Arthritis and arthrosis: what happens to the joint?
In order to understand which vitamins will be most useful for arthritis and joint arthrosis, it is important to know why they develop and how they differ.
Let's start with the reasons. The initial identical part of both words arthr- indicates that we are talking about joint pathology, since it comes from the Greek word arthon, translated meaning “joint”. The difference in diagnoses is indicated by the endings of the words -it and -oz. The first means the inflammatory nature of the disease, the second – non-inflammatory, degenerative-dystrophic.
In arthritis, the inflammatory process may involve the joint capsule and cartilage tissue. Inflammatory fluid (exudate) accumulates in the joint capsule, and the cartilaginous surfaces swell. When moving, a person experiences pain.
With arthrosis, the cartilage tissue of the articular surfaces of the articulating bones is damaged, thinned and destroyed. This process involves the area of bone located directly under the articular cartilage, as well as the inner layer of the joint capsule (synovium). The tendon-ligamentous apparatus weakens. The periosteum, ligaments and other tissues adjacent to the joint ossify. Pathological bone growths of irregular shape form along the edges of the joints - osteophytes. In this case, just as with arthritis, the leading symptom of the pathology is pain.
Diet for arthrosis
Articles - April 22, 2021
A therapeutic diet for arthrosis has a positive effect on the body’s condition and helps overcome the disease, minimizing its destructive impact.
Proper nutrition is one of the components of health. For some diseases, doctors recommend using special diets to promote a speedy recovery or improve health. Such ailments include arthrosis.
The main requirement: nutrition for arthritis and arthrosis of the joints should saturate the body with proteins, fats, carbohydrates and vitamins, as well as moisture, which prevents the ossification of articular joints and allows for greater mobility and a lower pain threshold.
What can you eat if you have arthrosis of the joints?
To optimize the healing process as much as possible, you need to know what you can eat with arthrosis, and what you should avoid eating. The list of products allowed for therapeutic nutrition is quite wide, which allows you to eat well during the treatment period and meet the need for vital substances. Diet for arthrosis recommends:
- turkey or chicken meat, which saturates the body with protein;
- sea fatty fish rich in Omega-3 acids;
- fresh herbs and fermented milk products that provide calcium;
- all types of nuts, flaxseed and oil, which are rich in vitamin E;
- porridge and rye bread are sources of carbohydrates;
- natural juices, vegetables and fruits that supply the body with vitamins;
- legumes rich in vegetable protein;
- butter is a supplier of fats.
What should you not eat if you have arthrosis of the joints?
There is also a list of foods prohibited for arthrosis. They are not beneficial, do not contribute to the improvement of the patient’s condition, and are sources of “fast carbohydrates,” the consumption of which leads to weight gain and worsening of the disease. To speed up recovery, you will have to exclude from the diet:
- any cream confectionery products, including cakes and pastries;
- buns and cookies;
- freshly baked wheat bread;
- ice cream and desserts made from whole milk and cream;
- products with added chocolate;
- fast food products;
- salted nuts, chips, crackers, croutons;
- sweet soda;
- strong drinks (tea and coffee);
- hot seasonings and sauces, especially mayonnaise;
- pickles and smoked meats;
- fatty dairy products;
- alcohol of any strength.
Arthrosis diet menu
A wide selection of products included in the list of approved diets for arthrosis allows you to create a varied menu that, despite the restrictions, will provide activity, fill you with energy and enhance the positive impact of a set of measures aimed at treating the disease and speedy recovery. Nutrition for arthrosis of the joints implies fragmentation and provides the following menu:
- immediately after getting up, you need to drink a glass of clean water in small sips, then freshly squeezed orange or pomegranate juice;
- breakfast (20-30 minutes after taking the juice): porridge cooked in water with a small amount of butter, cottage cheese dishes, fermented milk products, unsalted cheese, soft-boiled eggs, omelet, weak green tea, crackers;
- second breakfast: fruits, dairy products, nuts;
- lunch: vegetable and cereal soups, steamed meat dishes, boiled or baked fish, vegetable salads and stews, stewed vegetables;
- afternoon snack: fruits, compotes, jelly, jellies, mousses with crackers, dry cookies or bread;
- vegetable salads, stews, stewed vegetables, cottage cheese dishes; weak tea.
Is it possible to fast with arthrosis?
The issue of fasting for arthrosis directly depends on the weight of the patient. If its excess is noted, then, as a rule, the doctor gives recommendations on how to reduce it, which will bring relief and reduce joint pain. In this case, most often, we are not talking about strict fasting, but about a diet: limiting the intake of certain foods and reducing portion sizes. Therapeutic fasting for arthrosis is carried out under the supervision of a physician. In some cases, it is completely prohibited.
Is it possible to drink water if you have arthrosis?
The issue of drinking during illness can be considered in two aspects: when it comes to drinking water; about taking other liquids, including alcohol. If you have arthrosis, you should definitely drink regular water! Otherwise, the bones become more fragile, and the connective tissue becomes calcified, which leads to decreased mobility of the joints and their deformation. To saturate the body with moisture, you need to drink 2 to 3 liters of water per day.
