Nutrition for joint disease: tips, healthy foods

What should be included in the menu for arthrosis? Prohibited foods for arthrosis How much water should you drink for arthrosis?

Although diet for arthrosis is not the main method of treatment, proper nutrition and measures for the general health of the body help the joints to recover. Doctors and patients note that when following a simple diet, degenerative changes progress more slowly and cause patients less anxiety. In addition, proper nutrition for arthrosis serves as its prevention in cases where there is a hereditary or professional predisposition.

A proper diet for arthrosis is the key to successful treatment.

Why do joints hurt?

Age is not the only reason for wear and tear on joints.
A sedentary lifestyle makes the situation worse. If a person moves little, beneficial substances do not reach the joints in the required quantities. The result is degenerative-dystrophic pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. The cartilage tissue that covers the joints becomes fragile, pain appears, stiffness of movement occurs, and problems with walking begin. Other reasons why joints hurt include:

• obesity: extra pounds create additional stress on the spinal column and cartilage;
• injuries: fractures, dislocations, sprains that damage the joint;
• diseases associated with metabolic disorders;
• autoimmune pathologies, in particular rheumatoid arthritis;
• prolonged loads, due to which the joints are overloaded, cartilage tissue is worn out, and the joint fluid becomes inflamed;
• bad ecology.

Separately, it is necessary to mention poor nutrition, which provoked a deficiency of nutrients. Excess fats, carbohydrates, and carcinogens destroy joints and do not allow them to renew themselves in a timely manner.

What is collagen used for?

Causes:

• The aging of the human body is caused by the fact that the production of natural collagen decreases and later stops altogether. Hence the loss of elasticity, difficulty walking, and crunching in the joints.
• Connective tissues – ligaments, cartilage, etc. – suffer the most from a lack of collagen.

It will not be possible to completely compensate for the lack of collagen and force the body to produce it in the required quantities. But by taking foods that are good for your joints, you can delay old age and make your joints more mobile.

Principles of proper nutrition for joint diseases

A diet for joint diseases should be healthy, balanced and tasty. The menu must be developed taking into account the disease that has affected the cartilage. For example, autoimmune diseases require a hypoallergenic diet. If you are overweight, you need to focus on losing weight.

When choosing a diet for joint pain, doctors recommend adhering to the following principles:

1. The diet should provide the patient with the right amount of energy and nutrients. The recommended proportion is 25 kcal per 1 kg of weight. If a person needs increased energy expenditure (after surgery, injury), the number of calories is increased by 1.5–2 times.
2. The most optimal diet for the body is a diet where 14% are proteins, 30% are fats, and 56% are healthy carbohydrates.
3. Fats and carbohydrates cannot be ignored, but they must be consumed correctly.
4. It is necessary to include vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber in the diet. In case of illness, due to which the body loses many useful substances, it is necessary to compensate for this loss. For example, if calcium disappears quickly, you need to eat cottage cheese and yogurt.
5. When drawing up a diet, it is necessary to take into account the metabolic rate and the body’s ability to absorb food.

For successful digestion of food, establish the correct diet for your joints. Doctors recommend eating small meals five times a day. Too long breaks between meals overload the gastrointestinal tract, since you need to digest a lot of foods consumed at one time. In addition, a hungry person becomes nervous, which has a bad effect on the functioning of the nervous system.

Example of a daily menu

After diagnosing arthritis and drawing up a therapeutic regimen, the nutritionist selects a diet individually for each patient. At the initial stage of treatment, patients must strictly adhere to it. After the onset of the remission stage, certain relaxations are allowed. Here is an approximate daily menu from a diet for arthritis of the ankle, hip or knee joints:

• first breakfast. Liquid oatmeal, to which, if desired, you can add skim milk, finely chopped apple, orange. A glass of cranberry juice or pomegranate juice, slightly diluted with water;
• lunch. 200-250 ml of natural drinking yoghurt without dyes and flavors. Apple or banana;
• dinner . Vegetable broth with finely chopped carrots, broccoli, onions, celery and chicken, lamb, rabbit meatballs. Salad of fresh vegetables, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, sprinkled with flaxseeds. 100-150 g rye bread. Suitable drinks include green tea, fruit juice, rosehip infusion;
• afternoon tea Casserole made from low-fat cottage cheese with sour cream and fresh berries. A glass of any fermented milk drink - Varenets, kefir, fermented baked milk, ayran;
• dinner. Lean meat (veal, quail, chicken breast), simmered in a small amount of water or steamed. A piece of rye bread or with bran. Apple or carrot juice.

