A recent study published in the Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain found that men and women who suffer from chronic back pain like eating foods high in fat less than others and don’t feel satisfied by them.

Reuters said that chronic low back pain is often linked to obesity, and this new information could point to changes in the brain’s reward system process. Additionally, the results corroborate previous findings showing that people with this problem often have changes in their brains associated with pleasure and food.

Eighteen people with chronic back pain and 19 healthy individuals took part in the study, which involved tasting and rating four samples of pudding made with varying volumes of fat. The process was repeated with orange-flavored drinks containing different amounts of sugar. The participants returned another day and were told to eat as much of the pudding they favored most and rate how they felt after. With the first test, both groups rated the flavor similarly, but those with chronic low back pain didn’t like them as much as the other group. Both factions liked the orange drinks about the same.

With the second session, the healthy individuals displayed more of an appreciation for the pudding and ate more of it, which didn’t happen as much with the pain group. Similarly, the healthy group felt less hungry after eating a lot of the pudding, but that didn’t occur in the men and women with pain.

Senior care services can help those with chronic low back pain make healthy food choices to avoid weight gain and ensure that they are getting proper nutrition.