Osteoarthritis And Rheumatoid Arthritis

Osteoarthritis And Rheumatoid Arthritis are different diseases. Osteoarthritis is the gradual breakdown of cartilage in a joint. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease.

However, because they both involve the breakdown of the connective tissues, they can both be treated with success in much the same way.

One of the problems is water. Interestingly the problem can be exacerbated by too little water, or too much water. However, I'll make this easier for you. Too little water is dehydration. Too much water (like water on the knee) is actually another sign of dehydration. This is why joint pain is nearly always helped by increasing water intake.

Of course to optimize your water intake, you need good sea minerals to go with the water. The body can't use water without minerals very well. I put a little "Redmond Real Salt" in every glass of water I drink. Aim for drinking your weight (in pounds) divided by 10, cups of water each day. That may seem like a lot, but trust me.

Another important thing for healthy cartilage is good balanced proteins. The best way to get these is to eat whole foods. Sprouted wheat, raw milk and eggs are some of your best sources. Make these foods part of your daily routine.

There are many people who advise various supplements for joint health, but the research on these is very inconclusive as to whether or not they work. You are much better off just saving the money you would spend on supplements to buy good wholesome (organic if possible) foods.

Eat plenty of fresh vegetables, particularly the leafy greens, like spinach. This is good nutrition to build healthy bones and cartilage. Also getting lots of antioxidants is very beneficial (think fruit, berries, whole grains, and veggies). Antioxidants help to clean the system, and can help to minimize pain. (Pain pills only end up causing more problems further down the road.)

Another cause of cartilage problems can be hormonal imbalances. The best way to balance your hormones is by making sure that your body is getting good fats, and avoiding bad fats. Start by the total elimination of all corn, soy, canola, or cotton seed oils. The best overall hormone balancing fat is probably coconut oil. I suggest 3 to 4 Tablespoons a day. Use a tablespoon full of coconut oil with each meal.

Avoid all hydrogenated fats and transfats (fried foods), and eat good fats like avocados, nuts, raw milk and eggs.

Exercise is another very important treatment for any kind of arthritis. Lack of motion only makes the problem worse. Of course, you need to be careful and not over do. Motion keeps the joints alive. Swimming and cycling are very good because they are not to jarring on the joints.

Now, we do want to be careful to not injure anything with the exercise, but at the same time we do want to cause some stress to the body. You see, one of the little secrets to building healthy bones and cartilage is that your body needs weight bearing jolts. The kind of thing that happens when you run or jump. These weight bearing jolts send impulses through the body that tell the body to build stronger bones and cartilage.

Shhhhhhh. It's a secret, don't tell.

So, how do you get these little jolts, but not cause damage? Bouncing on a trampoline is good, but you can simply hang on to something for support while standing, and raise up onto your toes, and then drop down to your heels. Let your heels strike the ground with a little bump. Don't lock your knees while doing this. In fact it is generally best to not lock your knees in any exercise. Do this for a minute or two any time you find yourself standing around during the day.

One other thing that I should mention about exercising for joint health, is that you want to actually work the tendons and ligaments, not just the muscles. Some people will tell you that you can't exercise tendons or ligaments to strengthen them, but they would be wrong. Here is the secret to exercising tendons and ligaments: Very slow deliberate motion.

For instance, if you want to build strength in the knees you can do squats or lunges. But you are only working the muscles if you go down and up in 10 seconds or less. To strengthen the tendons and ligaments, take a full minute to go down, and another minute to come back up.

You see, the muscles can hold any given position for up to about 10 seconds. After the muscle is fatigued, it requires tendon and ligament strength to continue. So if you are doing a full squat in a couple of minutes, then the muscle is fatigued all along the way and the tendons and ligaments get worked out.

With any exercise, be sure to try to get full range of motion.

Another very basic cause of joint problems is stressing the body through bad habits of structural posture and positioning. I highly recommend getting a book on the correct bio-mechanics of everyday living. Doing away with the under lying causes of pain is always a good idea.

HERE is a good program called "Perfect Posture Program". It is a course that you can download along with videos to show you how it is all done. This can be a critical first step in correcting joint pains and problems.

If you prefer a physical book you can look through and make your own program, I like a book called "Walk Yourself Well" by Sherry Brourman.

Osteoarthritis is very very common in our society today, but it doesn't have to remain that way. Switch to a healthy lifestyle, and let your body heal itself. It is actually very good at it.