Arthritis - Natural Remedy

Arthritis literally means 'joint inflammation'.  Arthritis or osteoarthritis is known as a degenerative joint disease and is the most prevalent of more than a dozen different kinds of arthritis.  More than 16 million American suffer from this.

Another type of arthritis, rheumatoid, causes crippling joint deformities.  Of the more than 2 million suffers in the US, over 75 percent are women.

Arthritis, once considered an affliction of the elderly is beginning to affect people at a much younger age these days.  There are also genetic links so if the disease runs in your family, you’ll want to do all you can to prevent the onset of arthritis. Here are some natural remedies that you may want to try, whether you’re trying to prevent arthritis, or are suffering with symptoms.

If you’re thinking of taking natural remedies to treat your arthritis, be sure to talk to your physician about using alternative medicine to treat your condition. It may be a good idea to take only one type of medication at a time, since traditional and natural medicines may decrease the effects of each medicine. Be sure to take your natural supplements slowly, and increase the dosage as your body gets used to the ‘medication.’

Natural Remedies for Arthritis

Cat’s claw - known to decrease inflammation and eliminate discomfort. Cat’s claw can also treat tendonitis, which is a common side effect of arthritis. Since fluid tends to build up around the joints, herbs like cat’s claw can help to drain the toxic fluids from the body if taken regularly.

Chamomile - it's anti-inflammatory properties may help to relieve the swelling and inflammation of arthritis.

Glucosamine - sometimes called 'Nature's Arthritis Remedy', will help to improve movement, relieve pain and joint tenderness with a sustained regime.  Glucosamine is a substance naturally found in the body, largely in cartilage.  As we age we lose Glucosamine and other substances in our cartilage leading to a thinning of the cartilage.  Over time, taking Glucosamine as a supplement, cartilage can be rebuilt and repaired to a degree giving relief to arthritis sufferers.

Pineapple - contains bromelain, a chemical which helps to prevent inflammation, one of the common symptoms of arthritis.

A nutritional approach can also offer help.  Simple changes or adjustments to your diet can significantly improve arthritis.  Try to restrict your consumption of processed, high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugars foods in your diet.  Add a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes to obtain the hundreds of carotenoids and flavenoids with act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. 

You'll also want to make sure that you are get essential fatty acids as well.  Fish oils add your omega-3 fatty acids and one of the best ways to include this is to add fish to your diet, especially cold water fish such as salmon, halibut and mackerel.   Flax seed oil will provide alpha lineolic acid and to provide gamma lineolic acid (GLA) add evening primrose oil, borage oil or black current seed oils.

Including more green vegetables in the diet, such as kale and kelp (seaweed) normalize bodily fluids and increase joint movement, and eating more foods with calcium and B vitamins can strengthen the bones. 

Mild exercise such as swimming and walking are low impact and can help to stabilize the joints by increasing muscular control strength.  Stretching increases our connective tissues.  Both these activities, exercise and stretching will significantly improve the health of our cartilage thus decreasing the effect of arthritis.