Articles: Weight Loss

When it comes to a Diet Good for Healthy Joints to Help Relieve Pain,

it is important to remember to take a full body approach. You must be aware of your food intake as well as keep a regular exercise schedule. Regular exercise helps strengthen your muscles that support joints and helps to keep your joints flexible. Some exercise ideas include: brisk walking, water aerobics, gentle yoga, and tai-chi. Physical therapy and massage will also be helpful.


When choosing a diet good for healthy joints, you will want to focus on foods that will help reduce your inflammation. A great way to do this is to choose fresh foods instead of heavily processed foods. Your body cannot use the fats from processed foods, which leads to the inflammatory process, which causes joint pain.


The right types of fats, however, will positively impact pain and inflammation. Omega-3 essential fatty acids are very powerful anti-inflammatory agents. They are found in cold water oily fish such as salmon and tuna, avocado, walnuts, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds. These fats encourage the production of chemicals that help control inflammation in the joints, bloodstream, and muscle tissues.


Olive oil is another type of healthy fat that will help reduce inflammation. In fact, olive oil has been shown to not only reduce pain, but also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Other healthy oils you can include in your diet are walnut oil, rice bran oil, canola oil, and grape seed oil.


Your body also needs protein to help build healthy body tissues. Good sources of protein are fish and seafood, lean poultry, nuts, legumes and seeds. Also, soy proteins can help reduce your pain and inflammation as well. Three examples of soy protein include: soybeans, tofu, and soy milk. Red meats, however, actually trigger inflammation. If you do choose to eat red meat, choose lean cuts of game meats, or the lowest fat cuts of beef, but do not eat red meat often. Also, be sure to choose grass-fed beef, as opposed to corn fed animals raised on antibiotics and/or hormones. When preparing your protein, stick to stir-fry and baking. Stay away from deep-fried foods; they contribute to the inflammatory process.

When picking your carbohydrates, remember they should come from whole grains, vegetables and fruits. You should eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Berries are specifically a great food choice, especially blueberries and strawberries, because they are packed with anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and anti-oxidants. A good rule of thumb is to remember the pigments in brightly colored fruits and vegetables contain many phytochemicals that have anti-inflammatory properties. For example, apples and red onion skins have guercetin, which has strong anti-inflammatory properties. The bread, cereal and pasta in your diet should be 100% whole grain products. Another point to remember is that whole grains, green leafy vegetables and whole fruits are an excellent source of fiber, and a high fiber diet helps reduce inflammation.


A very important fact to remember is that your body needs water in the form of beverages and foods each day. About 20% of the water you need daily will come from the foods you eat. In order to get the rest, you should drink six to eight glasses of fresh and clean drinking water every day. Other good fluid sources are 100% fruit juices, herbal teas, vegetable juices and low fat milk. The phytochemicals in green tea have specifically shown to help relieve inflammation in the body as well as reduce heart disease risk.


Diet Good for Healthy Joints:

* Regular Exercise
* Stick to fresh foods, and get rid of the heavily processed foods
* Choose fats high in Omega 3's
* When choosing protein include: fish and seafood, lean poultry, nuts, legumes, seeds, and soy proteins
* Snack on whole fruits, nuts seeds, fresh vegetables, and berries throughout the day instead of heavily processed junk foods
* Stay away from deep fried foods; bake or stir-fry your meals instead
* Choose brightly colored vegetables to be apart of your meals
* Choose 100% whole grain products for your bread, cereal and pasta
* Drink plenty of water, fresh 100% fruit juices, vegetable juices, low fat milk, herbal teas and/or green tea daily

With proper exercise and an anti-inflammatory diet, you should be able to relieve the pain in your joints.