When properly surveyed and asked, most seniors agree that one of their top worries when it comes to their health is Arthritis.
If you’re not too familiar with Arthritis, it is essentially the stiffening and inflammation of your joints, and it is prevalent amongst senior citizens as they begin to age.
In simple terms, arthritis is just a fancy way of saying joint pain or joint diseases.
I hate the scientific jargon just as much as the next guy, and since there are over 100 different types of arthritis conditions out there, we’ve decided to simplify the entire matter down into easily comprehensible chunks for you to quickly digest.
Joint pain can be a major pain in the neck, especially if you find that it inhibits your movements, and interferes with your day-to-day activities such as walking or climbing stairs.
Worst of all, you’ll only recognize that your joints have a problem once you begin to face those difficulties in your daily activities, or undergo an X-ray. And since most people simply don’t have X-rays lying around at their disposal, arthritis can definitely sneak up on you when you least expect it.
If not properly managed, some arthritis may even affect your heart, eyes, lungs, kidneys and skin on top of the effect it already has on the joints.
With all that damage subsequently taking its toll on your body, it’s no wonder seniors are pressed for concern with regards to arthritis.
If you are already reading this far into the post, you’ve probably had or are having the same nagging concern when it comes to arthritis.
So with that, we hope to give you some general guidelines, tips and strategies to help prevent arthritis from happening to you, and mitigate the risks that come with it.
Foreword
First word of caution though: athritis, just like any other disease out there, isn’t something that can be 100% prevented or cured.
Factors outside of our control such as age, family history and even gender (arthritis tends to be more common in women) are all factors in whether or not one can get arthritis.
The risk of developing it, however, can be reduced if proper health procedures are followed.
Since there are many types of arthritis out there, we’ve decided to focus on a few key principles which translate across many forms of arthritis such as fibromyalgia, gout and others.
On top of that, we’ll give you specific recommendtions for each type of arthritis, so that it can be applied to your situation as easily as possible.
The Basics
First, let’s cover the basics.
It’s no secret that as people tend to age, a lot of them simply don’t give the same attention to their health as they once did when they were younger.
They eat unhealthily, barely exercise, and over the years, these bad habits show up in the form of unmanageable fat across their body.
I say unmanageable, as they simply forgot or do not know how to control their body and weight any more.
How many people truly feel in touch with their bodies once they reach their twilight years?
I can safely say, not much – which is why we marvel at an elderly man or woman who still looks in phenomenal shape despite their age.
They are a rare breed, and if you notice, these are the people who aren’t as worried as you when it comes to diseases – including those like arthritis.
So many times, I’ve seen people out of shape, with a bulging gut, complaining that they have joint aches.
Now granted, not everyone faces that same dilemma, but a lot surely do – which is why I’d like to take the time to address the basics first.
If you don’t follow a proper nutrition plan, have not been exercising, and are simply out of shape, then its no wonder you’re having joint aches! Your joints simply can’t take the added loads on it from all the extra weight.
If this is you, then you need to start:
- Exercising
- Controlling Your Weight
- Controlling What You Eat/Drink
For some quick start guides on those topics, check out our other posts on nutrition, as well as exercise to get you properly started:
- On exercise: Click Here
- On nutrition: Click Here
- On heart health: Click Here
The Specifics
Now, onto specifics. Of course, while exercising or doing any activity for that matter, it’s important that you take the necessary precautions to avoid injuries as well as protect your joints.
If you’re exercising, then definitely don’t push yourself too hard, and pace yourself appropriately.
Or even in your day-to-day life, you can implement measures to reduce stress on your joints as much as possible.
Whether be it wearing a shoulder bag instead of a handheld purse, using helpful devices such as canes or extra-thick pens, picking up objects with your knees and hips rather than your back, carrying items close to your body to avoid wrist strains or simply sitting in the right supported posture, these tiny measures will compound over time and have a great positive effect on your overall joint health.
Main Types
Like we mentioned earlier, there are hundreds of types of arthritis out there, but to cater to the most people, let’s cover the most common and prevalent ones, as well as what you can do to prevent them.
Psoriatic Arthritis
Exercise
As with any other type of arthritis, and mirroring our basic points from earlier, exercise can help to reduce this arthritis significantly.
As exercise naturally increases your overall joint and bone strength as well as keep your weight under control, it will minimize your chances of contracting arthritis in the long run.
If your joints can’t take the impact from exercise, don’t sweat it! (pun intended 🙂
There are plenty of other, low impact activities, that don’t put a lot of stress on your joints.
From simple ones like walking or swimming to more expensive options like hydrotherapy, you definitely have a myriad of exercise options to choose from – so don’t make any excuses about not getting out of your house to do so!
As long as you’re consistently getting out and moving your body, you’re a lot closer to healthier, happier joints.
Hot And Cold
A little ‘hack’ that you can pull off as well is using moist heat and coolness to your advantage when it comes to joint pains.
