5 Tips For Healthy Joints

Taking care of your joints may not seem like the most important thing on the list of health and wellness ‘to dos’, but if you’ve ever had any joint problems you will know that taking the joints for granted is not recommended.  Joint injuries can be serious and can prevent your from enjoying your regular routine.  Moreover, sustained joint problems, poor nutrition, and simply aging can all lead to chronic and painful conditions such as Arthritis.

The number of joints in the human body is a matter of some debate, because the number actually changes from fetal development to birth.  Moreover, many of the plates in the skull are knit together but whether or not these are referred to as joints is a matter of contention.  What is clear however, is that the body has somewhere upwards of two hundred or three hundred joints.  And while when they are working well you might not notice them, when they cause you pain it can be all you can do to forget about them.  There are however many things you can do to improve the health of your joints and to help prevent future problems.

Tip One: Ladies, stop it with the high heeled shoes!  High heels can place a great deal of strain on the joints in the feet, ankles and knees and will lead to problems later on.  The extra stress not only affects your joints but also hurts the bones which can lead to osteoarthritis.

Tip Two: Rest those wrists from time to time.  For all of you who work long hours on a keyboard be sure to take a break every once and a while and stretch out the hands and wrists.    

Tip Three: Shed a pound or two (or three or more).  Carrying around too much extra weight can place a great deal of stress on your joints.  And while perhaps an extra four to five pounds won’t do too much damage, consider the fact that as we age (up to a point) we tend to increase in weight.  Every extra pound can therefore cause damage to the ligaments and joints around the knee.  Research reveals that even loosing ten pounds can have a real effect on joint health.

Tip Four: Calcium supplementation.  Boosting your calcium intake is one of the best things you can do for your bones and this will in turn benefit your joints.  Because the two are connected, it is important to take care of both.  Add some yogurt or other low fat dairy products or soy alternatives to your diet alongside a calcium and magnesium supplement.  It can actually be hard to get the recommended amount of calcium each day so supplementation is probably the way to go.

Tip Five: Add a little fish to the flame.  Omega three fatty acids are some of the most important nutrients for building and maintaining joint health.  Foods rich in Omegas such as cold water fish (salmon, mackerel), hemp seed hearts or flax seeds are great for helping with pain and inflammation.  So if your knee can already feel a storm coming in, you may want to load up on some of the above suggested foods.

By taking some of these simple steps you can dramatically affect the health and wellness of your joints.  Alongside these tips, making sure to keep active and to build muscle will also help keep your joints in tip top working order.  Don’t take your joints for granted.