The Best Foods for Your Joints

If you have joint pain you know all too well how debilitating it can be. Often the things we enjoy doing the most like exercising, participating in hobbies, or just spending leisure time with our family, can become difficult if not impossible.

Millions of Americans are afflicted with joint pain. In fact, according to the CDC, 52 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia. While many doctors are able to diagnose these conditions, there is no known cause and currently no cures. Most modern treatments focus on reducing flare-ups, improving flexibility, and managing symptoms.

Though some medications like anti-inflammatories and corticosteroids can help reduce inflammation and lessen pain, they often come with their own nasty side effects such as high blood pressure, weight gain, water retention, muscle weakness, and glaucoma. For these reasons more people are choosing to make simple changes to their diet in order to ease stiffness and inflammation and relieve common joint pain.

The following 8 foods on this list have been shown to help alleviate pain and promote joint health because they contain one or more of the following:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Much research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids are effective on preventing inflammation in the joints and reducing symptoms associated with arthritis and osteoporosis. In fact, researchers from the Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health have found that the COX-2 enzymes, the very ones that cause joint inflammation, are far more active when you eat greater amounts of omega-6 than omega-3 acids.

Unfortunately, the standard American diet is high in omega-6 acids which are found in grain-fed meats, corn products, processed foods and sunflower oil. This preponderance of omega-6 is why it is important to not only reduce these items in your diet, but also eat foods high in Omega-3s.

Antioxidants

You’ve no doubt heard of free radicals and understand that they cause damage in the body in numerous ways. One way is to attack joint tissue in people with RA. Researchers who have examined the joint fluid of arthritis sufferers have found significantly higher levels of free radical activity. Equally important is the fact that they found lower than normal levels of key antioxidants like:

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is crucial for proper bone and cartilage formation and is powerful in fighting free radicals that damage joint tissues.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E not only traps free radicals and destroys them, it also increases joint mobility and helps alleviate joint pain by blocking prostaglandins, which are chemical messengers in the body that activate inflammation.

Selenium

The antioxidant Selenium is a very important helper to Vitamin C and E. Once C and E have gone out and attacked free radicals, they become inactive. Selenium reactivates them so they can go back out and fight the good fight once again.

Beta-Cryptoxanthin

Beta-cryptoxanthin is a powerful antioxidant of the carotenoid family. Like its cousin, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin gets converted into vitamin A in the body, which helps prevent arthritis synmptoms.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential in helping the body produce and maintain healthy membranes, like the synovial membrane found in joints. Vitamin A is also necessary for the immune system to function properly. Researchers have linked low levels of Vitamin A to autoimmune diseases such as RA.

Zinc

Zinc is equally important to the maintenance of healthy membranes and, like other antioxidants on this list, arthritis sufferers tend to be low in this necessary nutrient.

Copper

If you suffer from joint pain associated with RA or osteoarthritis, you may have found some relief in wearing one of those copper bracelets. The relief you felt was brought on by some of the copper being absorbed into your body through your skin. Eating foods that contain copper is essential for the production of connective tissue as well as fighting free radicals.

Best Foods for Your Joints

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Did you know that in parts of the world like Italy and Greece, where residents consume large amounts of extra-virgin olive oil, there tend to be much lower rates of arthritis, as much as 75% less? In fact research studies have shown that rheumatoid arthritis patients who increase their intake of olive oil experience a dramatic reduction in symptoms.

This is most likely because the fats found in olive oil are used by the body to produce prostacyclin, which is a very powerful anti-inflammatory substance.

Celery

Celery has never really gotten its due respect, but it’s definitely a vegetable you should be eating more of if you suffer from joint pain. In addition to well-known antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids, celery contains at least a dozen other types of antioxidant nutrients which all help to fight the free radicals that can cause damage to our joints and connective tissues. Celery is also one of the richest sources of luteolin, a plant compound that calms inflammation.

Eggs

It is hard to imagine a food this egg-celent for our health has been demonized for so many decades. But eggs, whites AND yolks, offer numerous health benefits. Whether you like them sunny-side up or scrambled, eggs contain not only supportive cholesterol, but also DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid that helps fight inflammation throughout the body. Oh, and eggs also contain beneficial choline and vitamin E.

Strawberries

One of the most popular fruits in this country, strawberries are one of the most nutrient dense fruits you can eat because they contain a significant amount of the antioxidant vitamin C which has been found to help in the formation of collagen. Strawberries also contain flavonoids, which also have strong antioxidant effects

Apples

It turns out an apple a day keeps joint pain away because apples contain a powerful antioxidant called quercetin, and according to a study by Cornell University, quercetin protects the body from free radical attacks which can damage joint tissues. If you want to ensure you leverage the power of quercetin, be sure to leave the skin on your apple because that is where most of this amazing antioxidant lives.

Flax Seeds

These tiny seeds are an incredible source of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Plus, they’re very versatile – you can incorporate them into your diet by sprinkling them on yogurt and berries or blend them up in your smoothie.

Coconut Oil

In what may be the first study of its kind, researchers in India extracted the antioxidants unique to virgin coconut oil from the oil and injected them into rats with induced arthritis. They found that the unique coconut oil antioxidants reduced inflammation associated with arthritis more effectively than current pharmaceutical drugs. Plus, much of the saturated fat in coconuts is medium-chain fatty acids including the healthy fats, lauric acid, caprylic acid, and capric acid, and these do wonders in alleviating joint pain.

Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are loved by many for their crunchy texture and tangy taste. While bell peppers are rich in carotenoids, powerful antioxidants, they are also an excellent source of vitamin C (actually twice as much as you’ll even find in an orange!) as well as vitamin E. And, along with these two conventional antioxidants, bell peppers are also a source for another great one – manganese.