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Our approach to optimum health throughout our site is that if you give your body what it needs, it can do amazing things. We are not against drugs or medical procedures as much as we for how wonderfully our bodies are designed. Our focus here is to offer the natural nutrients our bodies need to function properly.
The good news is that, even though there are many different causes of arthritis, many of these natural nutrients overlap! These foods will help both forms of arthritis. However, rheumatoid is a special case and there are a few additional procedures about it that we will mention later.
Many people are surprised to learn that there are ways to help prevent arthritis from taking hold in the first place! Accordingly, it is worth spending time to minimize the potential problem early on with a preventative nutritional plan. This can include the following:
Bone Broth and Fish Oil
Many people are surprised to learn that there are ways to help prevent arthritis from taking hold in the first place. Accordingly, it is worth spending time to minimize the potential problem early on with a preventative nutritional plan. This can include the following:
1. Bone Broth
Bone Broth might be the best general food a person can take for joints (and health in general)! It is even superior to the very expensive hyaluronic acid supplements available. (Hyaluronic acid is one of the main compounds in the synovial fluid that is essential to the lubrication and function of your joints.)
Bone broth used to be a very common part of a healthy diet in years past. It was often the base for stews and soups. Today, bone broth is rarely used because the knowledge of how good it is for your body has been lost to many people. It’s not hard to understand. The bones and joints, of course, are made of the very nutrients that your joints need. Making a broth of bones and joints releases hyaluronic acid much of these minerals and other compounds that make up the joints.
Use any bones of mammals, chickens or fish (smaller or cut bones are better). Put in 3 tbs. of vinegar or lemon juice per quart into a non-aluminum pot. Stir and add the bones. Let it set for about 45 minutes so the acid can do its job. Then bring the water to a boil and immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer 4 hours for fish, 6 hours for chicken, 10 hours for mammals.
When done, strain the solids from the broth. The nutrients are left in ion and suspended form in the liquid broth. You can sip directly, add flavoring, or add ingredients for soup or stews and continue simmering.
These nutrients will have a tremendous beneficial effect on your overall health as well as the joints themselves. There is also a lot of good information about bone broths (as well as other topics) in Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions.
2. Fish Oil
We've mentioned fish oil many times and it is a close second for joint health - as well as the heart and many other aspects of your health. It is especially important for the omega 3 fatty acids it provides. The omega 3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, may have become the most deficient nutrient in the US, edging out folic acid. Omega 3 fatty acids must be in balance with omega 6 fatty acids or many serious problems arise. Unfortunately, modern food processing has greatly increased our intake of omega 6’s – therefore, we have a serious need for more omega 3’s.)
Omega 3 fatty acids can significantly reduce the symptoms of joint problems, especially the inflammation and pain that accompanies arthritis. After a month or two, many people find they can eliminate other pain relief medicine because the fish oil works so well. Hopefully, you already take fish oil from our Ultimate Foundation article recommendations. With joint pain, you can double your fish oil usage to 2-4 grams a day.
It is better to use other forms of fish oil than cod liver oil. In larger amounts of cod liver oil, it is possible to exceed the maximum safe intake of vitamin A and D. It is also good to take extra vitamin E with fish oil to enhance its effects. (We add E to our joint formula though the fish oil is taken separately.)
3. The nightshade-veggie-allergy syndrome
Some people wonder why we list nightshade here. With serious osteoarthritis, this is one food group that is worth finding out if it affects you. Years ago, Dr. Norman Childers discovered that some people had trouble metabolizing the alkaloids in a group of vegetables known as nightshade vegetables. He found that eliminating these vegetables would completely eliminate arthritis symptoms in many of these people.
These vegetables include potatoes, tomatoes, peppers (black pepper is ok) and tobacco. This is quite a few common veggies and it takes 3-4 months to see if it is effective. This will require some serious effort so it is probably worth it only if the bone broth, fish oil and our Ultimate Joint Mobility formula does not do everything you wanted.
An excellent book discussing this allergy is Dr. Childers’ book, “Arthritis: Childers’ Diet That Stops It!”
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
We still don’t know why our immune system would begin attacking the body’s own tissues, especially the cartilage in the joints. The primary drugs used are NSAIDs and DRARDs. NSAIDs are anti-inflammatory are helpful in relieving symptoms but don’t address the progression of the disease. DRARDs attempt to slow or stop the disease but have debatable results. Unfortunately, they are also quite toxic and can cause severe side effects.
Natural approaches involve many of the ingredients in our Ultimate Joint Mobility formula. However, rheumatoid arthritis's connection to food allergies is much greater than just the nightshade items. Since we want to provide any serious answers to this problem, we need to mention that half of all patients have experienced complete relief at the Tahoma Clinic (in WA). This usually involves removing multiple foods (dairy product are almost always involved) and, sometimes, a gastic analysis. The Tahoma Clinic is a good place to start if you live close enough. Otherwise contact a member of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine at www.aaem.org.
(Final notes):
Our Ultimate Joint Mobility formula, with the Ultimate Foundation, will help give your body the nutrients it needs for general health and joint support.
For rheumatoid arthritis, we would also add DHEA and 7-keto DHEA as per our discussion of additions to the Ultimate Foundation. We would also add zinc 20 mg, copper 2 mg, and selenium 200 mcg above what the Ultimate Foundation provides.
(For general or rheumatoid arthritis, make sure you take a total of 1200 IU of vitamin D-3 cholecalciferol and 6 mg of manganese if you don’t take our Ultimate Foundation.)
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