Effective dietary supplements for arthritis sufferers

Effective dietary supplements for arthritis sufferers
Dhiraj Bhikoo

The most popular dietary supplements for arthritis sufferers are chondroitin, fish oil and glucosamine. Chondroitin can draw fluid into the cartilage, improving shock-absorbing ability and weight control, as more weight equals more joint pressure. Fish oils help with controlling inflammation in the body. And recent studies have shown that the cartilage-building substance called glucosamine is effective for the long-term relief of osteoarthritis pain. In some people, glucosamine appears to even slow the deterioration of joints over time and reinforce joint cartilage. Whether or not it can actually reverse the disease is still unclear. In some instances, glucosamine can be used in conjunction with MSM, a substance that appears to slow down the degeneration but is not yet proven and approved.
In a nutshell:
Chondroitin – Helps draw fluid into cartilage, improving shock-absorbing ability.
Ginger – Ginger is an antioxidant that acts as an inflammatory with no major side effects.
Glucosamine sulfate – This builds cartilage with very few side effects.
Magnets – Although magnets that are worn as jewelry or placed on bed linens have been reported by some to be effective pain relievers, results are still preliminary; doctors claim that these magnets are not strong enough.
MSM – This organic sulfur is used in the reduction of inflammation.
Nettle leaf – Nettles can reduce a patient’s need for NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) by up to 70 percent.
Vitamin E – This antioxidant is used primarily for osteoarthritis.
Vitamin B is also an effective pain reliever. It works best on the knee and can help stop degeneration that is caused by free-radical molecules, not only in the joints but in other areas of the body as well
These are merely a few examples of what an arthritis sufferer can use when seeking pain relief from natural remedies. However, due to the lack of scientific study and testing on many of these alternate treatments, there is no proof of their effectiveness.
Nothing can cure osteoarthritis, but nutritional supplements, the application of heat or cold to affected joints, exercise, and weight loss can improve the function and flexibility of your joints, and perhaps even slow the progress of the disease. Conventional over-the-counter pain relievers, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, can be very helpful in decreasing joint pain, but they do produce side effects and can cause problems in long-term users.
Unfortunately, there is no way to cure arthritis. However, you can delay the onset by maintaining a healthy weight. Exercise regularly and eat a healthy and avoid repetitious movements that cause you pain.
About the Author
Dhiraj Bhikoo is an arthritis pain relief and treatment researcher .He offers advice and tips and a broad range of alternative solutions for arthritis and pain related issues.

Do You Have Degenerative Arthritis?

Do You Have Degenerative Arthritis?
Rudy Silva

With 10 million or more people with arthritis, the majority of them will have degenerative arthritis. This arthritis is called Osteoarthritis. Degenerative arthritis occurs when joints are overworked, rub against each other, experience excess friction, and slowly degenerate.
Most joints rub against each other, but bone joints have a protective layer called cartilage. This cartilage has no blood vessels or nerves so it cannot receive nutrients directly. This cartilage serves as a cushion or pad between bones so that bones don’t wear out and so you don’t feel pain.
Cartilage should not wear out if its surfaces remain lubricated with oils that you eat. But if you are not eating the right oils or the proper amount, then your cartilage can become dry. Under these conditions you will slowly deteriorate the cartilage, which will lead to degenerative arthritis.
Once your cartilage becomes damage or grinded down, it is hard to regenerate it. Cartilage is not a living tissue and does not receive its nourishment directly from blood vessels. It is made up of mucin, albumin and sulfuric acid. It absorbs oils and nutrients by osmosis.
Osmosis is the movement of oil from an area of high oil concentration passing through a membrane into an area of low oil concentration. So if the cartilage is deficient in oil and you don’t eat the oil it needs to minimize cartilage-to-cartilage friction, then degenerative arthritis will occur over time.
Eating oil that is high in vitamin D and iodine is what is necessary for good cartilage strength and function. Oil such as cod liver oil is ideal as lubrication for cartilage function. Fish oil is another good oil to eat. When you eat cod liver oil, this oil passes through the joint lining into the joint cavity. Once in the cavity, this oil is absorbed into the cartilage through osmosis.
Once the cartilage is properly lubricated, it has an elasticity and lubrication so that when it rubs against other cartilage little friction and cartilage degeneration occurs.
There is another process that can affect the integrity of the cartilage. Calcium can deposit on the bone near the cartilage and breaking to the cartilage and wear it down.
To prevent this condition, calcium must be kept in solution in the lymph liquid. This is done by maintain a balance diet.
Degenerative arthritis is a process where the cartilage at the end of bones in joint structures slowly degrades. This degradation occurs from the lack of the right oil in the diet and through calcium build up in the bone joint. Joint degeneration starts to occur after the age of 20 and can continue if the right diet if not followed.
Eating the right food to prevent degenerative arthritis is difficult to do if you have been brought up eating the wrong kinds of food. But as an adult you can now make a choice as to whether you will have Osteoarthritis when you get older by eating the foods.

About The Author

Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He is the author of Constipation, Acne, Hemorrhoid, and Fatty Acid ebooks. He writes a newsletter call “natural-remedies-thatwork.com.” More acne hints and information on his acne e-book can be found at: http://www.acne-remedies.for–you.info
[email protected]

Tips for Avoiding Sports Injuries

While it is not possible to completely avoid all types of injuries, by taking some precautions, it is possible to greatly reduce your risk of injury. However, simply reducing the risk of injury is not a task that is always easy to handle. By carefully following some precautions there are ways that you can avoid injuring yourself.

