If someone had told me a few years ago that diet was important for arthritis, I would not have believed it! But from personal experience I now know there is a very important link.

There is a trend in this day and age to avoid fat. Foods that you buy at the supermarkets, cookery books, low fat diets, wherever you look, there is a tendency to avoid fat. As far as arthritis goes, this is not good.

Our joints need lubricating. Where do you think that lubrication comes from? The interesting thing is that I found out the hard way how important fats in the diet are for keeping arthritis at bay.

About 5 years ago, after avoiding fats for most of my life in a constant attempt to lose weight, I found I was getting arthritis in my fingers. I just sort of assumed that as young as I was, it was an inevitable part of aging. How wrong I was! Shortly afterwards, I started to take omega 3 oil. I had been avoiding these large oil capsules as I was always trying to lose weight and the thought of swallowing fat seemed ludicrous! The pain from my fingers got really bad though and I couldn't sleep at night with the pain, so in desperation, I started to take omega 3.

Would you know that within 24 hours, yes 24 hours, I felt relief! I was amazed that something as simple as taking a supplement like this could give me so much by way of pain relief.

Today I take omega 3 every single day. I hardly ever miss a day. If I have missed it for some reason, I have found that the pain does start to come back so in many respects we are talking about something which can be managed quite naturally. If you have any type of arthritis, give omega 3 a try. One good side effect that I have never heard anybody complain about is that it gives you very soft skin! Better than any defoliator that I have ever tried.

The other positive benefit of omega 3 is that it takes care of your heart. Most people do not get anywhere near enough omega 3 in their diet, particularly in the western world. That could be why we get so much arthritis. Natural sources of omega 3 include deep sea fish and to get enough omega 3 from this source we would have to eat these oily type fish 3-4 times a week. Most people struggle having salmon, tuna or sardines once a week.

Another way of getting omega 3 is to check and see if it is added to food. Some bread these days has omega 3 in it and it is also put into tinned salmon in addition to what is naturally present in the fish. If all else fails it is one of the most inexpensive supplements and you can get it at just about any supermarket. Lastly, give it to your spotty teenager; they will love you for it when their skin clears up!