what you eat is what you feel
Most people’s eyes glaze over when they see the word “diet,” and frankly, the word is everywhere. Nearly every magazine in the checkout aisle has a headline referring to the diet and every month some nutrition guru publishes a “new” diet for the ages. This massive oversaturation causes many people to become desensitized to going on a complete diet.
With my patients, I try to keep the 4-letter word out of our conversations and instead refer to it as a “nutritional program.” Because, believe it or not, you are what you eat! And if your main goal is just to feel better (and why wouldn’t it) then you need to think about the types of foods you eat.
inflammation: Your body’s way of saying “stop it!”
The old saying goes “you are what you eat” but in reality, and more likely, you actually feel each bite in every part of your body. Certain foods can provoke an inflammatory response in your body, which shows up everywhere but definitely in your joints.
diet and arthritis
Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the United States. According to annual estimates, an estimated 46 million American adults (about 1 in 5) report having doctor-diagnosed arthritis. As the US population ages, these numbers are expected to increase rapidly. In fact, the number of adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis is projected to grow to 67 million by 2030. Common symptoms include pain, soreness, stiffness, and swelling in or around the joint.
Arthritis is all about inflammation in the joint tissues. Living with it can be challenging, and finding the right cocktail of anti-inflammatory drugs can be difficult. One thing you can do to really help relieve pain is to eliminate certain foods that may be promoting your body’s inflammatory response.
Foods that can aggravate gout and should be minimized:
• Foods high in saturated fat such as dairy, red meat and baked foods
• coffee
• sweet food
• Refined grains like pasta, white rice and white bread
• Refined or processed foods (if it’s in a can or compartment, it’s refined)
• alcohol
Foods that help reduce inflammation in the body are:
• Vegetables and some fruits
• Whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat
• Sources of omega-3 fatty acids, such as fatty fish such as salmon, fish oil supplements and walnuts
• Low-fat protein sources such as chicken, turkey, or beans
• Green Tea
diet and osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the gradual degeneration of the surfaces of joints, caused by overuse and lack of repair. Over time, the wear and tear of the cartilage builds up to the point that it becomes thinner. Symptoms include pain, stiffness and swelling in key joint areas such as the hips, knees and hands.
Although osteoarthritis is not a case of inflammation, a good nutritional program is important to avoid this painful condition.
Keeping the weight off is not only good for your self-image and health, but it’s also great for your joints! Clinical research has shown that people who are 20 percent or more overweight over their normal body weight are more likely to develop osteoarthritis. The weight-bearing joints are most affected by excess weight, especially the knees, hips, ankles and spine. Unfortunately, once joint pain sets in, a more sedentary life tends to result, which means more weight gain, putting more strain on the joints. It is a vicious cycle. A nutrition program designed to lose weight may be appropriate in this situation.
When Diet Can’t Solve Everything
As previously stated, some forms of arthritis do not necessarily respond to anti-inflammatory foods or medications. Although keeping fit can help keep the load off your joints-sometimes they just wear out and you need that extra helping hand of outside help!
Outside Help!
Prolotherapy: This unique therapy, although more than 50 years old, has only recently attracted more interest due to the nature of its success. Prolotherapy works in two ways:
• short term: Prolotherapy strengthens the ligaments surrounding the joint, providing immediate relief from pain.
• Long term: Prolotherapy stimulates the growth of tissue in the injured area, making it stronger and more pliable over time.
Prolotherapy stimulates the body to naturally do what it should do when injured: build healthy, strong, flexible ligament or tendon tissue. Unfortunately, our body doesn’t always respond the way it should and needs extra stimulation to get the job done. Prolotherapy is additional motivation or stimulation at the cellular level.
PRP Therapy: Platelet-rich plasma injection therapy, although not new, has been in the news recently in the medical field as a viable technique to relieve pain and give better results in healing injured and overused tendons and ligaments. A knowledgeable and trained doctor injects your own platelets (growth factors) from your blood into the injured area, which stimulates the healing process and in turn reduces pain in the area.
You are what you eat, and by eating less and eating more nutrition-packed foods, you’ll definitely be on your way to feeling much better.
Are you suffering from chronic joint and tendon pain and want to learn more about Prolotherapy and PRP injections?
Source by Marc Darrow, M.D, J.D
