How to Improve Joint Health Naturally
You probably don’t pay much attention to your joints until pain or discomfort arises. Maybe you’re playing a tennis match and your elbow feels sore. Or you’re at home, typing a work email, when you suddenly experience pain in your fingers.
The human body has 360 joints, the places where bones come together. Some of them are freely moveable, others are slightly moveable, and other joints aren’t moveable. [1]
A flexible connective tissue called cartilage supports the movement of joints. Cartilage coats the surfaces of the bones in joints and cushions bones against impact. [2] When this strong fibrous tissue deteriorates, the bones surrounding that joint don’t have the necessary cushioning. Eventually, that can lead to pain and inflammation. [3]
Joint Health and Inflammation: Here’s the Connection
Joint pain can result from numerous conditions, including trauma, infection, autoimmune disease, aging, and inflammation. [4] Joint pain may appear as discomfort or inflammation within any part of a joint, including cartilage, bone, ligaments, tendons, or muscles.
Inflammation within the joint is called arthritis. Appropriately, the word comes from the Greek term “disease of the joints.” Symptoms of arthritis include pain, stiffness, decreased range of motion, and joint deformities.
Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is sometimes called degenerative joint disease. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage within a joint begins to break down. While it can occur in any joint, osteoarthritis happens most in the hands, hips, and knees. [5]
Osteoarthritis is very common, especially as we get older. Between 19 and 30 percent of adults over 45 have knee osteoarthritis. About 40 percent of men and 47 percent of women will develop osteoarthritis in their lifetime. [6]
Once known as non-inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis is now associated with inflammation along with chronic pain, functional limitations, and distress. [7]
Osteoarthritis and gout sometimes go hand in hand. Gout, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, results from persistently high levels of urate and the formation of inflammatory monosodium urate crystals in joints. [8]
This chronic and often debilitating disease, which researchers call “your second arthritis,” often appears as severe pain and joint dysfunction. [9] [10]
When you reduce inflammation, you also rescue your risk for gout, osteoarthritis, and the many other conditions that inflammation can create throughout the body. And the best place to start reducing inflammation is at the end of your fork.
Food for Joint Health
Managing inflammation levels will optimize joint health and function. No matter your age or physical condition, you have plenty of ways to manage joint health. The first place is with what you eat.
First, you’ll want to minimize or eliminate the foods that contribute to joint pain and inflammation, including:
- Sugary, processed foods.
- Sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages.
- Damaged and trans fats.
Food intolerances are an often-overlooked culprit for joint pain and inflammation. These potentially problematic foods damage the gut, which can lead to leaky gut and other problems. Eventually, food intolerances create problems for your joints. [11] Gluten, soy, dairy, and corn are common food intolerances that may contribute to joint pain and inflammation.
Second, you’ll want to incorporate plenty of whole, unprocessed foods that contain joint-supporting nutrients. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of whole, unprocessed foods may improve chronic pain and quality of life. [12]
The omega-3 fatty acids in wild-caught seafood and fish oil can help manage joint pain associated with several inflammatory conditions. [13] Adding more anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids can help balance the inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. Left unchecked, these inflammatory fatty acids may create greater pain, functional limitations, and psychological distress. [14]
You’ll also want to eat a wide variety of plant foods. Fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of nutrients, which may provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, blood sugar-regulating, and brain-supporting benefits. [15]
Fruits are a rich source of polyphenolic flavonoids that may provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic (pain-relieving) effects. Numerous studies show that polyphenols can support arthritis, including reducing pain and inflammation. [16]
When you eat a whole foods, unprocessed, low-sugar diet, you also support a healthy weight. Obesity is a risk factor for both the development and progression of osteoarthritis. For people with a body mass (BMI) higher than 30, the risk of osteoarthritis increases to 60 percent. [17]
Combining weight loss (losing 10 percent of excess body weight) coupled with exercise can create significant improvement in symptoms, pain relief, physical function, and health-related quality of life. [18]
The Best Joint Health Supplements
The best joint health supplements provide the right nutrients to manage inflammation while reducing pain and deterioration. Along with an anti-inflammatory diet, these well-researched nutrients can support joint health. Among them include:
- Vitamin D. Vitamins for joint health include vitamin D. Some research shows that vitamin D supplementation may alleviate joint pain in people with osteoarthritis with low vitamin D status. [19]
- Omega-3 fatty acids. The anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil can reduce morning stiffness, the number of tender joints, and swollen joints in people with rheumatoid arthritis. [20]Likewise, research shows that omega-3s may reduce inflammatory markers, cartilage degradation, and oxidative stress in people with osteoarthritis. [21]
- The anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and pain-relieving benefits of turmeric are often attributed to its active compound, called curcumin. Numerous studies show that turmeric extract (about 1,000 mg a day of curcumin) may support arthritis. [22]
- One 24-week study found that a collagen hydrolysate supplement supports joint health, possibly reduces the risk of joint deterioration, and may reduce pain and other limitations that can negatively impact athletic performance. [23]
Tart Cherry: Powerful Support for Joint Health
Among fruit choices, tart cherry supplements provide powerful support for joint health. Supplementing with tart cherry can improve mobility, relieve pain-related symptoms, boost the quality of life, and benefit cartilage health. [24]
Other studies show that cyanidin (the major component of anthocyanins) provide a protective effect to manage osteoarthritis. [25]
Joint pain can make exercise more difficult. Tart cherries, rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients including anthocyanins, make a promising approach for joint pain and inflammation so that you can move free.
In one study, researchers divided trained cyclists into equal groups that consumed either Montmorency tart cherry concentrate or a placebo twice daily for seven consecutive days. They looked at things like oxidative stress, inflammation, and muscle damage across three days of simulated road cycle racing.
On days five through seven, the cyclists completed a simulated, high-intensity, stochastic road cycling trial, lasting 109 min. The results? Tart cherry improved oxidative and inflammatory responses, proving that it can combat post-exercise damage. [26]
Antioxidant Support to Support Joint Health
Plant compounds provide an excellent way to support joint health and manage the pain and inflammation that can occur with osteoarthritis and other joint problems.
With their anti-inflammatory effects and antioxidant benefits, polyphenols such as anthocyanins show promise for future antioxidant therapeutics and new anti-inflammatory drugs. [27]
To support joint health, you’ll want to incorporate plenty of fruits that are rich in anthocyanins. A tart cherry supplement provides therapeutic amounts of anthocyanins to help manage the pain and inflammation that occur from osteoarthritis and other forms of joint pain. [28]
In our next blog, we’ll look more at how supplementing with tart cherry extract can lower the inflammation levels associated with joint pain and many other conditions.
References
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