DEFEAT YOUR ACHES AND PAINS!

Nutritionist Jane Griffin helps you shake off the everyday aches and pains...

We all get tired, achy feelings but as we get older we notice them more and more. Not surprising really when you consider how hard our bodies work – heart constantly beating, lungs breathing in and out, blood circulating, food being digested, muscles contracting and relaxing. Our joints particularly can take quite a pounding over the years and this can lead to osteoarthritis – often called the “wear and tear disease”. Though diet and supplements cannot cure the disease they can certainly play their part in helping to lessen the achy, often very painful symptoms.

The whole diet approach

Enjoying a diet that contains a wide variety of different foods can ensure that daily requirements for all the essential nutrients are met. A diet built around a very limited choice of foods or one that is consistently low in overall food intake will not. The simplest way to ensure that the basic diet contains all the essential nutrients is to follow the guidance of the Food Standards Agency’s “The Balance of Good Health”. (www.eatwell.gov.uk) Putting foods into groups according to the main nutrients they supply makes it easier to choose wisely but enjoyably. Eating the correct proportion of foods from each group every day and varying the choices within each group ensures a well-balanced diet which can certainly help to beat that tired achy feeling.

Is your weight making you tired?

Not eating enough to maintain a healthy body weight can cause you to feel tired as you will not be providing your body with enough energy and nutrients to carry out your daily tasks. However being overweight can also make you tired and your joints achy and painful because of the extra strain on them. General advice for weight loss is to cut back energy (food) intake and push up activity levels. However for those already feeling tired and achy, physical activity is often the last thing they feel like, which leaves controlling food intake as the main line of attack. Controlling the intake of foods with high fat contents and alcoholic drinks cuts most calories. For more practical tips on weight loss visit www.jointcare.com

Looking after your joints

Many vitamins and minerals have roles to play in helping to keep joints healthy. Fruits and vegetables are particularly important as they are rich sources of many vitamins and minerals as well as other plant substances called phytochemicals. Including at least five portions of fruits and vegetables a day (and aiming for lots of different coloured ones each day) will go a long way to ensuring your body gets all these vital substances that could help that achiness in your joints as well as helping to maintain overall healthiness.

Omega-3 fatty acids have many functions in the body but a particularly important one is that they can help keep our joints healthy. Including oily fish in the weekly diet (salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, trout and fresh tuna – not canned) is one way of ensuring a good intake. Unfortunately, oily fish does not seem to be a popular food! Taking a cod liver oil supplement containing these essential fatty acids is for many the preferred option – guaranteeing a regular daily intake in a controlled amount.

Glucosamine and chondroitin are two other supplements promoted for joint health. Found predominantly in cartilage, glucosamine helps to keep cartilage healthy and resilient. It is thought that joint cartilage is constantly being rebuilt to replace worn-out or damaged cartilage. Glucosamine has been shown to help in this regeneration as well as having anti-inflammatory properties too. A daily dose of 1500mg glucosamine a day is normally recommended. Chondroitin’s function is to draw fluid and nutrients into cartilage tissue. The fluid acts rather like a spongy shock absorber helping to protect cartilage from premature breakdown.

For more information and to access the Seven Seas JointCare Guide for Life visit www.jointcare.com .