Foods That Can Help With Your Arthritis
If you are struggling with arthritis, you might want to first look for natural remedies for your pain. A common way to find relief for arthritis pain is to choose the right foods to eat. Here are some different foods that help to reduce inflammation causing your arthritis flare-ups.
Spices
The first type of food to have more of if you want to help with your arthritis are spices. Not every spice though; you want to have more turmeric and ginger specifically. These spices naturally have anti-inflammatory properties, so they are perfect for arthritis. The spices are also really easy to add to your diet simply by seasoning your food with them. There are tons of recipes that use one or both of these spices, from rice to chicken dinners. You can also add them to a smoothie, juice, or even a detox water. The options really are endless.
Fish
Omega-3 fatty acids are an excellent way to start reducing inflammation and swelling in your joints. Since this is where the pain from arthritis comes from, that is what you want to help reduce. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in a variety of foods, but primarily in fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna. Try to eat fish at least a few days a week. You can have fish and veggies for a healthy dinner, add some tuna to your salad or lunch, or even have a bagel with cream cheese and sliced salmon on top.
Broccoli
Out of all the vegetables you can have, broccoli is one of the best ones when you have arthritis. Broccoli is a type of cruciferous vegetable that can help with the development of arthritis, slowing it down so that it doesn’t progress any further. It is also considered a superfood, so you get a lot of excellent nutrients as well. Some other vegetables that are good to try include cauliflower, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage.
Berries
With arthritis, you also want to get as many antioxidants into your body as you can, since these can also help with the inflammation in your joints. Anthocyanins are among the most important antioxidants for arthritis, which is found in many types of berries, including blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. You can also find it in eggplant, plums, grapes, and cherries. Berries are super simple to add to your regular diet, such as by topping your cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, or ice cream with them.
Natural Remedies For Arthritis Pain
While you shouldn’t avoid seeing a doctor when you have arthritis, it is also okay to consider some natural remedies. These include everything from exercising to using essential oils and herbs. Take a look at some of these recommended natural remedies for arthritis pain.
Try Losing Weight
If you are currently overweight, your doctor will probably recommend trying to get down to a normal weight range for your height. This is done for your physical help and because having extra pounds can be harder on your joints, which in turn makes them start to hurt more. If you are struggling with losing weight, definitely talk to your doctor about it. They can provide a program that works best for you. Don’t rush the weight loss process either; 1-2 pounds a week of weight loss is normal.
Try an Epsom Bath
An Epsom bath is where you take a hot bath with Epsom salt in the bath water. This type of salt has magnesium sulfate, which can be really good for your joint pain. It is a type of mineral that includes a high amount of magnesium, which is known to reduce inflammation of the joints, which then helps to reduce your pain as well. You can either add Epsom salt to a bath, or if it is just a small extremity with pain, such as a foot or hand, you can soak it in a large bowl with warm water and the salt added.
Get More Exercise
If you currently live a sedentary lifestyle, then it is time to start moving more often. The more you move, the more you stretch out your joints and strengthen your muscles. This can help tremendously when you have arthritis. If you notice when you finally do sit up or start walking, your joints are super stiff, that is probably because you’re not moving around often enough.
Try Acupuncture
This is a natural remedy that a lot of people swear by, while others don’t notice a difference. It is really up to you whether
or not you want to give it a try, though many health insurance policies will cover the first few sessions of acupuncture. You can try it out while it is covered by insurance, then see if you want to keep going back. With acupuncture, hair-thin needles are used on certain pressure points of your body to help ease pain or discomfort, in this case they would be placed close to the joints causing you pain.
Tips For Living With Arthritis
When you first get arthritis, the pain often causes you to stop moving your body and constantly rely on pain relievers just to get through the day. While resting more might seem like a good idea, before too long, you will realize that isn’t the best option. Here are some tips for continuing to live with arthritis.
Get Regular Physical Activity
The reason you will see this recommendation a lot when reading about arthritis is because it really important when you have this condition. You need to keep regular exercise or your joint pain can actually worsen. The problem with physical pain is that you feel like you need to get more rest or it will hurt more.
While that is often the case in many situations, it isn’t always the best approach. There are definitely times when it is a good idea to move around, which includes when you have arthritis.
Eat the Right Foods
What you eat can also help or hurt the amount of pain you are in with arthritis, including all forms of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. You want to eat foods that help to reduce inflammation, such as bananas, blueberries, whole grains, oatmeal, and omega-3 fatty acids. Reduce foods that will cause swelling, such as anything that is overly processed, fatty, or has a high salt content. This means avoiding pre-packaged foods, frozen foods, and most fried and fast foods.
