There is much we can do to help arthritis sufferers nutritionally, with supplements and with exercise. You don’t have to choose between taking a drug which may cause serious GI problems or worsen your arthritic condition, or choose suffering. There are safe, natural pain relievers at your disposal. Also, there are many ways that holistic health practitioners use to reduce and sometimes eliminate arthritis.
The following article written by Dr Lexis Johnson, PhD, HHP has many product links that are sold on this web site. Do not feel pressured into purchasing these products. You may read about them and see their ingredients and then shop around. Just remember that the product recommendations here are deemed to be of the highest quality. For a complete nutritional analysis by Dr Lexis Johnson, PhD, HHP, email her with your concerns and try the comprehensive HolisticAnalysis.
DETOXIFICATION
The key component in reducing the complaints of, or eliminating arthritis altogether, is detoxification of the body! Once a year, a complete whole body cleanse is in order. The entire intestinal wall gathers the sludge of years of improper eating and intake of toxins. It occurs in at least 80 % of the population! This happens because of the nature of the types of foods taken and because of inadequate water consumption and also because we were designed to eat our foods raw and now we mostly eat our foods cooked.
A cleanse removes the debris that the intestines and colon are allowing re-absorption of into the system. The small partially digested particles float around to the various areas of the body and create pockets of toxins. When the body tries to prevent further damage from the toxins, a tumor, or calcification, or some form of “protection” is put around the toxins. In some cases, it is simply stored in the interstitial portions of the fatty parts of the body causing cellulite. In the case of arthritis, the toxins locate in the joints and degenerate the cartilage when the body tries to remove it, or causes overgrowth of the bones when the body tries to cover it up! The first is rheumatoid and the second is osteoarthritis.
Once a year do a whole body internal cleanse, followed by frequent colon cleanses. There are some questionable and other really good products on the market. Dr Lexis Johnson, recommends the products on the tab at the top of this page marked “Internal Cleansing”.
Change the way you are eating: eliminate foods you are sensitive to (To determine your food sensitivities or allergies see the article Food Intolerances and Allergies when possible eat only organic fresh raw vegetables and fruits and organic meats and fishes, preferably cold water fish; add Omega-3 fish oils to your daily supplement list (See great tasting Coromega or Dr Ohhira Omega Oils) Take products that are known to help eliminate toxins such as Tahiti Trader Noni or Bio-Noni juice up to 6 oz's twice daily; increase your supergreens intake with Greens First by Doctors for Nutrition and drink at least 60 oz of fresh pure water daily. Antioxidants that the body naturally makes to defeat free radicals, gradually diminish as we age. Therefore, it is essential to replace them with the antioxidant supplements found in Noni or supergreens products. Exercise to maintain or improve mobility is extremely important, too. Also, find out which enzymes your body is missing that is allowing you to have partially digested food particles and replace those enzymes with Theramedix products. Then replace the lacking natural flora in your digestive tract with probiotics. Use CDX by Theramedix Enzymes, or Friendly Bacteria by Blessed Herbs or the twelve-strain variety by Dr Ohhira’s Probiotics daily. Then take a Trace Mineral Hair Analysis to find out if you have any metal toxicities and follow a detox routine if you do.
WATER
Water is the next most important therapy in arthritis! It is a key component of both cartilage and synovial fluid of the joints. Your joints use the synovial fluid as a cushion so the joints don’t wear out from use. When there is inadequate water in the joints, cartilage shrinks and loses its resiliency. If you have arthritis it would serve you well to drink sixty ounces of clean water a day. If you perspire when you exercise you need to drink more water. Drinking plenty of water helps to flush toxins out of the body and helps to keep the body lubricated. Every organ in the water is surrounded by water to keep them from rubbing against each other and wearing out through friction.
Do you remember doing a science experiment in grade school that involved finding the Saturation Point? Well in a nutshell: if you take a beaker of warm water and you keep adding and stirring in teaspoons of salt, eventually you will get to a point where no more salt will be able to dissolve in the water. Your body is about 80 % water and the nutrients and toxins you put in your body circulate throughout the water, in this case the lymph part of that water. When your body reaches a saturation point you start to show signs of toxicity = swelling of the feet, legs or hands; puffy face; aches and pains in various joints and muscles; your organs start to slow down and complain of overwork! and the list goes on and on with the complaints! If you do not put an adequate amount of water into your body, you will become saturated with toxins all too quickly and start exhibiting these same signs of distress. This then starts the process known as autointoxication. The good news is that you can detoxify and take in adequate amounts of pure fresh water and start to reverse the saturation point and begin to clean up your body.
