Diseases like arthritis and osteoporosis affect more and more people and natural arthritis treatments and health supplements are delivering the results people want. One look at the recent heart and cancer scares involving some commonly used arthritis drugs should also be enough for anyone concerned about their health to take a good look at natural alternatives.

Joint Pain, Arthritis and Osteoporosis

Before discussing natural arthritis treatments and health supplements, it's important to understand how our bodies develop these problems in the first place.

Bone is constantly being broken down and built up every day. This process is regulated by hormones and involves the laying down of calcium and over 20 other minerals onto a bone matrix made up of collagen, the mineral copper, and vitamin C; vitamin D is also heavily involved in this process. As we get older the levels of these hormones begin to drop and if we don't have enough calcium, other minerals, vitamins and protein in our diet, then we start to break down more bone than we build.

As the calcium starts coming out of our bones it makes its way into the lubricating tissues between our joints and we eventually develop arthritis. This lubricant is made out of collagen and essential fatty acids (EFA) and the condition gets even worse when not enough collagen is being made or there aren't enough essential fatty acids in the diet to keep making joint lubricant. And arthritis is a warning signal that you have a raging osteoporosis!

The conventional alternatives are usually extremely painful joint replacement surgery which, if you're lucky, will last you for only 5-10 years; and anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs which can lead to kidney problems and worsen the condition - you have the pain for a reason! Other treatments like prednisone reduce pain and inflammation but interfere with the building of bone matrix. Talk to your doctor about alternatives. The other side-effects may include thinning skin and diabetes!

Arthritis Treatments - The Natural Approach

Natural osteoporosis and arthritis treatments work to prevent and reverse these conditions because you replace the minerals and vitamins which are lost and also rebuild the joint with proteins and essential fatty acids. Mineral health supplements such as plant derived colloidal minerals contain calcium, magnesium, manganese, boron, silica and many others in a form that is over 98% absorbable.

Additional calcium, magnesium, vitamins, collagen and other nutrients can be obtained from some of the better liquid calcium supplements available.

Omega 3 essential fatty acid supplements in fish oil form are also effective natural arthritis treatments because they reduce inflammation and help to rebuild the lubricating fluid.

Joint support and collagen supplements such as glucosamine and chondroitin also help build bone matrix and lubricating fluid and are excellent arthritis and osteoporosis treatments.

Another recent and exciting discovery is CM or Cetyl Myristoleate. It is a natural complex derived from a combination of a fatty acid and an alcohol molecule and forms naturally inside the joint tissue and has been clinically proven to reduce pain, inflammation, and improve mobility.

Digestive Enzymes will help to improve absorption of these nutrients - particularly after we reach 40 and the amount of stomach acid we produce starts to decrease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most crippling form of arthritis and is thought to be an autoimmune disease by conventional medicine.

It's actually caused by a virus, bacteria or heavy metal and the clue here is that when it 'flares' most people get sick all over - not just at the site. In other words, the body is reacting to this 'bug' in the normal way by trying to kill it - hence the fever and sickness.

In addition to the arthritis treatments mentioned, a great deal of success has been had by treatment with a broad spectrum antibiotic such as minocycline. Talk to your health care practitioner about this and don't be afraid to get a second opinion.

This has relatively few side affects compared to modern antibiotics - however you should ensure that you look after your 'good' stomach flora so you can digest and absorb food. A quality pro-biotic supplement will help.

Diet and Exercise

Diet and exercise have an important role to play in natural arthritis and osteoporosis treatments. Here are some guidelines:

? Full-range of motion weight-bearing exercises such as walking, light weights, yoga etc can be very helpful

? Avoid foods containing sugar, caffeine and especially stay away from carbonated drinks - these will increase your loss of minerals, reduce your absorption and make your condition worse