feel heel pain and discomfort.
Dietary changes, like an increase in intake of particular food types and a decrease in the intake of certain food types, can significantly reduce or heighten inflammation and pain.
In this article, you will have a deeper understanding of the foods you should avoid. Also, you will learn the food you should consume instead.
Can foods hurt your feet? (What Foods to Avoid with Plantar Fasciitis)
If you are suffering from heel pain associated with plantar fasciitis, the foods you eat may have something to do with it.
Yes, particular food types can harm your feet instead of keeping them healthy. Here are the worst foods for your feet:
1. Junk Foods
If you guessed that junk foods are one of the worst foods for your heel pain, you did a great job. These food items can load your body with lots of calories and make your feel sluggish.
Most junk foods contain high amounts of unhealthy fats and sugar, which can cause health problems like plantar fasciitis. Sugar is the primary culprit for increasing inflammation and irritation in tissues in the body.
Trans fats and saturated fats are usually found in junk foods and processed meats like pepperoni and hot dogs. They also cause inflammation.
2. Meats
Lean meats are good for your foot health. However, if the meats contain high amounts of fats, they can trigger or worsen your plantar fasciitis.
These fats can clog your body and stop the anti-inflammatory and healing processes. Animal sources with significant amounts of saturated fat, including red meats, should be avoided by those with chronic heel pain.
Consuming meat with unhealthy fat prevents your body from tapping into vitamins and minerals it needs to fight inflammation.
Instead of consuming red meat, you can opt for fish that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids to fight inflammation. You should remove unhealthy fatty acids from your diet.
3. White Flour
Do you love cookies, cakes, or breads? White flour is the prime ingredient of processed foods and snacks, which is not good for plantar fasciitis.
This ingredient is present in almost every food, making it difficult to avoid. However, it is still possible. You can switch to gluten-free wheat flour for a healthier result.
You have to be meticulous in avoiding white flour because it is sometimes in the form of add-on presented as crispy coatings or in the soups as thickener. Check out the ingredients of the food you eat and eliminate white flour.
What are the foods that reduce inflammation?
Consuming foods that are rich in vitamin C, magnesium, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), and magnesium help with plantar fasciitis.
Vitamin C, magnesium, and MSM help reduce inflammation, while calcium helps prevent the development of heel problems. Here are the foods that you should consume for their anti-inflammatory properties:
1. White Beans
White beans are packed with magnesium and calcium.
2. Pumpkin Seeds
Consuming pumpkin seeds provide high amounts of vitamin c and calcium.
3. Oranges
Oranges are not only rich in vitamin C but also in calcium and MSM.
4. Spinach
This green leafy vegetable is high in MSM, magnesium calcium, and vitamin c.
Can you supplement your diet to avoid plantar fasciitis?
Most vitamins and minerals are found naturally in grains, fruits, and vegetables to prevent and improve the symptoms of plantar fasciitis.
However, these vitamins and minerals only come in low doses. In other words, you have to consume particular foods to get noticeable benefits. However, there are some days that your meals lack these vitamins and minerals or do not have such ingredients.
If you wish to reap the best results from these vitamins and minerals, it is recommended to take supplementations for plantar fasciitis. You can try the following supplements for plantar fasciitis:
1. Bromelain
You can naturally find bromelain in pineapple. However, the fruit only offers this mineral in low doses. So, you will need supplementation to get the right amount.
Bromelain is known to be an effective pain reliever and helps reduce inflammation.
2. Turmeric
Turmeric is a popular spice you can find in different cuisines worldwide. It is also used to treat all types of inflammation, including the inflammation in the feet related to plantar fasciitis.
This spice is as effective as over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and pain reliever medications. You can take it in capsule form.
3. Bioflavonoids
These antioxidants come with anti-carcinogen, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic properties. They are generally found in rinds of citrus fruits, in berries, purple grapes, tomatoes, broccoli, green peppers, and some herbal teas.
You can opt for the capsule form if you do not always consume these foods.
4. Calcium
If you take an adequate amount of calcium, you have a better chance of preventing the heel spur development, a bony calcium protrusion on the heel that results from plantar fasciitis.
Calcium-rich foods include oranges, black-eyed peas, white beans, turnip greens, kale, sesame seeds, almonds, and dairy. If you cannot get this nutrient from a healthy diet, you can take a calcium supplement daily.
5. Magnesium
This vital nutrient helps with foot health and plantar fasciitis management. You need this nutrient so that your body can properly absorb calcium.
Even if you consume large quantities of calcium, you can still develop a calcium deficiency without taking magnesium. You can eat plenty of magnesium-rich foods, including dried figs, bananas, avocados, millet, brown rice, pinto beans, lentils, garbanzos, etc.
You can also take a calcium-magnesium supplement.
Have you a Plantar Fasciitis problem and want to know what essential Oils to use for Plantar Fasciitis, then read out this guide.
Conclusion
Not all foods are good for plantar fasciitis; some can worsen the condition. So, you have to be careful with the food you eat. You can even make some dietary changes to avoid developing this condition.
Now that you know which foods you should avoid, you have an opportunity to prevent plantar fasciitis or reduce the symptoms.
It is also recommended to support your diet with orthotics and exercise. You can also wear footwear designed for plantar fasciitis. You can read our top pick for the best running shoes for plantar fasciitis.