The joints in your body need water and proper internal cleansing in order to stay functioning properly. The synovial fluid between the joints is filled with synovial fluid that comes from the lymph that circulates in the body. The purpose of it taking fluid from the lymph is to get a constant fresh supply. Are you starting to see the importance of having a clean body with lots of fresh water in it?!
Clean your body frequently with fresh clean water that has been filtered of impurities. Try bathing in a hot bath with Dead Sea Salts added for extra relief for those tired joints. The salts will draw impurities out of your body and replace valuable and needed minerals through the skin.
ENZYMES
It is essential with arthritis to eliminate all allergens you may be exposed to (See Food Intolerances and Allergies for details and test information). To build up your resistance to allergies, you may simply be missing the enzymes necessary to handle them. Even non-food allergies may be improved by helping your digestion. When the body can spend its energy on other places than digestion it frees up energy for healing and your own activity.
When undigested particles of nutrients enter the bloodstream, an immune reaction is created. You could have leaky gut syndrome. Signs include: undigested bits of food in the stool, indigestion, excess gas, belching, bloating and either constipation or diarrhea. Take the ENZYME QUESTIONNAIRE or the HOLISTANALYSIS which includes the Enzyme Questionnaire, elsewhere on this web site.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
Omega-3 essential fatty acid (eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA) is from fatty fish oils such as mackerel, salmon and sardines. They relieve pain and inflammation because they diminish the production of a specific enzyme, delta 5 desaturase which interferes with the production of a prostaglandin that causes inflammation and pain. While NSAID’s do this as well, they also interfere with the good prostaglandin PGE3, which has anti-inflammatory activity. Eat cold water fish and flax seed to increase your intake of Omega-3 oils. Coromega and Ohhirra
In a particular double-blind placebo-controlled study, one group took six 1-gram capsules of fish oil and one group took six 1-gram capsules of evening primrose oils, and the third group took three 1-gram capsules of each of the two types of oils. Improvements were noticed in all three groups, but the most significant by far were in the group that took six fish oil capsules.
EPA of 360 mg per day which is about two 1000 mg gel capsules of fish oil is highly recommended. An alternative is to take fresh flax seed oil or freshly ground flax seed, which both contain omega-3 fatty acids. One to two tablespoons of the oil or up to one quarter cup of the freshly ground seed is recommended.
GREEN SUPERFOODS
It is difficult to eat all the fresh vegetables your body needs on a daily basis, even if you eat salad at every meal. Add green superfoods to your diet to ensure an adequate supply. Green superfoods are the dehydrated and concentrated juices of nutritious foods such as , broccoli, carrots, beets, parsley, celery and grasses of barley, wheat and alfalfa. They are a rich source of plant enzymes and have powerful anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving benefits. This is especially beneficial for rheumatoid arthritis. Greens First by Doctors for Nutrition is an excellent source of supergreens and tastes good too, because of the added stevia, a natural sweetener.
NONI JUICE
An extremely good source of antioxidants, highly beneficial for arthritis sufferers, is Noni juice. The only one on the market that processes its juice without destroying the valuable enzymes is the ones made by Tahiti Trader. Their Noni and Bio-Noni are of the highest quality with no unnecessary ingredients. Noni is for everyone, while Bio-Noni has added ingredients for women. It builds bone strength, normalizes hormones, balances mood swings and promotes cardio health. Bio-Noni has Bio-Calth; Protykin and ChromeMate. There is no reason why men cannot also enjoy Bio-Noni to improve their bones and joints. Bio-Noni ensures 95% calcium absorption in the bones promoting bone growth, density and strength. Normally the body grows bones and absorbs bone in its processes called catabolism and anabolism. This is imbalanced in arthritis. So Bio-Noni helps rebalance this process.
ANTIOXIDANTS
Free radicals are part of living. Breathing, converting food into energy, exercising all produce free radicals in a process called oxidation. The production of free radicals is accelerated by: air pollution; contaminated drinking water; the consumption of harmful fats; and a few other controversial issues such as living near hydro wires.
Free radicals are unpaired electrons which, if left to their own devices, wreak havoc on the cells. Our bodies have a complex system of antioxidants which negate the damaging effects of free radicals. As we age, we produce fewer antioxidants and are subjected to an accumulation of free radical damage. Virtually every degenerative disease and the aging process itself ha a component of free radical damage.
A moderate to high intake of Vitamin C is protective against progression of osteoarthritis of the joints. Beta Carotene and Vitamin E also show protective effects. Antioxidants can be purchased in powder form and added in to your smootheez or fresh juices.
