Osteoarthritis and Nutrition

Importantly when looking into osteoarthritis, looking into what you eat and how much can impact your health and movement when you have knee or hip problems.  It is important to take the pressure off joints and reduce inflammation and swelling.  Having sufficient Vitamin D will also assist bone health by preventing the breakdown of cartilage and reduce the risk of the joint spaces narrowing.

Apart from getting valuable sunshine exposure (yes I know, it’s Ballarat) another factor may be weight loss.  If needed we can discuss the Ultra Lite weight management program as it is a perfect start to assist in managing your weight.

A list of some foods provide vitamin D, including eggs,

• Atlantic salmon,
• sardines and shellfish.

Vitamin D receptors are present in most tissues and cells in the body so keeping good levels helps many areas of health.   Some people may need a nutrigenomic DNA (or nutritional DNA) it is common to have genetic variants in these receptors and even though you think you get good amounts of sunshine you may not be converting the sunshine to the required active form of vitamin D. 

Another factor is excess or inadequate level of magnesium can impact on vitamin D status so magnesium levels within the normal range will enhance activation of vitamin D to its active form that our body requires. Vitamin D also maintains muscle strength and has an effect on skeletal and smooth muscle, with muscle weakness being a common deficiency sign. A good practitioner brand supplement for Vitamin D over winter especially, can help to keep levels optimal as well as magnesium.
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Foods like

• spinach and leafy greens,
• nuts and seeds and cocoa

all contain magnesium, but we are often depleted in nutrients from poor diet, stress, caffeine and sugar excess. If you are unsure of your vitamin D status or you know you have issues with getting enough of it, check your vitamin D levels with your GP once a year at least and supplement if needed with a good practitioner brand.

A lot of foods are fortified with vitamin D and calcium. Calcium is an essential mineral required for the proper functioning of numerous intracellular and extracellular processes including muscle contraction, nerve conduction, beating of the heart, energy and immune function. Calcium is found in bone and is often added with vitamin D to improve absorption. Foods that first come to mind for most people for calcium are dairy products but there are a lot of highly bio-available forms in foods like sardines, or fish with edible soft bones, tofu, broccoli, leafy greens, seafood, black strap molasses and sesame seeds or tahini paste.

Vitamin C is necessary for cartilage development so any citrus or tropical fruits, capsicum, strawberries, kiwi fruit or broccoli. A large amount of vitamin C is found in Kakadu plum which is sometimes marketed as an indigenous bush medicine food.

The healthiest fats for people with Osteoarthritis or other inflammatory disorders are omega 3 fatty acids which work to decrease inflammation by suppressing the production of cytokines and enzymes that break down cartilage. Foods include salmon, herring, Mackerel, sardines, anchovies, rainbow trout, oysters, flaxseed and walnuts.

Antioxidant rich foods like blueberries, black currants, grapes, pineapple, papaya, broccoli, kale, green tea and cocoa powder contain different nutritional substances such as bioflavonoids, anthocyanidins and quercetin. The anti-inflammatory effects of quercetin may be similar to those of over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).  Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory spice you can use in cooking along with ginger, these additions can help with the pain and inflammation of Osteoarthritis. The active component of turmeric is curcumin and there are many current research articles showing its benefits in a lot of health conditions where inflammation is the driver, it has been used as ‘food as medicine’ for over a century. *People on warfarin should avoid, and caution and monitor high doses with blood thinners and gall bladder disease.
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If you are concern about with Osteoarthritis, arthritic conditions, inflammation or your health in general there is a lot we can do here at Catalyst to help manage your condition so why not make the call today! Ph 53 33 77 66 for appointments 😊

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by Margie Hyde