ARTHRITIS - How To Manage Symptoms Effectively?

Arthritis is an inflammatory disease, destroying the synovial tissue of small joints like hand, wrist, elbow, feet etc.

Symptoms may include pain, weakness, morning stiffness and pain, stiffness and pain after a period of inactivity, joint swelling, restricted joint mobility leading to reduced function.

Certain people are with increasing risk of suffering from arthritis, they are:

Increased risk

Female sex

Exposure to tobacco smoke

Occupational dust (silica)

Air pollution

High sodium, red meat, and iron consumption

Obesity

Low vitamin d intake and levels

[ note that arthritis can't be cured but it's symptoms can be managed very effectively with proper medications, lifestyle and diet. ]

Remedies to manage arthritis and it's symptoms:

1). Exercise - exercise increases joint function by reducing pain & stiffness.

Exercises like aerobic, hydrotherapy works excellent.

2). Massage - massage soothes the pain and reduces swelling.

3). Diet - foods that aggravate arthritis should be avoided, they are:

. Sugar and artificial sweeteners

. Processed and junk foods.

. Excessive salt, oil, meat and alcohol.

. Refined carbohydrates and hydrogenated oils like canola oil, safflower oil, soyabean oil, rapeseed oil etc.

. Nightshade category foods like: potatoes, pepper, tomato, chili powder, capsicums, cherries, goji berries.

. Smoking cigarettes contain polycyclic hydrocarbon which are highly inflammatory.

Foods to have:

Their are various foods that help to fight arthritis symptoms and inflammation.

They are as follows:

. Omega 3 fatty acids: from seacod oil, fish oil, flax seeds and chia seeds, olive oil etc.

. Magnesium taken from pumpkin seeds, green leafy vegetables, almonds, nuts, dark chocolate, etc.

. Vit d3 (uvb) from sun exposure minimum of 30 mins for asian people who usually have brown to wheatish colour, for fair people 20 mins is sufficient, given the time of exposure is anywhere between 10am - 2pm during winters and 10am - 12pm in summers.

. Capsaicin - when used in the form of topical application locally, gives promising results.

. Probiotics (good friendly bacteria found in our gut) like lactobacillus, l. Rhamnosus, bifidibacterium, saccharomyces etc helps alot, food sources are: yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir etc. (fermented foods or vegetables).

. Foods high in antioxidants and vit c helps to lower inflammation, foods like apple, guava, papaya, avocado, carrot, sweet potatoes, pineapple (bromelain) are rich in antioxidants like bioflavonoids which helps to fight ros (reactive oxidation species) of free radicals, thus helping to lower inflammation and pain.

. Proteolytic enzymes when taken two hours before meal or four hours after meal gives excellent anti-inflammatory properties, they are found in: pineapple, papaya (unripe), ginger, kiwi etc.
Serrapeptase is also a nutraceuticals enzyme found in natural plant enzyme in europe gives excellent pain relief.

. Curcumin with more than 85% pure organic biocurcuminoids gives phenomenal pain relief and stiffness in arthritis.

. Boswellia serrata also knows as indian frankincense, shallaki in sanskrit gives good pain relief when taken in more than 75% boswellic acid.

. Foods high in methylsulfonyl methane (msm) gives pain relief, foods like garlic, onion, cabbage, asparagus are high in msm.

. Bone broth - it has amino acids like proline and glycine which rebuilds connective tissue.

These natural remedies can be tried as complementary medicine along with conventional medical treatment, but make sure you seek advice with your nutritionally informed doctor and a nutritionist before taking any food supplements or nutraceuticals.

Conquer arthritis with" food is medicine" on world arthritis day - 12th october.