Have you been trying to figure out the source of your joint pain? Has your quality of life reduced because of uncomfortable and persistent joint pain?
Joints occur where the bones in the body connect and are an important part of our daily lives. When damage to the joints occurs, pain is a typical result or consequence.
Unfortunately, joint pain occurs more frequently in people and this can include a number of conditions such as cartilage damage, sprains, bursitis, rheumatoid arthritis, strains, osteoarthritis and other conditions. While the actual cause of joint pain may vary, one common element associated with joint pain is inflammation. Hence, by controlling, reducing or eliminating inflammation, you could also directly influence any joint pain you may have.
Does this sound too good to be true? Well, embrace the good news! You can minimize or eliminate joint pain by getting rid of the inflammation associated with joint pain.
Inflammation can cause pain as a person moves the joint. While anti-inflammatory drugs and other medications may help, eliminating, reducing or avoiding certain foods may be an effective way to get rid of joint pain and keep such pain away.
The key is to figure out foods and related food items that can promote inflammation.
These foods or food items may not be the actual source of the joint pain, but intake of these items could severely worsen inflammation around the joints.
The following are 7 worst foods for your joints:
1. Sugar
Yes, many weight loss experts discuss the reduction or elimination of sugar from one’s diet. In addition, cutting out sugar could also do wonders for your joints. Joints get painful when inflammation occurs and sugar is great at causing inflammation. Hence, this is really a no-brainer.
Once sugar enters the blood stream, the body gets a response that could trigger inflammation. Sugar intake can also result in blood sugar spikes which may be quite taxing on the body’s immune system as blood sugar levels are sent soaring and crashing continuously.
This imbalance may contribute to more episodes and outbreaks of inflammation. Reduce or drastically cut down sugar consumption and you may notice a significant improvement in your joints as well.
2. Salt
The salt-shaker may need to take a break! Unfortunately, although salt may help food taste even yummier, this substance does not do much for helping to reduce joint pain.
Table salt, which is more commonly consumed, may not necessarily cause joint pain. However, salt can cause bloating which in turn may make inflammation more pronounced. It is quite easy to take in too much salt on a daily basis, especially as a result of numerous processed foods and ready-to-eat meals available.
Examples of these ready-to-eat meals include packaged foods that are convenient and microwavable. Salt may also be used to lengthen the shelf lives of foods. Most processed and packaged foods typically have nutritional labels that specify available salt or sodium daily percentages in each serving. Hence, this could help you determine and minimize salt intake. There are also many low sodium versions of foods available.
3. Gluten
With the recent focus on gluten-free foods and the gluten-free diets, people are becoming more aware of what gluten is. In simple words, gluten is a type of protein that is found in rye, wheat and barley.
If your body does not tolerate gluten or foods that contain gluten, it may react in various ways including the emergence of pain in the joints. For people with gluten sensitivity, every time gluten is consumed, a trigger is activated and the body may react by causing inflammation in the joints.
Sensitivity to gluten may also prompt more than one response from the body and yes, these multiple reactions could be so very confusing!! Hence, the seemingly unrelated occurrence of joint pain when consuming gluten could easily go undiagnosed.
For instance, gluten intolerance may cause bloating, heartburn, stomach aches and much more, all at the same time. Sometimes, the only way to verify non-tolerance to gluten is to eliminate it complete from one’s diet and determine if quality of life is improved before re-introducing such related food items to one’s diet.
4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Food production companies use this neurotoxin to “enhance” food. Unfortunately, this food item does little to enhance the nutrition or value added to your body. On the other hand, MSG can worsen joint pain.
To make it even more difficult to control, MSG is easily added to many condiments, spices, cereals, soups and much more. MSG may also cause a person to eat more than they should by tricking the brain into thinking that more food should be eaten to get full, when in reality a person is already quite full. Hence, MSG may be equal to more calories and added body mass, which in turn can add pressure to the joints.
Similar to a gluten sensitivity diagnosis, an effective way to determine the effects of MSG on your body would be to eliminate or reduce MSG intake and then watch for any associated symptoms or the lack thereof. Symptoms associated with intolerance of MSG may include swollen and painful joints, difficulty with certain movements, headaches, slurred speech, memory loss and fatigue.
5. Saturated Fats
A direct link to joint pain is inflammatory foods or foods that actually cause the joint area to become inflamed and painful. Hence, saturated fats are so important to be aware of as these can be highly inflammatory too.
Nutritional labels on food packages are usually quite clear about displaying the percentage of saturated fats a food item contains. Saturated fats can be found in animal products including the skin of different types of poultry, fatty meats such as non-lean beef, whole milk, butter, cheese and bacon.
People who eat a vegetarian or partially vegetarian diet may notice a reduction in joint pain as a result of the elimination of these animal-product fats. Some oils can also contain saturated fats including palm oil. There are also many processed foods including cookies and many other snacks that contain saturated fats.
So, a key element in reducing joint pain is to reduce or eliminate the consumption of foods with saturated fats.
Try switching out one of your regular potentially high-inflammatory meals and have a vegetarian option instead. If you notice a reduction in joint swelling and pain, you may want to continue this strategy too!
6. Trans Fats
Avoid trans fats!
These types of fat are used to preserve foods and increase shelf life capabilities. If we think about this idea in reality, we can most likely agree that foods that have been altered to remain edible for a very, very long time probably contain something that is not particularly helpful to the body.
Trans fats may also be referred to as partially hydrogenated oils because hydrogen molecules are added to vegetable oil. This turns the liquid oil into solid and it does help the food seem fresher longer, but it feels and acts like a clogging agent in the body. Apart from heart problems and other health issues, trans fat may cause inflammation and joint pain.
7. Refined Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates that have been refined are all around us. Everywhere we look, there are baked goods, processed flours and white rice. Breakfast cereals made with refined grains also fall into this category. The nutritional component of these foods have been severely compromised or entirely removed when grains are processed and refined.
Refinement and processing involves the removal of germ and bran, which are the main nutritional contributors of the grains.
By consuming refined carbohydrates, you increase the occurrence of compounds in the body that support inflammation. You can substitute processed or refined grains with whole grain or whole wheat options. Food items like wild or brown rice can be healthier for your waist-line and also your joints.
Any kind of pain can be a debilitating condition. However, joint pain is particularly upsetting because there is movement involved and every time the joint moves, pain could occur. This makes it difficult to walk, run or do anything involving the movement of the joint.
Knowing that the foods you eat may severely affect the amount of joint pain you get is a step in the right direction. So, what can you do? You can avoid, reduce or eliminate the foods on the worst 7 list mentioned above.
Foods may affect you more than you may care to think about. However, this is a reality that you do have to face. Could the foods you are eating be doing more harm than good? By getting rid of inflammation, you could also get rid of joint pain.
Yes! —- The key idea is to avoid inflammatory foods and these 7 foods should be at the top of your list of worst foods for joint pain.
A good plan can include gradually reducing the intake of these 7 foods to gain relief from joint pain. Sometimes, we may not be able to entirely get rid of certain foods. However, by avoiding and reducing the intake of these foods, we move closer and closer to freedom from joint pain.
Next, get onboard with the right types of foods, which could help ease and reduce different types of joint pain. You may need to consider a trial and error method to determine which foods on this worst 7 list are really adversely affecting your joint pain.
Keep track of which foods you are avoiding, eliminating and reducing and see how this affects or reduces any joint pain you have.
Your power and control over joint pain may be more within reach than you think!
If you want to end your diet frustrations and start your journey to a healthier and sexier you in a natural way, then check out the The Best Foods that Rapidly Slim & Heal in 7 Days program here:
Rick Kaselj, MS
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