Arthritis can be a debilitating, degenerative, crippling disease that only gets worse over time. Although there is no "cure", it is essential to improve your bodies overall nutrition and health. Because of the processed foods we eat, and the sedentary lifestyle we live, most people lack the proper amounts of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins our bodies need to be completely healthy. If a person engages in the right amounts of exercise, combined with a consistent, well balanced diet, the body is able to fend off medical problems of all sorts. Inflammation is often a result of a weak immune system, and cartilage and bone will stay stronger, longer with the correct nutritional diet. A strong immune system also helps fight all types of infections, from viruses to bacteria. If a virus or bacteria is able to break past the immune system and infect the body, it can magnify the effects of a disorder like arthritis. Most people who are currently living a healthy, nutritious life have already heard this however...so what about the people who currently have arthritis?

Well, living a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise can be even more important for those diagnosed with arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is particularly debilitating, and approx. 6 out of 10 people diagnosed with it become disabled in 10 years or less. This is a very real problem, but this disability can be slowed down for many if they adopt a healthy lifestyle! So lets take a closer look at the two most basic changes that can be made for real arthritis relief.

Arthritis and Nutrition: helping eliminate the pain

There are many rumors in the medical world that ties a change in diet to improved arthritis symptoms. So, to try to find proof between the diet/arthritis connection, a collaborative report was conducted on 15 separate studies of diet and arthritis, and the results were:

For those with gout, there is a specific link between diet and an acute gout attack. However, for those with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, the connection is less certain. Diet doesn't seem to change the range of motion or flexibility for people with rheumatoid arthritis, but avoiding certain foods CAN help reduce the pain that someone with rheumatoid arthritis experiences. However, more studies are being conducted, and the link between diet and arthritis has not been fully explored.

The more common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis can be affected indirectly by food, in the form of weight gain. Besides losing weight, there are other foods to consider if you have osteoarthritis. Some of them are:

caffeine, sugar, dairy products, red meat, salt, nightshade veggies (red peppers, tomatoes, etc), chocolate, and most processed foods with additives and preservatives.

Arthritis and Exercise: fight the symptoms, and increase your quality of life

Exercise is even more important to reducing arthritis symptoms than diet. It was previously thought that exercise and arthritis don't mix. We now know that exercise is able to stave off arthritis development, increase range of motion, flexibility, and decrease pain. There are 3 primary forms of exercise that someone with arthritis should engage in:

Flexibility exercises: Stretching, yoga, tai chi, etc

cardio exercises: jogging, swimming, cycling, elliptical machines, etc.

strengthening exercises: resistance weights, isometric and isotonic excercises, etc.

Incorporating all 3 forms into an exercise routine can increase quality of life with arthritis.