The following paragraphs detail a drug-free approach to the management of psoriatic arthritis. Alternative medicine or natural cures have always been a particular interest of mine. I think that modern medicine handles medical emergencies of things like stitches and broken bones very well. Where it comes up short in is the management of chronic conditions and diseases and promoting health. The modern medical approach really is just symptom based with no real desire to discover or treat the root cause of the problem. I have never been a big fan of painkillers for headaches or anti-biotics for sickness. I loved trying out new alternative cures for a sore throat or skin condition. But this love for natural remedies was really pushed to the edge when I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.
Of course it is one thing to help a common cold with some garlic and vitamin C, but can you really help an auto-immune disease such as psoriatic arthritis? In all theory you should be able to. It is famously quoted 'you are what you eat.' Certainly diet and nutrition are a sound starting point, there are some other key factors as well. This article will briefly cover the diet aspect for more information in that regards please see my other article on the psoriatic arthritis diet. This article will also go on to cover the mental and emotion aspect of the disease and which are the nutritional supplements that you should be taking to help your psoriatic arthritis.
In brief your psoriatic arthritis diet should have a focus on fruit and vegetables. Start adding these to your diet. Use good organic sources of chicken, beef, eggs and fish for your protein. Learn about fats and the truth about saturated fats and cholesterol. Do not use artificial products like margarine or vegetable oil, ever! Cook in stable fats like butter and lard. Use coconut products such as the oil. Eliminate wheat and diary from your diet as these foods promote inflammation and auto-immune responses in the body. This is a brief introduction, for more explanation see my article on the psoriatic arthritis diet.
They say that stress causes 90% of all diseases. That statement is probably right. The body is an amazing invention, capable of adapting and handling almost anything we place on it. Think about drug addicts, alcoholics and morbidly obese people. The body doesn't just cave in, it adapts and puts up with the toxins and everything.for a while. But eventually it will reach a breaking point. The same is true for stress, mental or emotional. It can handle it for a while, but long term stress will manifest somewhere in the body. It may result in headaches, poor digestion, a skin rash or an auto-immune disorder. Learn to manage your stress. Yoga and meditation are great, make them part of your daily schedule for the rest of your life. Your yoga may need to be modified because of your joints, that is initially what I had to do. Get some perspective on the situations that cause you stress and realize that being stressed probably does not accomplish anything or help the situation at all.
The final part of this article will discuss nutritional supplements for psoriatic arthritis. The last few years has seen an explosion in the development of anti-inflammatory products. Make sure when buying supplements you are not tempted to buy cheap products. Try to buy your supplements through a certified practitioner which will allow you to purchase practitioner only products. These will have a better quality and potency of ingredients. To start with begin with taking high doses of fish oils, which are great for anti-inflammatory purposes. Also recommended is a probiotic for helping with gut health. Lastly find a good combination herb anti-inflammatory mixture. This should have all the good anti-inflammatory herbs like turmeric, boswellia and devil's claw in it.
I hope this article at least opens your mind up and exposes you to somewhat of a game plan to try and cure or manage your psoriatic arthritis from a natural approach. Now you may be thinking, 'far out, this approach is radical and very different to my current way of living'. Well I would hope so! Your current way of living played a role in triggering the disease in the first place. If the suggestions in this article were not vastly different to your current lifestyle then I do not think you would be reading this article because you would not have developed psoriatic arthritis in the first place. Implement the steps slowly and it will make it easier to incorporate it into your lifestyle.