Tip 1. It is best to always ensure you are in the best physical shape possible before you begin playing a sport. Whether you are looking into tennis, football, baseball, or even basketball amongst the numerous sports available, it is best to be in shape. While playing sports will help get you into better shape physically, it is best to be in shape before beginning.

Tip 2. Ensure you know all of the rules and guidelines for the sport you are playing. Following the rules can help ensure that you can avoid injury resulting from playing inappropriately. In addition, make sure you play with others who follow the rules as well. If someone else breaks the rules while playing, it increases your risk of injury.

Tip 3. Always wear the appropriate safety equipment whenever playing sports. This should be applied regardless of playing a practice, scrimmage, tournament, or even just playing around with friends. The safety equipment exists for a reason and it is very important to help protect you from accidents and injuries. Without wearing the equipment, you are increasing your risk of being injured.

Tip 4. Do a through warm up before starting to play. If you are playing on a team, you should play on teams that ensure warm ups are done before the games start. This helps to stretch and slowly warm up your muscles and really reduces the risk of injuries. Skipping a warm up may seem like a great way to make up for running late for a game, but this is a huge risk to your safety.

Tip 5. If you are tired, sick or hurting do not play. If you play on a team ensure you tell the coach about any problems that you are experiencing and let them know you will not be playing. You should never agree to play when you are tired because it increases the risk of being injured since you are not fully alert. When you are sick, your body is always in a weakened condition and able to become injured much easier and finally when you are already in pain, you likely already have an injury of some form that needs some time to heal.

Tip 6. Ensure that you are getting enough rest. While the idea of playing your favorite sport 24/7 may seem like the greatest idea, it is vital that you get at least 8 hours of sleep a day as well as take frequent breaks to ensure you do not wear yourself out. While training is a vital aspect of sports, getting the necessary rest to allow your body time to heal and recover is just as important. By resting when necessary, you are ensuring that you will have a long and happy sports career whether you are simply playing for fun, playing for a team, or playing professionally.

Avoiding injuries is a very important consideration for athletes and by following the tips and suggestions mentioned above it should help to greatly improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury all at the same time.

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Do You Have Arthritis?

Do You Have Arthritis?
Lambert Klein

Do you have arthritis? If so you are not alone. 66,000,000 people do almost 1 in 3 adults.
Arthritis is second only to heart disease as a cause of work disability. Besides limiting daily activities arthritis can cause many lifestyle problems. You may assume there’s nothing you can do that will help. Don’t believe that. There are steps including supplements and lifestyle changes you can make to significantly improve your life.
Your doctor may ask a few of these questions:
Where is your pain
When does it hurt
How long have you had it
Any swelling or redness
Family history of arthritis
He may wish to perform a movement test and have some x-rays taken.
Inflammation from your arthritis is a significant source of pain. Your physician may recommend OTC medicines or a prescription.
You should be aware of alternatives such as natural supplements and physical exercise.
Nettle Leaf Extract This supplement appears to suppress TNF-alpha and IL-1-beta. Nettle leaf may inhibit inflammatory cascade in rheumatoid arthritis. Also joint protection is assisted with nettle leaf.
MSM: Msm contain Sulfur and anti-inflammatory properties
Glucosamine Sulfate/Chondroitin: Reduces joint pain and may substantially rebuild cartilage. This may take a while to see results.
Fish Oil: DHA, EPA and Omega 3 found in quality fish oil. Reduces painful inflammation and may promote joint lubrication. Look for a high quality, low mercury supplements like Carlson’s fish oils. Flax seed is another practical choice.
Try high quality multivitamins such as Purity’s Perfect Multi Super Greens.
Vitamin E: Use a natural product like Vitamin E-8 daily.
Cherries: Recent research has shown that tart cherries contain powerful antioxidants that may help relieve the pain of arthritis and gout and also protect the body against cardiovascular disease and inhibit cancer tumors.
There is also a cherry capsule that is very good named Fruit Advantage.
Exercise: Exercise is important not only for arthritis but your overall health.
Weight Control: Even modest weight loss will bring healthy results. Start slow if you need to, and then try to reach your target weight.
Stress: Ah Stress. This one unnecessarily causes us so many health concerns. It practically seems to be the source of most health problems.
There are many options to help deal with excess stress. Exercise is one of these. Even if you begin by walking to the corner and back, then around the block pretty soon you will be walking a mile or more.
Other things you may consider are Yoga, Meditation, Music and a new hobby.
There is a rather unique procedure I came across a while back called Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT for short. This works on the principles of Acupressure and Acupuncture.
Wait! Don’t let that intimidate you. Even though EFT is a remarkable tool it is actually easy to grasp. I personally have seen significant results. You won’t have to poke yourself at all. It just basically requires limited number of words and some tapping on certain key points.
So don’t give up. There are many options for you to vastly improve your health.
Copyright 2005 Lambert Klein

About The Author

Lambert Klein is the owner of Think Healthy supplements and products.
Arthritis supplements can be found at Think Healthy.
http://www.coral-cure.com/Arthritis-Supplements.html