Regardless of your age, joint pain can be an issue which impacts your daily activities. One must be aware of the importance of having healthy and strong joints.
It can be extremely painful and sometimes irreversible in case of any damage to the joints. The good news is there are many ways to support the joint health like:
1. Don’t Remain Stationary For Too Long
When your body is stationary, your muscles do not have the chance to get stronger. When you’re moving, the muscles around your joints are getting stronger and better at protecting those joints. There are so many ways to get active that you do not have to make drastic changes.
Even getting up from your desk and having a short walk every hour or so can benefit us. Staying active helps to increase strength and flexibility in the joints as well as in the muscles that surround the joints.
2. Try Low-Impact Exercise
There are all sorts of exercises to try out to maintain healthy joints. If you are looking for a less intensive option, try low-impact exercises. This includes walking, cycling, swimming, rowing, and even yoga. You do not have to sacrifice variety. Each of these can strengthen bones and protect joints while not overloading your body.
3. Avoid Inflammatory Foods
Joints struggle when inflamed. There are foods that contribute to this problem that are best to be avoided as you try to maintain healthy joints. There are six main categories of inflammatory foods to avoid:
- Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Artificial Trans Fat
- Vegetable and Seed Oil
- Refined Carbohydrates
- Excessive Alcohol
- Processed Meats
Once you can identify these in your current diet, you can lessen or remove them at all and start to see the results on your joints and the rest of your body. This decline in inflammation will be felt all throughout the body, not just in your joints.
4. Consume Collagen
Adding collagen as a supplement in your daily diet help in strengthening the weak bones and joints. Collagen is an active ingredient that works on better joint functioning by providing flexibility and comfort to the joints. The best thing about it is that a tasty option available is Collage Protein Coffee which is a simple way of consuming collagen, drinking only one sachet each morning.
5. Drinking Water
Water is an important component for joint health because it makes up about 80% of your body’s cartilage (the flexible, connective tissue that cushions your joints). Cartilage is kept lubricated by a liquid known as synovial fluid, and in fact our cartilage is approximately 60% made from water. As a result, it is essential that we keep hydrated when our joints are damaged. If we don’t, the production of our synovial fluid will be reduced and we increase our risk of friction pain and cartilage deterioration.
Consider trading out soda, juice, and sweet tea for good old-fashioned H20. If you get bored with plain water, opt for a naturally-flavored fruit-infused water like Hint. You could also make your own fruit-infused water. My favorite combination is strawberry, blueberry and mint!
6. Maintain Your Ideal Weight
Gaining weight that goes above your body’s ideal numbers puts extra pressure on your joints. The ability to maintain a weight stems from getting exercise, practicing a healthy diet, and paying attention to portion sizes. Even slight weight loss can have a profound impact on the work that your joints have to do daily.
7. Posture
Slouching puts extra pressure on your joints and can lead to back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain – a whole bunch of pains! Having a terrible posture limits your range of motion and makes it so much harder for your muscles to take the load off your joints. In time, poor posture can cause misalignment of the spine which eventually leads to even more joint stress and pain.
Try to be aware of your posture as much as you can and notice if you are slouching or hunching forwards. To check your posture look in the mirror – the palms of your hands should be facing in towards the body with the thumbs pointing forward. If your palms face the back of the room you’re probably slouching. Turning the palms of the hands forwards encourages your shoulders to roll down your back and counteract hunching.
Make sure you maintain angles of 90 degrees if you are sitting as this will be beneficial for your elbows, hips, and knees. Having a chair with low back support is great, or alternatively you can prop up a pillow or bath towel and place it behind your low back.
It does not have to be difficult to maintain healthy joints. It is more about learning what you can do to help yourself. These seven steps are great places to start your joint journey.