For example, you can use moist heat to relax achy muscles and relieve stiffness. This can be done by simply using a warm towel, hot pack, or taking a warm bath/shower.
Coldness on the other hand, can cut back on swelling as well as ease pain. This can be done by (commonly) using a bag of ice or (less commonly) using frozen veggies wrapped in a towel.
Ostheoarthisis
A lot of the principles mentioned earlier already overlap with those here for ostheoarthisis.
By exercising and maintaining a proper nutrition plan, you should already be ahead of the curve when trying to minimize the risk of arthisis.
However, let’s dive deeper into certain nutritional aspects/recipes that specifically target this.
Omega-3 fatty acids: Every diet should have a good dose of healthy fats, and specifically if you’re looking to strengthen your joints, this can come in especially handy.
Simply put: healthy fats reduce joint inflammation, whilst unhealthy ones increase it.
This is why it is vitally important to choose the types of foods and ‘fats’ you add into your diet.
For this reason, recipes that involve fish (salmon etc), certain plant/nut oils, including canola, walnut, flaxseed, olive or soybean can be hugely beneficial for you.
Vitamin C: You’ve probably heard doctors or commercials stressing the need for kids to eat plenty of green leafy vegetables, and for good reason: it simply helps you build strong bones with its richness in vitamin C.
Some of these Vitamin C – fueled foods include, green peppers, citrus foods, tomatoes, kale, strawberries, sweet and white potatoes as well as broccoli.
Vitamin D: This ties in perfectly with the foods filled with healthy fats, as most of them naturally contain Vitamin D as well.
Studies have shown that people with knee ostheoarthisis and low blood levels of Vitamin D are about 3 times more likely to experience disease progression as compared to those with high levels of it.
Apart from getting it from foods listed earlier such as salmon, tuna, sardines and eggs etc, you also can get your daily dose of vitamin D from being exposed to the sun.
You now have even more of a reason to get off your couch and step outside, so get moving and start working out already 😀 !
Gout
One of the main reasons for gout occurring is the high levels of uric acid in one’s body.
When your body is unable to remove the uric acid fast enough or if the body produces too much, it can build up in the blood, and excess uric acid can form crystals in the joints.
This is what results in the painful joint swelling and inflammation, and it can lead to other repercussions if not properly handled or mitigated.
The diet for a gout-ridden person or someone looking to avoid it may be quite tricky, as it definitely goes against the grain of most other ‘healthy diets’ out there.
For example, you need to limit your daily protein intake and cut back on red meats, fatty poultry and high-fat dairy products for their saturated fats.
Water is a definite must, and you should be aiming to drink about 8 to 16 glasses per day as an increase in water consumption has been proven to reduce the number of gout attacks.
If you’re not used to drinking much water, use this simple framework:
2 glasses of water when you wake up
1 before and after each meal (assuming you eat 3 meals/day)
2 before you head to bed
By making this into a habit, you’ll be drinking at least 10 glasses of water per day, keeping you fully hydrated and healthy.
As for the list of foods to consume, your carbs should mainly consist of complex carbohydrates (whole grains, more fruits and vegetables etc), while also focusing on specific sources of protein such as seafoods (avoid sardines, mussels, herring etc), lean white meats and vitamin C – filled foods.
As for a proven gout ‘antidote’, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar along with a cup of water 2 times a day has been the standard modus operandi for reducing the effects of gout. Drinking the vinegar helps to break up the uric acid crystals and ultimately stops the process of reformation in the joints.
However, don’t rely on this antidote as your ‘one-all be-all’ crutch to save you from gout.
Just like any other health condition, it requires a long-term approach to sustain the minimizing of its effects and ensuring you’re in peak condition year-round.
So don’t expect to eat unhealthily and go against all the ‘gout-approved’ foods, hoping that the antidote will solve all your problems later on.
That is extremely short-sighted, and frankly, a huge pain in the neck as you have to deal with the trouble of constantly being on the lookout for signs of gout every single day.
Take the long-term approach by eating the right foods, staying healthy, and using the antiodote when you need to.
For a more specific index as well as a sample ‘gout’ menu, this post has an extensive list of foods that are both ‘gout-friendly’ as well as not: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/gout-diet/art-20048524
Others
Milk has a reputation for building strong bones (why do you think we feed it to kids and babies so much?)
So while dairy products are definitely an option for its richness its calcium, we do understand that some of you may be lactose intolerant, or simply aren’t avid milk-drinkers, which is why we’ve only talked about it now.
If you tend to get bloated from drinking too much milk, then simply dial back on it, and drink it in moderation. A little calcium can go a long way, and if you’re already implementing the steps from the previous principles, this can be the perfect cherry on the cake.
Conclusion
Arthitis is definitely an in-depth topic to cover, and we might be revisiting this topic in the near future.
But for now, take home the message that although some of these conditions are out of your control, what you eat, how you exercise and everything in between is within your control – and with those elements firmly in place, a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle can definitely lead you to stronger, healthier joints, and a stronger, healthier you.
