DrLark.com: Joint Health Center

August 28, 2008

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Joint Health

Natural Relief for Achy, Stiff Joints
Get Moving With the Right Diet
Supplements to Promote Joint Health

Natural Relief for Achy, Stiff Joints

If you’re experiencing aching and stiffness in your joints, you’re not alone. Statistically, more women experience joint discomfort than men, especially as we age. But despite this, the solutions out there are not specifically designed with women in mind.

Are there more natural, gentle, and safe ways to help ease joint discomfort? And, more importantly, do they really work? Yes! And here I’ll outline my favorite, natural, approaches to joint health.

Get Moving With the Right Diet

If you eat the typical American diet—red meat, dairy foods, white flour products, simple sugars, caffeine, alcohol, and soft drinks—you need to stop now! To support your joints, here's what your diet should include instead:

A more alkaline high-fiber diet—vegetables, complex carbohydrates, legumes, and fruits like melons, persimmons, and papayas.
Soy foods (tofu, tempeh) and other beans for protein and to replace natural estrogen lost since menopause.
Fish such as salmon, tuna, trout, and halibut three times a week. Omega-3 fatty acids in cold-water fish help promote joint health and flexibility. Fish oil comes in capsule form. Flaxseed oil and flax meal are other sources of plant-based estrogen. Take capsules, 1-2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil, or 4-6 tablespoons of freshly ground flax meal daily.
Some people may get relief from discomfort by avoiding the nightshade family of plants: tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and tobacco.
Drink herbal teas instead of caffeinated beverages that can worsen tension. Peppermint and chamomile teas are thought to be natural relaxants and antispasmodics.
Drink 8 glasses of water each day. Water helps nourish your cartilage and synovial fluid that cushions the joints for more flexible, comfortable movement.

To learn more about Dr. Lark’s top recommendation for joint health, click here.

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Supplements to Support Your Joints

After much research, I’ve identified several key nutrients that will give you complete joint support. When you take these nutrients together—in the right amounts, and the right forms—you’re fully supporting the comfort, mobility, and health of your joints.

Assalix is a powerful joint extract I recommend. This special white willow bark extract from Germany helps your joints by promoting joint health and joint mobility. It also helps to protect your joints against oxidative stress that comes with everyday living. I recommend 600 mg daily.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) with critical omega-3s and -6s found in cold-water fish are important for your joint comfort because they help to promote joint health and joint movement. I recommend 200-500 mg daily.
This Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) contains a special plant estrogen called resveratrol—which binds to your estrogen receptors, mimicking the effect of estrogen on your joints. As a phytoestrogen, it helps to promote a normal inflammatory response, which is essential to joint comfort. It may also help to ease the wear and tear of cartilage. Plus, it functions as an antioxidant, taking the toxins out of your joints and helping to fight free-radical damage. I recommend 4 mg daily.
Glucosamine sulfate. This nutrient has been extremely well studied and widely accepted to help maintain and promote healthy joint tissue. Glucosamine itself is a building block of joint cartilage—and it does two critical things to promote healthy joint tissue. It helps with joint mobility and flexibility by helping to maintain normal spacing in the areas surrounding and between joints. It also lubricates your joints by attracting water into the joint area—this way they can move freely. I recommend 1,000-1,500 mg daily.

To make it easy for you, I’ve combined many of these nutrients into a formula called Joint Answer for Women. This formula gives you the nutrients you need to promote strong and comfortable joints.

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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