Causes of joint diseases
Why do arthritis and arthrosis develop? Scientists have not yet come to a consensus on the answer to this question. The probable causes are:
- genetic predisposition;
- infectious diseases that occur in severe form (arthritis);
- hormonal imbalance;
- overactivity of the immune system (arthritis);
- intense physical activity, overexertion;
- joint injuries;
- congenital pathologies in the development of joints;
- complications after operations;
- alcohol abuse;
- hypothermia of the body;
- frequent stressful situations.
The version of Russian professor V.I. Strukov deserves attention. The scientist noticed that joint diseases in most cases go hand in hand with another pathology of the musculoskeletal system - osteoporosis. This allowed him to put forward the assumption that arthritis and arthrosis are secondary, they are a consequence of developing disorders in bone tissue.
With osteoporosis, the processes of destruction of bone tissue begin to prevail over the creative ones. The thinnest partitions that form the skeleton of the bone become thinner. Cavities form in the bone tissue, over time they increase in size and serve as an obstacle to the natural removal of cell waste products to the outside.
As a result, these products - blood clots, intercellular fluid, lymph and others - accumulate in these cavities and provoke the development of an inflammatory process, which gradually spreads to nearby joint tissues. Arthritis occurs. Over time, the inflammatory process can become destructive. The cartilage begins to break down. Arthrosis develops. Without eliminating the root cause - metabolic disorders in bone tissue - and restoring the structure of this tissue, any treatment for joint diseases will be ineffective.
What is Vitamin D?
What does Vitamin D have to do with joint diseases?
Vitamin D takes an active part in the formation and maintenance of the quantity and quality of bone tissue.
Story.
Since opening in 1913. interest in this vitamin changed from an ordinary vitamin to a hormone, taking into account ultra-modern views on metabolic processes in the body and the formation of diseases.
In 1928 A. Windaus was awarded the Nobel Prize for isolating vitamin D and establishing the structure of plant steroids.
Vitamin D has been studied for more than 100 years, and no one can say that they know everything about it.
Professor M. Holik, a global authority and expert on the problem of vitamin D deficiency, points out that up to 80% of humanity suffers from vitamin D deficiency. The level of deficiency is well below critical, everyone is at risk!
Theory.
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is presented in the main natural forms:
— D2 (ergocalciferol), found in food products, supplied up to 20% of the requirement;
— D3 (cholecalciferol) is formed in the body from a precursor found in the skin.
(7-dehydrocholesterol) under the influence of ultraviolet irradiation from sunlight. This transformation occurs short-term and not permanently.
Vitamin D (D2 (ergocalciferol) supplied with food and D3 (cholecalciferol) converted in the skin) as a result of the 25-hydroxylation reaction in the liver is converted into 25 (OH) D, which very quickly leads to its increase in the blood serum. The level of this substance reflects both the formation of vitamin D in the skin and intake from food and is used as a marker of vitamin D status (the transport form has no effect). In the human body, the main part of 25(OH)D is hydroxylated in the tubules of the renal cortex, slightly in blood cells and bone tissue, turning into 1α25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (the active metabolite is calcitriol). Partially the transport form of 25(OH)D enters adipose and muscle tissue, forming a depot.
More than 99% of the resulting active metabolite of vitamin D3 enters the blood, where it binds to a transport protein and enters target organs and interacts with specific vitamin D receptors (VDR).
Specific vitamin D receptors (VDRs) are present in 37 organs and tissues, not only in the classic target organs for vitamin D - in the intestines, kidneys, bones, but also in the brain, heart, pancreas, parathyroid and prostate glands, excretory and reproductive system, immune, musculoskeletal, respiratory, endocrine systems, connective tissue, etc.
The active metabolite of vitamin D - calcitriol - has a powerful genomic effect, activating more than 2727 genes in target cells, providing an effect on RNA and DNA, in particular, encodes the formation of proteins involved in the implementation of long-term (hours, days) effects of vitamin D: osteocalcin and osteopontin - in osteoblasts, integrin - in osteoclasts and blood macrophages.
Vitamin D binds to the specific vitamin D receptor (VDR), which regulates the expression of many genes, including the ion channel genes TRPV6 (ensures the absorption of calcium in the intestine), CALB1 (calbindin; ensures the transport of calcium into the bloodstream), BGLAP (osteocalcin; ensures bone mineralization tissue and calcium homeostasis), SPP1 (osteopontin; regulates osteoclast migration), REN (renin; regulates blood pressure, being a key element of the RAAS), IGFBP (insulin-like growth factor binding protein; enhances the action of insulin-like growth factor), FGF23 and FGFR23 (growth factor fibroblasts 23; regulate the levels of calcium, phosphate anion, processes of cell division of fibroblasts), TGFB1 (transforming growth factor beta-1; regulates the processes of cell division and differentiation of osteocytes, chondrocytes, fibroblasts and keratinocytes), LRP2 (LDL receptor-related protein 2 ; is a mediator of endocytosis of low-density lipoproteins), INSR (insulin receptor; ensures the effects of insulin on any cell type).
The active metabolite vitamin D has a non-genomic effect through membrane cell receptors, causing rapid, within a minute, physiological and biochemical reactions, activating tubular channels, regulating ionic currents, stimulating the transport of Ca+ ions, muscle contraction, etc.
Let's move from theory to practice!
In our center, 277 people diagnosed with aseptic necrosis of the femoral head (154 women and 123 men) were examined to determine the indicators of the vitamin D metabolite (25(OH)D.
The data is simply terrifying...