If you suffer from joint pain, then you know from experience just how painful and immobilizing it can be.

However, by eating the rights foods and taking the correct supplements, you can prevent joint pain from arising and help manage inflammation that can make joint conditions worse. This preventative approach to maintaining healthy joints – can help keep you enjoying the physical activities you love the most, for a long time to come!

Foods That Promote Good Joint Health

One of the best remedies for helping to alleviate or preventing joint pain is eating the rights foods. Generally speaking, these are foods that are high in nutrients like Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids and foods with antioxidant properties. Joint pain is almost always associated with inflammation and swelling, so foods that have anti-inflammatory qualities like dark leafy greens, dark berries and spices are always a good choice too!

Some of the best foods to eat if you want to reap the benefits of these nutrients are fatty fish like herring, cod, sardines and wild salmon. Nuts like walnuts and almonds and seeds like pumpkin and ground flax – can be great anti-inflammatory food choices too!

Some other great foods to include in your diet to maintain healthy and pain-free joints are cauliflower, broccoli, onions, leeks, cherries, pineapple, papaya, kiwis, lemons and other citrus fruit, ginger, squash, mushrooms and sweet peppers.

What Should I Avoid?

There are also foods to avoid when you suffer from joint pain and discomfort. Some foods contain inflammatory qualities, which cause or aggravate joint pain and swelling. The major triggers are alcohol, sugar, fried food, meats from grain fed animals, wheat, trans-saturated fats, and sodas. Try to avoid these foods to keep painful flare-ups away and limit discomfort.

Supplements that prevent or offer relief from joint pain and discomfort

Getting all the nutrients required to promote good joint health from your diet alone, is ideal. However, this is not always possible! With the fast-paced, busy lifestyles we lead today it is hard to get enough nutrients from our food to meet nutrient amounts associated with a helpful decline in degenerative conditions.

This is where nutritional supplements for joint health come in. As always, before taking any new natural healthcare product, you should consult your doctor or pharmacist about any potential contraindications.

Glucosamine – Glucosamine is a compound that supplies the joints in your body with the materials they need to heal damage resulting from joint injury or osteoarthritis.  In particular, glucosamine sulfate is required by your body to manufacture a certain essential mucopolysaccharide found in joint cartilage. The good news is that it glucosamine is absorbed by your body quickly and easily.

Chondroitin Sulfate – this compound is another major ingredient of joint cartilage, specifically, it acts as the connective tissue between the tough protein strands that makes your cartilage elastic and stretchy as well as strong. Studies suggest it may promote healing and rebuilding of bone, and is effective in relieving symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) – this is another raw material that the body utilizes in order to build cartilage. In particular, it is an ingredient of the structural proteins found in your skin, hair — and joints – and is an abundant source of sulfur – which is a key component of collagen, which helps from cartilage. Studies suggest that MSM could be just as effective in the treatment of arthritis as the aforementioned supplements.

Calcium – did you know that calcium is the most frequently occurring mineral in your body? Most of it is situated in the bones and teeth – so if you want to maintain healthy bones and prevent osteoarthritis, then a good calcium supplement is the way to go.

Vitamin C – this substance is most well known as an antioxidant, which protects the body from roaming free radicals, but it also has a role to play in maintaining strong connective tissue, including the bones, tendons, and ligaments that make up your body’s joints. It is also needed to make collagen, an essential part of the cartilage lining your joints.

Curcumin – is a phytochemical derived from the spice turmeric. For thousands of years, turmeric has been one of the most commonly prescribed Ayurvedic remedies to relieve joint-related inflammation. Curcuminoids in turmeric slow the enzymes that cause inflammation and give the spice it’s bright yellow colour.

For more information on keeping your joints safe while you are out living the CanPrev Life — read this article from KneeSafe.