Improving your joint health with supplements
The best part of what I do is to see improvements in those who have the courage to try something different.
My client files are full of testimonies of those who have improved. Just recently, a client I have been helping for four months called for her monthly check in. When I first spoke with her she had a very sore hip and various muscle aches and pains.
We made some changes to her diet and put her on a number of anti-inflammatory and joint supporting supplements. As a result, her hip has improved to the point she can walk freely again. Additionally she has much more energy and the vitamin D we added has helped a great deal with moods and general motivation.
The body is quite miraculous. If you feed it the nutrients it really needs, dormant healing processes can then help restore body systems back towards normal.
This is especially true for joints affected by osteoarthritis. In March I started helping a man in his 70s with painful arthritis in his knee, feet and hands especially his thumbs. Worst of all was the joint where the thumb attaches to the wrist. This joint is highly susceptible to arthritis and it can be very disabling.
When I spoke to him in June his feet and knees were much improved. He could now use stairs with ease. His hands and thumb have improved significantly and are still improving.
While we made some dietary changes the main benefits came from increasing his Omega 3 fish oil to 6000mg daily and adding a double dose of my joint formula. This meant he initially was taking 1500mg of glucosamine, 1500mg of high grade chondroitin and 200mg of my proprietary 95 per cent curcumin (turmeric) extract.
I spoke to a client today who had been affected by osteoarthritis in his hips and shoulders. We created a personalised joint health programme that included supplements that can help promote healing in arthritic joints. After speaking with him today he said that he is mostly symptom free.
The real hero however is not so much the dietary changes and supplements but his body’s own healing processes. All disease starts with changes to cell functions. If this is left unchecked it can lead to tissue damage and eventually to disease.
Our bodies have incredible healing properties that can become overwhelmed by a disease process. While physical damage to joints can cause arthritis it is important to see it as a real disease and not just wear and tear.
Joint cartilage appears as tough lifeless tissue. A closer look reveals something quite different. Cartilage matrix is secreted by specialised living cells called chondrocytes. These cells maintain small pieces of cartilage. Anything that negatively affects chondrocytes will eventually damage cartilage. Loose enough cartilage and you have osteoarthritis.
Chondrocytes can become damaged by several processes. Firstly free radicals can damage them to the point that they cannot function properly. If left unchecked by antioxidants the chondrocytes will die and the piece of cartilage it maintained will eventually be lost. Secondly, corrosive enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) attack the collagen matrix of cartilage and thirdly unwanted inflammation can damage chondrocytes.
What we need to do is to protect chondrocytes, reduce inflammation, reduce free radical activity and reduce MMP activity. What this does is to allow our natural cartilage healing processes to spring to life. The result is less pain and improved mobility.
The answer is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant dense diet. We then add antiinflammatory supplements that can help restore joint healing processes. Feel free to contact me for further information.
■ John Arts (B Soc Sci, Dip Tch, Adv Dip Nut Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. For personalised advice, contact John on 0800 423559 or email john@abundant.co.nz. Join his full weekly newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz