Keep your knees strong and healthy!
Got achy knees? You’re not alone: Institute of Medicine pros say more than 61 million of us have the same complaint, which luckily can be cured by:
Tightening your tush
Strengthening your glutes—your body’s largest and most powerful muscle group, which extends from your rear end around your hips—is critical for taking pressure off your knees and keeping them in proper alignment, explains Eric Robertson, P.T., D.P.T., of the American Physical Therapy Association. To get those glutes in tiptop shape, simply stand up from a chair and sit down without using your arms five to 10 times, three times a day. Keep your abs tight and your knees behind your toes.
Supplementing with ginger
In one six-week study, 63% of folks with arthritis-related chronic knee pain who took 255 mg. of ginger extract daily (such as Swanson Ginger Root, $11.75, Amazon.com) saw their arthritis-related knee pain plummet! Prefer tea? Sip several cups of ginger tea daily mixed with turmeric, a spice National Institutes of Health pros say blocks destruction of joints by arthritis: Bring a cup of water to a boil. Stir in 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger or 1/3 tsp. ginger powder, 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder and a dash each of cinnamon and black pepper. Turn off the heat, cover and steep five minutes. Add fresh lemon juice and raw honey to taste.
Preserving your cartilage
Every time you lose a pound, you lower stress on your knees by four pounds! That means losing as little as 5% of your weight (nine pounds if you weigh 180)
helps preserve your shockabsorbing knee cartilage, as well as pads in the knees that protect against damage.
● Defending against discomfort with soy Switching to soy milk and adding tofu or edamame to your salads and stir-fries increases levels of a protein hormone that rebuilds cartilage in the knee, studies show. In fact, eating soy protein every day can reduce knee discomfort significantly within three months! Bonus: Soybeans are chock-full of fiber— and folks whose diets are fiber-rich are 61% less likely to ever develop knee pain, according to a nine-year, 1,200-person Harvard study.