Food For Healthy Joints: What You Should Know
Nutrition plays a key role in our health. For this reason, we should follow a diet plan that maintains and optimizes healthy joints before wear and tear can occur. But what should be a part of this diet?
A perfect diet for healthy joints means increasing the consumption of foods that benefit cartilage, muscle and bone.
Remember that all people have nutritional needs according to age, weight and health. However, there are general rules when it comes to how to prevent and optimize healthy joints from an early age.
Food for healthy joints
There are many factors that can affect the development and good function of the joints. First, aging is the main cause. However, bad habits, trauma and poor nutrition will speed up joint pain.
For this reason, you need to ensure an optimal intake of essential nutrients that will reduce the chance of inflammatory processes. Similarly, you should have a diet that can protect cartilage from abrasion that can cause rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.
You need to keep in mind several things when it comes to diet:
- First, you should have a diet that helps maintain a healthy weight. This is because being overweight or obese worsens the joints.
- In addition, it should improve blood circulation to reduce inflammation.
- It should also reduce the acidity level in the body by adding alkaline ingredients.
- In addition, it should increase the supply of essential nutrients that are often reduced due to arthritis.
- It should limit the accumulation of fluid in the body by reducing salt intake.
Foods to avoid
Foods that contain too much purines, uric acid and saturated fat should be kept to a minimum. This is because these drugs accelerate joint pain and drastically aggravate them.
Foods you should keep at a distance are:
- Red meat, sausages and smoked meat
- Offal
- Pasteurized food
- Everything that is wrapped in beautiful, colorful, camouflaged packages.
- Refined sugar and grain products
- Coffee and caffeinated beverages
- Energy and sports drinks
- Dairy products
- Alcohol
Healthy food you can eat
Certain healthy foods can only be eaten in moderation due to the content of oxalic acid, because this substance aggravates inflammation.
- Tomatoes
- Eggplant
- Beets
- Spinach
- Potatoes
- Paprika
- Pistachios
- Peanuts
- Cocoa powder
- Wheat germ
Recommended food for healthy joints
A diet plan for healthy joints should have many healthy ingredients. It should also contain few calories in order to promote weight loss because this reduces inflammation. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of options for tasty balanced meals.
Recommended foods include:
- Oily fish such as salmon, sardines or tuna (containing omega 3)
- Olive oil
- Flaxseed oil
- Rapeseed oil
- Pecans, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Quinoa
- Avocado
- Fresh vegetables (except those we mentioned)
- Fruit with a high water content
- Cereals and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans, brown rice)
- Herbs and spices
Diet tips for healthy joints
Overall, a good diet for healthy joints should follow some simple principles of basic nutrition.
Limit salt intake
Foods that contain too much salt can increase fluid retention in the body. Inflammation affects the joints, so too much salt will lead to pain and lethargy.
Drink plenty of water for healthy joints
Drinking enough fluids during the day helps protect the cartilage from premature wear.
This tissue is responsible for protecting the bones so that the joints move smoothly. Therefore, it can lead to inflammation and pain if the tissue worsens.
Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids
Eating fish twice a week helps provide good doses of omega-3 fatty acids. Overall, it prevents and reduces inflammation, as it helps produce prostaglandins.
Eat legumes three times a week
Furthermore, legumes are an interesting source of complex carbohydrates and vegetable proteins. Therefore, try to eat this at least 3 times a week to maintain optimal energy consumption.
As if that were not enough, legumes also help maintain healthy muscles and joints.
Eat five meals a day
Instead of eating three good meals, replace them with five moderate meals. This keeps your metabolism at a good level and prevents weight gain. In addition, you will feel full and less tired.
To conclude, it is important to know which foods to choose to achieve healthy joints through diet.
