Most people over the age of 60 are living with arthritis, and we’re talking somewhere in the 90% ball park.

 

With such a high proportion of the population getting and suffering with arthritis, is it just something we should accept is coming to us and learn to live with it?

 

It is only when it is managed poorly that it starts to hurt and interfere with our lives. In this blog you’ll find out what you can do yourself, if you’d like professional help managing your arthritis, you can simply book an appointment with us here:

inflowchiro.com/booknow

 

Right, what is arthritis?

 

There are many forms of arthritis, I am sure you have heard of osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile arthritis are the most well-known. OA is the most common.

 

Interestingly, they all have the same aggravating factor and that is inflammation.

 

It is the inflammatory response in the arthritic joints that causes pain and progression, so if we can do something about that, then we can have a positive effect and reduce it’s impact on our lives.

 

So I know some of you may be thinking, “well why not take anti-inflammatories?” Or “why don’t anti-inflammatories work?”

 

It is true that anti-inflammatories work on chemical cascades in the body to reduce inflammation systemically, however they do this in a very unnatural way and come with many side effects. Our livers just aren’t made to process the copious amounts of drugs and chemicals that we often expose ourselves to in 2021.

 

The good news is that you can do this naturally and have even better results.

It comes down to the food we eat.

 

You are what you eat. If you eat inflammatory foods, your body is going to be inflamed, and this makes wear and tear more painful and more disruptive ot your daily life.

 

Here are the things we should have and should avoid, to reduce our inflammation and help our arthritis:

 

Avoid:

 

This one is so simple, yet so emotionally and habitually difficult to do.

 

The three things that cause the body to increase inflammation are:

 

1. Wheat

 

2. Dairy

 

3. Sugar

 

If you are really struggling with your arthritis, it is essential that you have at least a month with NO wheat, dairy or sugar!

 

Have:

 

When we look at what we can do regarding nutrition, the main things that comes up over and over again in the literature is increasing your ‘antioxidants’. These help to reduce ‘free radicals’ in the body that lead to inflammation, arthritis and illness.

 

Antioxidants are found in colour, any fruits and veggies with colour are packed with antioxidants.

 

So make sure your diet is packed with good colourful, natural and preferably organic foods. However, we must remember that sugar is bad so to just use fruit to get these nutrients can be a hindrance.

 

The World Health Organisation recommends 10 portions of fruit and veg a day. My recommendation to you is 8 vegetables and 2 fruit.

 

Omega 3 fatty acids are also essential to improve the state of inflammation in the joints. These can be found in oily fish and wild game.

 

Spices, especially turmeric are fantastic for reducing inflammation and so reducing the impact of arthritis, bringing these into your cooking or making turmeric tea can be very effective.

 

To summarise the good stuff:

 

1. Lots of colourful vegetables

 

2. Omega 3

 

3. Turmeric

 

Remember with all these lifestyle choices, it is an accumulative effect over time. Reducing inflammation in the body is a process, and there is no process that does not require time. A few weeks will not make much difference unfortunately, especially if you’ve been doing the bad stuff for years. After all, it most likely took 60 years for the arthritis to develop! Consistent good nutrition over months will make all the difference, and every long journey starts with the first step.

 

Those of you following my social media will know that I am one week into my discipline reset where I’m not having any wheat, dairy or alcohol for the next 6 weeks. For health hacks, back cracks and healthy snacks, follow me on social media: https://www.facebook.com/InFlowChiro

 

Best wishes

 

Robin the chiro from in flow.