Bone and joint health starts with exercise and ends with diet. Your musculoskeletal system (bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, joints, muscles, etc.) needs high quality fuel to maintain strength, prevent degeneration, and continue performance in your activities of daily living. In order to delay further degeneration of joints, and maintain healthy cartilage; exercise regularly, including mildly impactful activities such as walking or running. Weight bearing exercise strengthens your bones and joints.
Pain from osteoarthritis or degenerative joints is purely an inflammatory issue, which can be reduced by following an anti-inflammatory diet. Supplementation of turmeric, bromelain, ginger, fish oils, combined with dietary modification may reduce symptoms. Glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate are naturally derived compounds from cartilage, which have been shown to reduce pain and slow degeneration of joints when taken at therapeutic dosage. Depending on your specific needs vitamin D and/or calcium may be helpful, though it is far more preferable to intake the recommended daily allowance through a healthy diet.
Below is an example of what to include in an anti-inflammatory diet. Avoid processed foods, eat organic whenever possible, if you find yourself overwhelmed and unsure of what to include in your diet… Eat more Green Vegetables!!!
Fruit: (1,000’s of varieties) examples: Apple, apricot, Asian pear, banana, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, coconut, figs, grapes, kiwi, mandarin orange, mango, nectarines, oranged, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, plum, raspberries, star fruit, strawberries, tangerines, watermelon. (2-5 fruit servings per day of fresh, frozen, but not canned)
Fruit Vegetables: Artichokes, avocado, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprout, cauliflower, cucumber, corn, eggplant, peas, snow peas, string beans, soy beans, summer squash (yellow, zucchini), tomatoes, winter squash (acorn, butternut, delicate, etc.)
Vegetables: Asparagus, beets, bok choy, carrots, celery, chard, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, radish, spinach, turnip. Eat raw, steamed, baked, or lightly stir fried. (5-10 vegetables servings per day)
Dressings: flavored vinegars with ground seeds, nuts and avocados, miso
Tubers: 1-7 times per week: sweet potato, regular potato
Whole Grains: 0-2 servings per day: all kinds, but rice is best (100’s of varieties)
Legumes: 0-2 cups per day. Canned beans are OK. Or, soak and drain bean after the first 8-12 hours and then continue to rinse a couple times a day for 1-3 days before cooking. (100s of varieties)
Nuts and Seeds: 1-6oz per day (depending on caloric needs). Best consumed raw: almonds, brazil, cashews, filberts, flax seeds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
Meat/Eggs: 0-8oz per meal (depending on age and health issues). Eat only free-range organically grown animals. Lamb, buffalo, grass fed beef, venison, elk, ostrich, turkey, chicken, and eggs
Fish/Seafood: 2-3 servings per week: all kinds, but wild salmon, sardines, trout, halibut, and mackerel are preferred. Pest eaten raw, poached, baked, steamed, or broiled.
Butter/Oil: Raw organic butter, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, (amount based on caloric needs)
Sweeteners: Occasional use of maple syrup, rice or barley syrup, raw honey, or stevia with meals is OK. Absolutely no sugar, NutraSweet, or any other artificial sweetener
Spices: add whatever spices you enjoy
To Drink: 3-8 cups of water or herbal tea depending on thirst, (preferably filtered water). Try to limit coffee and alcoholic drinks to 1 glass per day.
Ask your physician at Kelsall Chiropractic about individual needs to prolong bone and joint health.