Reduce Your Stress Levels
It is a good idea to reduce your stress as much as possible when you have been diagnosed with arthritis. When you are stressed out, you tend to be hard on your joints because your body becomes tense as a result of the stress. This in turn can cause your joints to start hurt, which makes it really hard to deal with arthritis. If you have noticed that you are stressed out when your joints hurt, it is time to figure out what is causing it so you can hopefully put a stop to it.
Get Products That Are Easier For You to Use
Daily activities and tasks might become more difficult, so this might mean making some modifications at home and changing up the products you use. Most items you grasp with your hand should be a larger side, such as handles and pens. You want to have rubber grips as much as possible as well. If you do housecleaning, only use a vacuum with a tall handle, never one that requires you to bend over a lot while working. Get help with some household chores if needed.
How to Help Arthritis With Yoga
Exercise is often recommended when you have arthritis, and yoga is one of the top exercises you can do. It is a gentle type of conditioning exercise that is very easy on your joints and offers a lot of modifications based on the type of arthritis you have and the days when you are in a lot of pain.
Go Slow With Yoga
Before getting into some of the better yoga poses for arthritis, you should know that you don’t just want to go to any yoga class and try to do all the moves. You will likely have difficulty with some of the moves because they are not meant for people with joint pain. For example, there is quite a lot of floor work that requires balancing some of your weight on your hands. This puts a lot of pressure on your hands and wrists, so if you have arthritis in these extremities, it can be painful. Don’t rush into yoga, but instead go very slowly and work with a yoga instructor who can modify some of the moves for you.
Sun Salutation
A good yoga move to start with if you have arthritis and are new to this type of exercise is a sun salutation. This is really easy on your body, relaxes you, and is good to do in the morning before starting your day. To do a sun salutation, you just need to stand up with your feet touching and hold your hands to your heart with your palms together. Focus on your breathing as you exhale, raising your arms up as you do so. When you inhale, bend back and stretch your arms into the sky.
Child’s Pose
The next type of yoga move that is good for arthritis is the child’s pose. This is another gentle pose often taught for beginning yoga classes, which makes it really good to try even if you are brand new to yoga. The child’s pose stretches out your lower back and can help to give you more strength and flexibility in your core. The child’s pose is done on the ground with your knees on the ground and toes together. Reach your arms forward and to the ground, dropping your head as you do so.
Speak to your yoga instructor when taking a class in order to learn other moves that will be good for your arthritic body.
Essential Oils For Arthritis
Essential oils are extracted from the leaves, stems, and roots of flowers and plants, offering a wide range of health benefits. For arthritis, there are certain essential oils that can be better than others. If you are interested in treating your arthritis pain naturally, consider one of these essential oils.
Ginger
Essential oils made from spices like ginger are really good at helping to reduce pain from arthritis. Ginger is a natural anti- inflammatory spice that can help reduce the inflammation and swelling, which then ends up reducing the pain of your joints.
There is a slight burning feeling when you use ginger directly on your skin, even when you dilute it properly with a carrier oil, so keep that in mind. You want to use only a small amount when first trying it for stiffness and inflammation.
Turmeric
Another spice essential oil to try for your arthritis is turmeric. Turmeric is a healing spice in the curcumin family that is also a natural anti-inflammatory essential oil. You can use this in various ways for your joints, from getting it in your bloodstream by drinking turmeric tea, to applying it on your skin after you dilute it. You can also add some drops to your bathtub and let the warm water also work its magic on your sore joints.
Peppermint
It may be a little surprising, but peppermint essential oil is actually one of the best to use for your arthritis. This also has some great anti-inflammatory properties that are perfect for your arthritis pain. Peppermint essential oil has l-menthol in it, which provides pain relief benefits and reducing inflammation naturally. With this type of oil, make sure you use a carrier oil. It is much too strong to use directly on your skin. It is good to mix with coconut oil before rubbing on the joints bothering you the most.
Rosemary
Part of helping with your arthritis is improving your circulation, which is what rosemary oil can help with. This is actually high on the lsit of oils that work best for arthritis because of how good it is for your circulation and because rosemary oil can also reduce pain. Some good carrier oils to combine with rosemary oil are jojoba oil and olive oil. This is another oil that is good for rubbing onto your joints that are causing you pain, or you can add it to a hot bath and relax while experiencing pain relief.
