If you visit a doctor to seek treatment for joint pain, he will not only prescribe medications but will also ask you to consume certain nutritional supplements. Your daily diet must include those certain nutrients irrespective of the fact whether you have joint pain or not. You can get these nutrients both from your regular meals and by consuming health supplements. According to a recent Myprotein study, you must consume the following nutrients for having healthy joints.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Joint inflammation is one of the main symptoms of ailing joints. The more will be the level of inflammation in your joints, the greater will be the intensity of pain you’ll experience. Omega-3 fatty acids work by reducing inflammation, which is crucial for successful pain management.
According to experts, omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for individuals suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory condition that results in swollen joints.
Include fatty fish such as mackerel, sardines, tunas, herring, and salmon in your daily diet to increase your consumption of Omega 3s. Some other good sources of the nutrient are edamame, walnuts, and flaxseeds.
Calcium
To get enough calcium and have healthy joints, you must develop a healthy eating habit. You should be particularly careful about adding calcium-rich food to your diet as the human body cannot produce this mineral naturally.
A calcium deficiency can result in bone damage and serious conditions like osteoporosis. This happens when our body tries to compensate by removing the mineral from our bones. Dairy products like milk, cheese, curd, cottage cheese, etc., are the best dietary sources of calcium. However, to maintain healthy joints, you can also get the nutrient from non-dairy food items such as almond milk, kale, and spinach.
Vitamin D
You cannot expect your bones to utilize the calcium consumed by you if you don’t get enough vitamin D from your diet. To be more precise, the human body needs enough vitamin D to absorb an adequate amount of calcium.
To allow your body to produce a sufficient amount of vitamin D, you must spend time out in the sun. However, doing so will also expose you to the harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun and leave you at risk of developing skin cancer and various other serious health complications.
To prevent such events, you must make sure that you get enough vitamin D from your diet. Food items that contain high levels of the vitamin are fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, and sardines, fortified milk, egg yolks, etc. You can also add fortified cereal and orange juice to your diet to increase your daily intake of vitamin D.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C, or L-ascorbic acid, is an essential vitamin that provides many health benefits. It is used to ease the symptoms of various conditions and diseases. Daily intake of vitamin C may reduce the risk of chronic disease, lower blood pressure, prevent iron deficiency, boost immunity and reduce joint inflammation. It can help in lowering uric acid levels in the blood, which prevents gout attacks in people suffering from gout, a type of arthritis.
There’s a variety of foods that contain vitamin C. It is found in many delicious fruits and vegetables, such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, kiwi, strawberries, pineapples, peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, etc.
Sulforaphane
Sulforaphane is a compound found in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, kale, Brussel sprouts, broccoli and cabbage. This compound is known to provide health benefits: it can neutralize toxins, reduce inflammation and may support heart health. Studies show that sulforaphane can also reduce joint damage and slow down the progress of arthritis.
Sulforaphane reduces knee joint damage by modulating cell activation/migration to the joints, cytokine production and increasing the activity of TrxR, and therefore, may represent an alternative treatment to joint inflammation.
Anthocyanins
Most purple and red fruits are rich sources of a group of antioxidants called anthocyanins. Other than being responsible for the color of these fruits, anthocyanins also help in reducing the level of C-reactive protein. For your information, a high level of C-reactive protein indicates the presence of inflammation, the most common sign of unhealthy joints.
Fruits like strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and cherries are good sources of anthocyanins.
Polyphenols
Polyphenols are micronutrients that are packed with antioxidants. These naturally occurring organic compounds can be found in plant based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, spices and teas. Polyphenols may help in the treatment and improvement of different conditions and diseases, like digestive issues, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and arthritis.
Foods that are rich in polyphenols include cloves, berries, cocoa powder and dark chocolate, apples, plums, beans, spinach, soy, nuts, black and green teas and red wine.
Final Words
If it’s difficult for you to consume a meal rich in the above-mentioned nutrients, look for supplements that contain all of them. Always opt for supplements that are 100% natural and don’t contain any preservatives.