If you feel hungry between meals, you can snack on nuts or drink 0.5 cups of kefir with unsweetened crackers. Fresh fruits, vegetables or berries are well saturated.

Dietary nutrition for arthritis is necessary to improve the condition of the joints and increase the effectiveness of treatment. It allows you to normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and urinary organs. The functional activity of the heart, liver, and blood vessels increases significantly. Such a multifaceted positive effect helps to mobilize the body to fight a serious disease.

Features of nutrition for sore joints

When choosing a diet for joints, you need to make sure that the menu contains elements that strengthen them, relieve inflammation, and accelerate regeneration. The emphasis should be on fish, lean meat, vegetables, and fruits.

Carbohydrates

It is necessary to monitor your weight, since extra pounds place increased stress on the joints. However, carbohydrates cannot be ignored. Their share in the menu should be 56%. Preference should be given to apples, berries, and grains (oatmeal, buckwheat, wheat). Healthy foods for joints include raw carrots, cabbage, green and leafy vegetables.

It is imperative to limit the consumption of carbohydrates with a high glycemic index. They are absorbed into the blood very quickly and, if there are too many of them, they go into fat reserves. The result is extra pounds.

The list of prohibited products includes sugar, including sweets, jam, marshmallows, sweet drinks, and honey. Beer, fried potatoes, and premium flour products are prohibited.

Salt

A diet for joint disease involves limiting salt. It retains water in the body, causing swelling of the joints. You cannot completely give up the mineral: its deficiency can provoke various pathologies.

Protein

A person should consume protein daily based on the calculation of 1 g per 1 kg of weight, but its share in the diet should not exceed 20%. Protein consists of muscles, immune cells and other substances that are involved in the renewal of bone and cartilage tissue. It contains collagen - the basis of cartilage, bones, tendons, and other elements of connective tissue.

Protein deficiency impairs the absorption of elements important for joints (including calcium) and healthy fats. Without it, heart function deteriorates and tissue regeneration occurs more slowly.

What foods are good for joints? The intake of protein into the body will be provided by lean meat, fish, and plants. Important: in order to avoid problems with the musculoskeletal system, you must avoid sausages, sausages, canned food, etc. They contain additives that are harmful to bones and joints.

Calcium and vitamin D

Another important material for joints is calcium, the main component of bones. If it is not enough, a person is prone to fractures, damage to cartilage tissue and ligaments. The spinal cord and nervous system also need it. Therefore, you need to make sure that your diet includes dairy products, nuts, dried fruits, green vegetables, and herbs.

Calcium itself is poorly absorbed - you need vitamin D. To do this, you should include herring, mackerel, cod liver, yolk, and butter in the menu.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Fish, including fish oil, is a good product for joints. It contains omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which reduce inflammation of the joint fluid, relieve pain, and relieve symptoms of arthritis. They also slow down the process of cartilage destruction, which is indispensable for arthrosis.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids regulate blood cholesterol levels. They prevent plaque from depositing on the walls of blood vessels, which improves the supply of nutrients to the joints.

Zinc

Zinc stimulates testosterone synthesis. This hormone is produced in both male and female bodies, but in different quantities. It actively participates not only in the development of the reproductive system, but also in the formation of the muscular corset, which is responsible for posture, the correct position of the spinal column, hips, and pelvis. It also improves the functioning of the immune system, which plays an important role in the rapid restoration of diseased joints.

Products with zinc for bones and joints include oysters, beef, crab, pork, and yogurt. Plants also contain it: baked beans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, oatmeal.

Copper

It is necessary to include copper in the diet, which is found in nuts, mushrooms, liver, cereals, and dried fruits. The element takes an active part in the formation of connective tissue, energy production, and strengthening of the nervous system. Without it, posture is disrupted, ligaments weaken, and cartilage tissue is destroyed.