HIGH-COMPLEX DIET
The foundation of an optimal diet, which is an important part of your treatment program, is an abundance of complex carbohydrates. You should concentrate on vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grains, eliminating anything you are allergic to. Eat only organic, fresh produce, meats and fish. Make sure your meats and fish are low-fat protein. Salmon, mackerel and sardines are the best fish to eat. Make sure your source is wild not farmed and is free from chemical toxicity.
Vegetables and fruits contain an abundance of antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals, as well as compounds called phytochemicals, which provide additional health benefits. Stay away from starchy vegetables and grains, as they provoke an immediate rise in blood sugar which has been implicated in arthritis.
SUNSHINE
Far from what we have been led to believe, our bodies need sunshine in order to make the necessary Vitamin D. Vitamin D blood levels have been noted to be low in people with arthritis. A minimum of twenty of sunshine a day on the area of the body the size of your forearm is all that is needed to grow Vitamin D in the body!
For the following ingredients, check your supergreen drink mixes and your smoothie mixes and nutritional complements to see if they contain the following and then you can determine how much you are getting in a day.
B-COMPLEX VITAMINS
B-Complex, especially niacinamide, or B3, help arthritis sufferers to improve and increase muscle strength and their ability to exercise. It has been suspected that Niacinamide enhances the cartilage’s ability to repair itself. It is necessary to take Vitamin in the complex form as too much or too little of anyone B-vitamin will throw off the whole balancing and cause symptoms of other B-deficiency diseases. High doses of niacin can cause flushing, dizziness and itching, which does not happen with the niacinamide formula.
MINERALS
Zinc, boron and magnesium have all been demonstrated to improve the arthritic condition. Copper is the mineral most often associated with arthritis. Copper bracelets have been worn to ease the pain of arthritis since 1000 BC and are still popular today. Copper is absorbed through the skin giving it the anti-inflammatory effects. Serum levels are high in people with arthritis, indicating that the copper is not being properly absorbed into their system.
BROMELAIN
Bromelain is an enzyme from the pineapple plant. It facilitates digestion, and affects kinins and prostaglandins, increasing pain relief and inflammation reduction. It also facilitates wound healing and recovery time. It also increases the effects of other medicinal agents taken with it. It enhances the effectiveness of herbal and other natural remedies when taken at the same time. Take bromelain on an empty stomach in 250 - 500 mg two to three times daily between meals.
DO NOT TAKE BROMELAIN IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO PINEAPPLE!
TURMERIC (Curcuma longa)
Turmeric is the yellow-orange spice in curry. The most active constituent in turmeric is curcumin, which has the highest potency of anti-inflammatory activity of all the medicinal herbs. Its effects are similar to corticosteroids. Curcumin also has a protective effect on the liver. Use 1400 – 1800 mg per day.
GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE)
Ginger is often used to prevent motion sickness and for morning sickness in early pregnancy. It also effectively relieves inflammation by mediating prostaglandin pathways. Include fresh raw ginger in your diet or supplement with 100 mg a day. Topical application of the Essential Oil of a therapeutic grade of Ginger helps with the pain and immobility of arthritis. See a certified aromatherapist or email your concerns or to have a special essential oil blend created by Dr Lexis Johnson, PhD, HHP who is a certified Aromatherapist.
GLUCOSAMINE
Glucosamine is the precursor to glycosaminoglycan (GAG), a complex sugar that is part of the proteoglycan molecules, a sugar molecule and major component of cartilage. Glucosamine is also a precursor to specialized GAGS including chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronan and collagen. It is impossible for the body to make new cartilage without glucosamine. Chondrocytes can only make as much new cartilage as they have glucosamine at their disposal. It also slows down the destruction of cartilage by inhibiting the production of the enzymes responsigle for breaking down cartilage. Taken orally it is very effectively taken up by the body to re-generate new cartilage.
CHONDROITIN SULFATE
Chondroitin sulfate is a proteoglycan extracted from the cartilage of shark or cows. It is produced by the chondrocytes and may be supplemented for use by the body. It, too, limits the enzymes that break down cartilage. Oral doses in most research is 1200 mg a day, taken with food.
CARTILAGE
Both shark and bovine cartilage work on the same principle as chondroitin and glucosamine. Oral ingestion has shown to have significant anti-angiogenic activity, the inhibition of the formation of new blood vessels. If you don’t do well on glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate, then try cartilage, at 12 grams a day in divided doses.