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A Good Diet can Help Osteoarthritis

Posted in Osteoarthritis

A good diet for osteoarthritis is the one that comprise of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. This diet is diet that is anti-inflammatory and aids elimination of osteoarthritis symptoms. It is a chronic condition that damages the joints in our body and cause cartilage deterioration. People having osteoarthritis suffer from joint stiffness as well as intermittent pain.

Inflammation occurs everywhere around your joints along with cartilage break down. Doctors often prescribe anti-inflammatory drug to reduce the osteoarthritis effects and these drugs come with side effects too. Thus many people are looking for a natural way to fight the condition.

Eating fruits and vegetables including whole grains is the ideal way to keep inflammation away. You should also include proteins in diet for osteoarthritis so that restore the proteins that you are now losing when it comes to osteoarthritis. The cartilage consists of proteins which get depleted when you suffer from osteoarthritis.

A diet which consist of healthy foods and essential vitamins like vitamin A and D both together help prevent inflammation that can prevent osteoarthritis. Also it will help you fight osteoarthritis effects and a nutritional diet helps you maintain body weight as well. It is very important to maintain a healthy weight as people suffering from osteoarthritis experience joint condition because they carry excessive body weight. This is also applicable for people who suffer from knee and back osteoarthritis and losing weight is an important step towards eradicating the pain that occurs because of this condition.

In addition to switching to a healthy osteoarthritis diet which helps reduce inflammation, you can also include a natural supplement that gives you minerals and vitamins that your body may be lacking. Age is the primary factor that leads to osteoarthritis. We cannot stop the aging process but can restore vitamins and minerals that are important for a healthy body and which our body lacks in due to old age.

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By using a natural supplement, we can provide our body with nutrients that our body needs to fight osteoarthritis. It is better to start eating a healthy diet and take natural supplements early to avoid painful condition and lead a healthier life.

By taking right diet for osteoarthritis you are helping yourself from preventing your body face unwanted effects of osteoarthritis and thus maintaining a healthy body. Omega-3 fatty acids are also helpful in reducing stiffness in joints, inflammation, and pain and improve the grip strength and improve mobility of joints in patients suffering from osteoarthritis.

You can also take supplements of omega-3 fatty acids hinder the function of enzymes that are responsible for destroying cartilage. Supplements of fish oil are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Regular exercise and physical activity that is light in nature, maintaining balanced weight, healthy diet and enough rest can help in alleviating the osteoarthritis symptoms

Diet is important as you get essential mineral, vitamins and proteins, which your body needs and depletion of which has caused osteoarthritis. Try to incorporate a healthy diet in your daily routine for best results.

What you eat can have a positive or negative impact on arthritis symptoms. Studies suggest that eating a Mediterranean diet can reduce inflammation in people with osteoarthritis (OA) and protect against weight gain, fracture risk and disability.

What is the Mediterranean Diet?

The diet emphasizes locally grown fruits and vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil and nuts, whole grains and some fish, yogurt and red wine. It’s the way people in Greece and southern Italy have eaten for centuries, and it’s credited for their long lives and low rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and dementia.

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Reducing Inflammation

The disease-fighting power of the Mediterranean diet stems from its ability to regulate inflammation by focusing on anti-inflammatory foods (berries, fish, olive oil) and excluding or limiting pro-inflammatory ones (red meat, sugar and most dairy). OA is now known to have an inflammatory component, so this way of eating can lead to real improvements in joint pain, says Michelle Babb, MS, RD, a Seattle-based nutrition educator.

“There are a variety of foods in the Mediterranean diet that are high in fiber, beta carotene, magnesium and omega 3s, which have been found to actively reduce inflammatory markers in human studies. I’ve had [arthritis] patients who have been able to discontinue the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) because of transitioning to a Mediterranean diet. Some even report a noticeable difference in pain in the first week,” she says.

Research backs this up. A 2015 study published in Arthritis reported that patients with osteoarthritis had a significant reduction in pain just two weeks after switching to a plant-based diet. Patients in the study also lost weight without counting calories or limiting portions. Weight loss, in fact, is one of the unintended consequences of a Mediterranean-type diet. Many studies have found that people who follow it shed unwanted pounds.  Each pound of lost weight relieves four pounds of pressure on overburdened joints. And because fat produces inflammatory cytokines, inflammation goes down, too.

Slowing Disease Progression

Who wouldn’t want to ease painful joints and drop a few pounds while enjoying almond-crusted trout, asparagus grilled in olive oil and a glass of red wine?

Even in the long-term, it’s possible an anti-inflammatory diet might help to slow down disease progression. Research has shown that certain foods not only lower inflammation in the short-term, but actually change the expression of pro-inflammatory genes and immune cells that can drive disease.

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A large study published in 2016 in the European journal, Clinical Nutrition used frailty (defined as low energy, trouble rising from a chair and muscle loss) as a stand-in for disease progression. After following 4,000 patients who had or were at high risk of OA for eight years, researchers found that participants who ate a typical American diet were twice as likely to become frail compared with those on a Mediterranean-style food plan.

In a different study published in 2016 in the American Society for Nutrition, the same research team reported that a Mediterranean or anti-inflammatory diet led to healthy weight loss, lower rates of diabetes, heart disease and fractures as well as less arthritis-related pain, disability and depression and to a better overall quality of life.

They also found that the Mediterranean diet might influence whether someone developed knee OA. The researchers tracked the diets of more than 4,000 patients and found that the more closely participants followed the diet, the less likely they were to develop joint problems. Interestingly, when they looked at the effect on OA of individual foods, only whole grains were associated with reduced osteoarthritis risk.

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