The Impact of Diet, Diet Sensitivities and Nutritional Supplements on Arthritis

Research is currently being done to establish the relationship of arthritis to diet. Many people with arthritis want to know if the foods they eat can cause arthritis or affect their arthritis symptoms from varying from one day to the next. In fact research to date has shown that what you eat may affect certain kinds of arthritis. If you identify something you eat and believe it may be causing your arthritis pain to be worse after you’ve eaten it, tell your doctor. Your doctor may want you to avoid this food for a few days and then re-introduce it into your diet to see what/if any effect there is on your arthritis.

In exciting new research a connection has also been found between nutritional supplements and certain types of arthritis. The most studied area so far is the relationship between knee  osteoarthritis and the use of Glucosamine and Chondroitin. A very large study recently showed that these supplements have a positive effect on cartilage in the knee. Glucosamine and Chondroitin are being used to relieve pain from osteoarthritis and may reduce the loss of joint cartilage that occurs with the disease. Consider taking this nutritional supplement only with your doctor’s approval, as there can be interactions between supplements and other medications or food that you eat. Tell your doctor, even though so-called natural medications or supplements have the potential to cause side effects or cause interactions that could put your health at risk.
 
Arthritis research, just as research for other long, term chronic diseases, consistently recommends that you eat a healthy, well-balanced diet including: plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole-grain products. In particular eat oranges they have vitamin C and other antioxidants that reduce the risk of osteoarthritis and its progression.

Preventing More Damage

Your doctor may recommend a combination of treatments to prevent further damage to your joints and reduce your discomfort. These can include medication, use of heat or cold, weight management, exercise, and therapy. While you can't prevent your risk for getting arthritis such as inherited genes, gender, or past injuries you can take advantage of factors you can prevent. 

One factor in preventing further joint damage is getting early treatment. Research has shown that you will help yourself more with early treatment than if you wait. Your doctor may prescribe physical or occupational therapy and not medication as the first step. The therapist can teach you how to make a movement or complete a task in a manner that is less taxing to an arthritic joint. This is a way to avoid further injury to that joint and less pain in your daily activities. Your occupational therapist might also give you suggestions about tools that you can use that may make certain tasks easier. Tools such as a jar opener, cane, walker, phone dialer, buttoner and sock puller can be helpful in getting everyday tasks done while minimizing your pain.

A second important factor in preventing joint damage is to control your weight. Think of it in this way: pounds put on in your 20s and 30s can build up years of pressure on your joints. Imagine sitting with a 30 pound weight on your neck for the next 20 years. That would increase joint stress in every joint below that extra weight: your neck, back, shoulders and hips. This stress can cause more wear and tear on your joints which can result in osteoarthritis. Even a few extra  pounds have an impact. Being only 10 pounds overweight increases the force on the knee by 30-60 pounds with each step.

Assessing Your Risk of Developing Arthritis

If you are:

• a woman
• over the age of 60 and have used your joints in any type of repetitive motion for prolonged periods such as jogging, bending, stooping, lifting
• you’ve sustained a joint injury in an accident or fall
• you have a close relative with osteoarthritis
• you are or were overweight

Your risk of developing osteoarthritis is increased. 

If you are already experiencing joint stiffness, joint pain with movement or you wake up with joint pain in the morning, you may already have arthritis. Make a point to tell your doctor about these symptoms on your next visit. Pain and stiff joints are not just a normal part of aging that you must endure.

Causes of Osteoarthritis

Three things typically cause osteoarthritis. 

• Genetics
• What happens to you during your life
• How you live

Genetics is important in determining whether you get arthritis. If your parents or other close relatives have or had the disease you are more likely to develop arthritis. 

However, what happens to you during your life is also important because there is a relationship between your activities and developing arthritis. For example joggers, high school and professional athletes in high impact team sports (e.g. football) and people who have had joint injuries or fractures are more likely to develop arthritis later in life in areas that were injured. Also, repetitive bending, stooping and lifting in your day-to-day life can lead to cartilage loss and pain in the hips and knees.
 
Other aspects of how you live your life can impact the disease as well. If you are overweight or were overweight for a significant amount of time in your life, you are more likely to develop arthritis in the knees, back and hips from the pounding your joints took. Even if you were never overweight, played impact sports, jogged, had a broken bone or your close relatives never had arthritis, sometimes osteoarthritis hits people without a known reason. How do you know if you have or may get arthritis? You should assess your risk and assess your symptoms.

