People with arthritis fear it will increase pain or lead to further damage to their joints if they keep doing regular physical activity. Our joints allow for movement when the body is not resisting exercising.
Movement of joints reduces pain, joint stiffness, strengthens the muscles which surround the joints. It helps us maintain a healthy weight. The effects are true, so keep moving!
Protect Your Joints
It is very crucial for everyone, especially people with osteoporosis and arthritis, to look after their joints. The main aim of joint-protection foundations is to reduce pain and decrease the strain or load placed on the joints.
Maintain Your Ideal Weight
We need to maintain our optimal body weight, concerning ideal joint health. Carrying surplus bodyweight adds strain to our joints, especially the weight-bearing joints like knee joint and ankle joint.
Researchers have found that weight loss effectively decreases knee pain and stiffness in muscles associated with knee osteoarthritis.1
Do Low-Impact Exercises
A gentle type of exercise/workout that minimizes the strain put on joints during highly intense workouts. The significant benefits of regular physical activity and yoga can be achieved with low-impact exercise.
According to the Ayurvedic doctors, low-impact exercises that are easier on your joints include aquatic sports like swimming, social sports like golf, as well as brisk walking and cycling.
Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Reducing inflammation is part of managing arthritis disorder under control and improving overall joint health.
An anti-inflammatory diet means including food items that decrease inflammation and avoiding foods that increase inflammation.
According to some sources, a Mediterranean diet is a good option for keeping inflammation (due to arthritis) under control.
Strengthen Your Muscles
The muscles that assist our joints must be kept as powerful and healthy as possible. Maintaining or improving your muscle strength can be done with the help of strengthening exercises.
Weight training can be generally used as part of a strengthening systematic regime. Be careful while doing your workouts and not overdo it.
With proper exercise and training, you will increase the strength of your joints, while decreasing pain.
Try Range-of-Motion Exercises
Bone and joints disorders are characteristically associated with limited series of motion.
To maintain your current series of motion or to improve it, you should regularly put each joint through its entire range of motion.
Flexion, Extension, or rotation of each of your joints. Range of motion exercises improve endurance, flexibility, decrease stiffness and pain, and help keep our joints properly functional.
Stop Smoking
Most people are unaware of the fact that smoking enhances the risk of osteoporosis (porous bones) and bone fractures.
Smoking also increases the risk of injuries involving bursitis (inflammation of bursae of synovial fluid) or tendonitis.
Smokers also have a higher risk of getting diagnosed with rheumatoid Arthritis and lower backache. Restraint of smoking helps in improving bone density.
Diet
Bone Broth
Glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin, and amino acids are well documented and suggested to help maintain healthy bones and joints, while calcium is required for bone density.
Bone broth has all of these ingredients. The substance (like gelatin) that comes from cooking bones imitates collagen that is present naturally in our joints, ligaments, and tendons.
It is a fiercely debated topic in the medical field whether bone broth can stimulate the re-growth of cartilage or not. It has been known to reduce joint pain and maintain optimal function for people with arthritis when taken regularly as an oral supplement.
Bone broth can be used in recipes as a cooking base or consumed as a hot broth. You can get tips on bone broth recipes from Ayurvedic dietitians.
Lentils and Beans
Beans and lentils are well known for their health advantages. Beans and lentils are an excellent source of trace minerals, protein, and fiber.
They also have excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Anthocyanins are wonderful flavonoid that reduces inflammation.
Black beans, pinto beans, lentils, chickpeas, and soybeans are all great sources of anthocyanins.
Olive Oil
Avoid peanut oil, vegetable oil, and sunflower oil as all of these can increase inflammation. Opt for a few tablespoons of olive oil for cooking and making salad dressings rather than above mentioned oils.
It is better to use the extra virgin variety of oil that is least processed. It is also a good source of Omega 3 fatty acid and is an unsaturated “healthy” fat.
Nuts and Seeds
For vegans and vegetarians among us, Omega 3 fatty acid can also be found in a wide range of nuts and seeds. A small daily portion of walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, flax seeds, chia seeds can be significantly effective in reducing inflammation in the joints and connective tissue.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids / Fish Oils
Omega 3 fatty acids are found in an enormous amount in cold water fishes, which are essential nutrients for overall human health.
These crucial nutrients are also sometimes referred to as polyunsaturated fatty acids.
They not only improve brain function and lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses, as well as proven to reduce inflammatory factors in the body.
Taking a daily fish oil supplement is another way to absorb Omega-3s. It can be found in cold-water fishes like sardines, trout, tuna, salmon, and halibut.
Garlic and Root Vegetables
Food items having anti-inflammatory properties are garlic, onion, turmeric, and ginger.
Various research studies have proven that these pungent vegetables are beneficial in treating symptoms of arthritis, osteoporosis, and other joint pain.
You can add these vegetables to meals for added flavor. They’re all available in form of a supplement as well.