How to Workout When You Have Arthritis
When you have arthritis, you need to exercise, but it can often be difficult to do when you are in pain or your joints feel stiff. Here are some tips for exercising and recommended types of workouts that can be helpful with this condition.
Try Conditioning Exercises
With arthritis, you need to keep your body moving to avoid having severe pain, but you also need to be careful with the types of exercises you do. It is best not to do anything that requires over-using the joints that are causing you the most pain. Conditioning exercises get your body moving, blood pumping, and strengthen your muscles. They can also help to improve the health of your joints, but still remain gentle exercises. You may need to adjust some of the movements when doing Pilates or Yoga depending on the joints that hurt, for overall, they are an excellent option.
Walk, Don’t Run
Walking is a really good exercise if you have arthritis, but jogging and running usually isn’t. If you are already a runner, you may find that it doesn’t worsen your arthritis, but once it does, you need to stop immediately. Running can be really hard on your joints, particularly in your legs and hips, so if that is where most of your pain is, you should stick to slower walking. Only increase the speed and intensity as it feels most comfortable for you.
Go Swimming
You can also go swimming, which is extremely easy on all of your joints. In fact, many doctors will suggest swimming before other exercises if you have the ability to do so. If you don’t have a swimming pool at home, consider signing up for a local fitness center that has a swimming pool. Many of them do and will offer flexible hours for you to go swimming. Take a swimming class that is for seniors, since those are usually gentle enough for people with arthritis.
Stretch and Warm Up First
A very common mistake made by people who have arthritis is going right into the exercise without stretching or warming up first. Your muscles need time to stretch and get working, so take your time warming up. Similar to warming up, you also need to remember to cool them down at the end of the workout.
Make sure you always talk to your doctor before starting any new workout program.
Recommended Products For People With Arthritis
Arthritis is not a fatal medical condition, but it is one that can be very painful. Luckily, there are a lot of ways to live with it and reduce the pain and discomfort in the process. There are quite a few products you can use in your everyday life that will help reduce the discomfort and make many tasks far less difficult.
Arthritis Gloves
An excellent produce to consider getting if you suffer from arthritis is arthritis gloves. There are many different types of gloves in various styles and colors. You can often find them in drug stores, major retail stores, and of course medical supply stores. Many online retailers have a lot of options, including Amazon. With arthritis gloves, you are using them as a suppression product to reduce swelling and inflammation. They are good if you have rheumatoid arthritis or other forms of arthritis that tend to cause swelling and pain of your hands, fingers, and wrists.
Heat Pain Relief Products
Some people with arthritis like to use cold, while others use heat. Many people do find more benefits with heat because it can help increase proper blood flow in the joints that are causing you pain, which can help to find some relief. There are a few different types of products that provide heat to the extremities causing pain, such as electric heating pads you plug in and microwavable heating packs. There are also hot towels and the option of putting the body part in hot water, such as soaking your hand in a big bowl of water or by taking a hot bath.
Oversized Writing Utensils
If you have arthritis of your hands and fingers, just using a regular size writing utensil is probably miserable. Your hands and fingers have to bend in a certain way to grasp a thin pencil or pen, not to mention however long you need to write with it.
This can be excruciating after only a few minutes. Luckily, many companies sell larger writing utensils that are thicker in diameter, angled just right, and include rubber cushions so that it is a little less uncomfortable for your hands and fingers.
Rubber Grip Jar Opener
Another simple task that can be more painful than you might imagine is opening up a jar. This might be a jar of pickles or pasta sauce, that after a few tries, makes you hurt so bad you change your mind. Try to find a jar opener with a rubber grip as it helps you to open the jar much more easily without help, but is also a lot gentler on your hands.
Things to Avoid When You Have Arthritis
If your doctor has diagnosed you with arthritis, make sure you don’t make common mistakes others tend to make. The following foods, activities, and bad habits should be avoided if you have this inflammation condition.
Living a Sedentary Lifestyle
The first mistake you might be making if you have arthritis is living a sedentary lifestyle. This is commonly done with people who are struggling with physical pain, but you might actually be hurting yourself more. With arthritis, you need to try to be more physically active, even if very mildly. You don’t need to do marathon training every day and make your joints hurt worse, but gentle activity is highly recommended. This gets your joints moving, making them more flexible and strengthening your muscles. Try gentle exercises like walking and swimming.