Vitamins for sore joints

Vitamins actively participate in metabolic processes, including improving the delivery of nutrients to tissues. Therefore, the diet must contain elements that are beneficial for the skeletal system:

1. Vitamin A (beef liver, cod liver, natural margarine) - improves the production of collagen, which forms the basis of connective tissue. Its absence reduces bone density and causes osteoporosis.
2. B vitamins (chicken, beef and pork liver, kidneys) - prevent osteoporosis, obesity, strengthen the immune system, nerves, heart, blood vessels. They are used to treat radicular syndromes that occur with spinal degeneration.
3. Vitamin C (rose hips, sweet peppers, currants, sea buckthorn) - improves redox processes, stimulates immunity, collagen synthesis. Nutrition for arthritis must include vitamin C. Its deficiency results in weak ligaments, sore joints, and osteoporosis.
4. Vitamin E (soybean, corn, sunflower oil, wheat, rye) - relieves pain and inflammation in the joint fluid. A diet for arthrosis of the knee joints must include this element.
5. Vitamin K (spinach, cabbage, pumpkin) - deficiency of this vitamin causes loss of calcium in the urine, which leads to weak bones and joints.

To ensure that the body receives all the necessary elements, doctors recommend taking vitamin and mineral complexes twice a year. The beneficial substances in them are selected in the correct ratio, and improve each other’s digestibility.

Prohibited Products

The list of prohibited foods includes foods rich in purines and nitrogenous substances, which contribute to the deposition of salts on the surface of the joint. Basically, it is protein of animal origin.

Spicy and hot dishes are also excluded, since such food increases the permeability of the vascular wall, which leads to increased absorption of harmful substances. In addition, spicy, salty foods and essential oils irritate the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and disrupt the absorption of nutrients and microelements.

You should avoid or limit your consumption of highly allergenic foods, as they activate inflammatory mediators and aggravate the course of arthritis. It is necessary to reduce the amount of fat in the diet, especially of animal origin (refractory): they contribute to weight gain, disrupt the processes of digestion and the removal of uric acid salts from the body.

In order to reduce body weight, easily digestible carbohydrates and foods containing yeast are excluded or limited.

The list of prohibited products includes:

• fresh wheat bread, rich pastries, cakes and pastries, pancakes, pancakes, pies;
• meat and poultry, especially fatty varieties;
• canned meat and fish (preservatives, flavor enhancers and other harmful and allergenic substances);
• pickles, smoked meats, marinades;
• seasonings (hot and allspice, horseradish, coriander);
• sauces based on meat and fish broth, mayonnaise, broths made from meat, fish, poultry and mushrooms (due to the high content of extractives and purines);
• black coffee, tea (due to the stimulating effect, vasospasm, deterioration of microcirculation);
• sausages, fast food;
• offal (source of hidden fats, purines);
• sour vegetables and some fruits and plants (spinach, sorrel, celery), which increase the acidity of urine, contribute to an increase in the level of uric acid in the body;
• vegetables of the nightshade family (tomatoes, eggplants, bell peppers, potatoes);
• chocolate, jam, honey, butter creams, ice cream (easily digestible carbohydrates);
• lard, margarine, beef and lamb fats;
• high-fat milk and fatty fermented milk products;
• eggs (source of cholesterol, allergen, animal fats).

How a proper diet can help

Alleviating the condition, stimulating the body to restore cartilage tissue is the main goal of nutritionists in developing the question of what can and cannot be eaten with rheumatoid arthritis. If you eat right, follow your doctor's instructions and take the necessary medications, the results will be:

• increasing the elasticity of tissues around joints;
• reduction of inflammation;
• stimulation of metabolic processes;
• improvement of general condition;
• prolongation of remission.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely get rid of rheumatoid arthritis. But the quality of life largely depends on a competent approach to food. Maintaining a balance, including all the necessary substances in the diet, especially protein, vitamins and mineral components, significantly improves well-being and allows you to move more actively. Diet is not a panacea, but a useful aid in the fight against illness.