Types of Arthritis

There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, but most types have common features. You might be interested in the fact that even dogs can have arthritis. One in five adult dogs have the disease! Not surprisingly the symptoms between humans and dogs are the same. Here are a few of those common symptoms:

• Favoring a limb
• Difficulty sitting or standing
• Sleeping more
• Stiff or sore joints
• Hesitancy to climb stairs, run or jump
• Weight gain due to inactivity
• Decreased activity
• Attitude or behavior changes: might be more preoccupied or irritable due to pain

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, but first, let’s talk about normal joint construction. The normal joint has a covering of cartilage that is very durable and somewhat elastic. Cartilage is the soft bendable tissue that we can feel on our earlobes and nose. Cartilage provides a sort of shock absorber for our joints. It allows the ends of bones to move smoothly past one another without rubbing or grinding. After certain types of injuries the cartilage is destroyed and bone begins to rub on bone. When the ends of bone rub against each other, it causes osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis causes pain, loss of movement and stiffness and swelling in or around your joints. The pain of osteoarthritis is what makes it hard to move your body in the way that you rely on every day for taking care of yourself and your family. Movements such as stooping to pick up the newspaper, peeling back the lid of a medication bottle, opening a can of soup, washing your back or walking to the mailbox are painful and hard to do.

Introduction to Arthritis

Arthritis which is pronounced by many as Arthur-i-tis, is the nation’s leading cause of disability in Americans. It causes pain, loss of movement and sometimes swelling of the joints. Arthritis limits everyday activities such as walking, dressing and bathing and is one of the most prevalent chronic health problems in our population. 

The number of people who have arthritis is rising. In 1985 there were 35 million people with the disease. In 2006 that number was 46 million. A continued dramatic surge in arthritis is predicted, due to the Baby Boomer Generation’s increased awareness of the disease and greater likelihood of diagnosis. 

Chances are that you or someone you know has arthritis. A diagnosis of arthritis can change your life but it does not have to be as bad as you might think. One half of Americans who have arthritis do not think anything can be done to help them. 

In this blog series we will be offering some practical suggestions about how to manage the disease for those of you that have it, in order for you to make the most of your life. Future posts will cover the signs and symptoms of arthritis, so those who suspect that they have it can take action early. 

The Food Pyramid for Age 70 and Older

At age 70 and older, individuals inherently have unique dietary needs. Fewer calories are needed as typically you may be less physically active, and your metabolic rate does slow down. Although this may seem to indicate that you need to worry less about nutritious meals, research actually shows that you require the same or higher levels of nutrients to remain healthy and better
manage the signs and symptoms of any chronic disease. 

The food pyramid for older adults was created at Tufts University to represent these changes which most often occur at age 70. It has seven elements, all of which are equally important-the best visualization is a circus tent with seven gussets, if you will, all of which make up the body of the tent. 

The seven elements daily nutrition at age 70 and older are:
 
1) Whole, enriched and fortified grains and cereals such as brown rice and 100% whole wheat bread which are fiber rich

  2) Bright-colored vegetables such as carrots and broccoli

 3) Deep-colored fruits such as berries and melon

 4) Low and non-fat dairy products such as yogurt and low-lactose milk

5) Dry beans and nuts, fish, poultry, lean meat and eggs

6) Liquid vegetable oils and soft spreads low in saturated and trans fats

7) Fluid intake

To get these nutrients each day does not require access to fresh food-frozen, packages or bags of pre-cut vegetables and fruits work just as well. Note the last element, fluid intake. As we age, we gauge how thirsty we are less well. The importance of consuming enough fluids each day cannot be understated. This means not only water, but soups, vegetable juice and foods high in water content such as lettuce.
 
The pyramid for older adults does indeed look like a circus tent as it has a flag at the top. This unique visual is used on this food pyramid to suggest that older adults may need certain supplemental nutrients. The need for calcium, vitamins D, E and B12 increases as we age and it is often difficult to obtain these from food alone. The potential need to use supplements needs to be discussed with your doctor, especially with regard to the current medications that you take and any over-the-counter drugs such as antacids, herbal supplements or other vitamins.

Clearly the relationship between nutrition and our health continues throughout our lifetime, and changes as we age. An important factor for everyone is understanding our current nutritional health and any risk factors that we may have added by virtue of our lifestyle and the changes in our daily habits as we age. The first step to a healthy life and better managing any disease that we may have or develops is our diet. Take the first steps by assessing your nutritional health now.