Eating Too Much Salt
Your arthritis pain is from the inflammation in your joints, so in order to reduce the inflammation, you really need to watch what you eat. One of the first changes you should make to your diet is cutting out as much salt as you possible can. Salt can increase both inflammation and swelling, both of which are commonly associated with arthritis and the pain that comes with it. Try not to add any extra salt to your food and be careful about pre-packaged foods that already contain a lot of salt.
Similar to not eating a lot of salt, you also need to be careful with overly processed foods that contain a lot of fat and very little nutrients. You aren’t just avoiding these because of the sodium content, though that is definitely something to be concerned about, but also because fried and fattening foods are not good for your weight or your joints. Since keeping your weight under control is high up on the list for treating arthritis the natural way, you don’t want to add to the risk of gaining weight or not being able to lose weight.
Not Listening to Your Doctor
Make sure when you have arthritis, you are also listening to your doctor’s recommendations. While there are definitely some things you can do on your own, you should not rely only on them and avoid what your doctor tells you. It is totally fine to use a combination of medical and natural remedies until you figure out what works best for your unique situation.
Top Superfoods For Arthritis
You already know that there are a variety of foods that can help with arthritis, but don’t forget you can also choose from superfoods to help. There are certain superfoods that not only help reduce inflammation of your joints, but they can also provide you with various nutrients to make you healthier overall.
Bananas
In terms of fruit, bananas are among the best ones for arthritis. Bananas are a superfood due to all the nutrients they contain, but mostly with potassium. Potassium is excellent at increasing your bone density, which can be really helpful for arthritis. The magnesium that is in bananas has also been shown to help reduce the inflammation. Bananas are really easy to add to your diet, from just having one as a snack to topping your cereal with slices.
Blueberries
Another really good superfood fruit for arthritis are blueberries. Blueberries are one of the best sources for antioxidants, which can help improve your immune system. With a stronger immune system, you are able to help reduce inflammation as a result of various illnesses. It is especially helpful if you have rheumatoid arthritis. It may take some time of eating them regularly, but you should notice a difference overall. Add blueberries to your smoothies, put them on your salad, or mix them in with your ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Green Tea
There are also drinks that are considered superfoods, such as green tea. Green tea naturally has anti-inflammatory qualities, so by drinking 2-3 cups of the tea a day, you can naturally and easily reduce inflammation in your joints and start to experience relief. This is another superfood that is really helpful if you have rheumatoid arthritis.
Tofu
Tofu is a type of protein with high amounts of soy in it, which is excellent for treating but also preventing certain types of arthritis. With regular consumption of tofu, you can really help with osteoarthritis, since it helps to strengthen the cartilage and reduce how rapidly it breaks down.
Whole Grains
Whole grains are very good for you, as you might already know. They are also considered a superfood thanks to the many types of nutrients they contain, and also happen to lower inflammation in your joints, which helps with your arthritis. Try to add more whole grains to your diet, such as with whole grain bread and plenty of quinoa and whole grain rice.
These foods not only help with arthritis, but are great to add to your regular diet, so you can’t go wrong.
How to Work When You Have Arthritis
Having arthritis can make even simple everyday tasks difficult, but you may also need to have a job. Follow these tips and suggestions for holding a job while also struggling with arthritis.
Inform Your Employer
Your employer needs to know that you have arthritis in most cases because there may be some tasks you can’t do. They should not keep you from being employed for this factor as long as you can perform your main job, since that would be discrimination. Your employer can help you choose certain tasks that are easier for you to perform, such as not being the one to list heavy storage boxes and instead have another office organization task. It is a good idea to let them know and inform your human resources department if you start experience worsening symptoms.
Think About the Type of Job You Do
Naturally, not all jobs will be the right option for you if you have arthritis, especially if it is one of the more advanced stages. If you are not currently employed but looking for a job, then you have a little more flexibility in what type of work you do. Even jobs with seemingly simple tasks can be very hard on someone with arthritis, such as a job where you are having to go lift or carry heavy objects, or go up and down stairs all day.
Try to choose employment where gripping items with your hands all day or using a lot of physical exertion are not going to be required.
Be Easy On Yourself
It isn’t easy to admit when you need a little bit of help, such as rearranging your desk so it is better for your condition. Let your employer know if there is something they can provide you that will improve your discomfort. You should also know when it is time to reduce your hours at work or switch to a different job at your company or a different one. Be easy on yourself and don’t deal with extreme amounts of pain because you don’t want to admit your issues are from the arthritis. There are always options that is going to allow you to work, but not deal with so much discomfort.
Working with a physical therapist can also be helpful when you need to strengthen your muscles and joints in order to have more physical capabilities.
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