Arthritis
By Derby Stewart-Amsden
Arthritis can be helped immensely through diet and lifestyle changes. many people find that they can completely eradicate all their symptoms by following the right regime for them. This page should give you some good basic guidelines.
Osteo-arthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and tends to be more common in older people. For this reason most western health care practitioners consider it to be Ňnormal wear and tearÓ and prescribe drugs for pain or for swelling, and say there is nothing else they can do.
Stiffness and pain in the joints can be a symptom of food intolerance and an over stressed bodily system, so I always recommend that you consider a detox diet of 2-8 days duration before even considering herbal, allopathic (drug) or supplements as solutions. I have heard countless stories of people who have made their way through every such product and nothing seems to work, so I strongly recommend starting at the simple end first.
The whole purpose of a detoxification diet is to give your body a rest and a cleanse from the inside. Because one of the things that leads to bodily dysfunction is stress, I recommend that you do your detox plan during the warmer months and at a time when you can avoid as much daily stress as possible.
If you would like the support of a book that gives you guidance on diet, recipes, and suggestions for exercises and relaxation try Leslie KenyonŐs Ň10 Steps to a Younger YouÓ. If you canŐt be bothered with all that, I have a fact sheet outlining the simplest and easiest way to detox.
If after trying the detox you find that your stiffness and joint pain is reduced then there is a strong likelihood that you have a sensitivity to some food. The usual ones for causing this type of problem are gluten (wheat) and dairy products. You can either experiment yourself by cutting out both types of food completely for a couple of weeks then reintroducing things from those groups slowly item by item. This takes a while, but in the end you know exactly what you should be avoiding.
If, on the other hand, you find little change in your joints after the detoxification, we can then look at other possibilities:-
Foods to enjoy:
all vegetables (unless you have a sensitivity to potatoes, tomatoes, peppers or aubergines)
all fruit (some people may find that it is advisable to avoid citrus fruits, but most people are not adversely effected by them)
sunflower seeds & oil
all nuts (again some people may have a sensitivity, but if you donŐt they are very valuable)
wholemeal bread (remember to buy organic bread because pesticides gather in the kernel of the wheat)
Super foods - i.e. DO add these to your diet on a daily basis:
Ginger
Apples
Garlic
Foods to limit:
High fat dairy produce
Fatty red meats
Alcohol - however red wine is excellent for your system and two - three glasses of red wine is said to add 5 years to your life expectancy, so if you are going to drink I would suggest developing a taste for red wine. Also it is better to drink a little bit regularly rather than be a teetotaller - so donŐt cut drink out just down to 1-2 a day (3 is OK in red wine!)
Foods to avoid:
Coffee
Supplements:
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Vitamin D
Herbal solutions:
The following herbs have been used traditionally around the world for arthritis and have been verified
as having anti-inflammatory properties in recent studies:-
Angelica
Black Willow
Chamomile
Chaparral
DevilŐs Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens)
Echinacea protects the joints and is anti-inflammatory
Fenugreek is mildly anti inflammatory
Gentian strong anti-inflammatory
Ginger
Licorice is anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic, it is also great for the digestion, the liver and recent studies show implications for fighting cancers.
Meadowsweet
White Poplar
Wild Yam
Arthritic and rheumatic conditions can be helped by cleansing the blood stream, which restores better balance and functioning to you system as a whole. Herbs recommended for this are:
Black Cohosh
Bogbean
Celery seed
DevilŐs Claw
Guaiacum
Sarsaparilla
Another way to cleanse the system is to improve circulation generally. This should increase the blood flow to muscles and joints and can be done without straining the heart by using herbs that stimulate the peripheral circulation:
Cayenne
Ginger
Prickly Ash
Rosemary
Herbal pain relief can be had using the following herbs:
Guaiacum
Jamaican Dogwood
St. JohnŐs Wort
Valerian
An holistic approach to tackling arthritis would be to make up your own tea as follows:
Bogbean 2 parts
Black Cohosh 1 part
Celery Seed 1 part
Meadowsweet 1 part
Yarrow 1 part
Lifestyle changes:
Exercise is one of your best answers to arthritis. Regular, gentle exercise. Swimming is one of the
best to try if you have pain in your joints as the water takes the weight of your limbs while you give your muscles and joints a gentle work out. Do indulge yourself in the sauna or hot tub as heat can be very soothing. Walking, bike riding, yoga, tai chi, chi kung, golf, and many others are also good.
As stress can negatively effect any condition, I would recommend making time in your day (everyday!) to relax deeply. Of course meditation is one of the best methods for this, but taking a short nap, gazing out at the sea, daydreaming, light gardening (I mean dead heading, not digging) are other alternatives that work just as well. Just promise yourself that at least half am hour a day will be for you to just slow down and step out of your busy routine.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis tends to begin in the hands, and to effect mostly women with a genetic tendency for the condition. Symptoms can flare up and disappear. There is not full agreement on its cause, however researchers agree that it does have an auto-immune link. Many believe that the condition is brought on by a virus or bacterium, or some environmental factor.
According to recent studies of the people suffering from Osteoarthritis, up to a third of patients for one researcher, have found a distinct sensitivity to a particular food, however the trigger foods appear to be different for everyone. If you suspect that you might have a food sensitivity, then the simplest (but by no means a quick) way to discover it is to cut your intake down to the simplest of foods, then slowly add things one at a time every few days. You can use the guidance for a detox diet - but do remember that some of those studied found that rice was their trigger food.
A quicker method is to go for allergy testing. However this is not unuversally available, and the financial costs can be very high
With any auto-immune linked illness, stress is a very high factor in the intensity of the symptoms, so it is especially important that you find ways of relaxing - I would recommend that you find several activities that give you satisfaction and stress relief and make them an important part of your life. Also a good level of general health is essential, so a balanced diet and multi vitamin and mineral supplements are important.
Derby Stewart-Amsden runs Ashwhin Balanced Living Centre and Personal Retreat, where she offers therapies, workshops, Ashwhin Flower Remedies, and resources for individuals and groups. http://www.ashwhin.com
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