Tag Archives: Inflammatory Arthritis

Blog, Jod Rakshak

Can You Be Cured of Rheumatoid Arthritis?

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Today, let’s discuss the most common question that troubles everyone suffering from arthritis— Do I have to live my entire life with inflammation and joint pain of rheumatoid arthritis?

According to medical journals and statistics– Worldwide, the annual incidence of RA is approximately 3 cases per 10,000 population, and the prevalence rate is approximately 1%, increasing with age and peaking between the ages of 35 and 50 years.

The way we see it, it cannot be declared that rheumatoid arthritis has no cure. It is possible to eliminate its symptoms as its severity and effects waxes and wanes. So even if it does not cure, it does go into remission. Although the duration and outcomes of the treatment could vary from person to person, the symptoms would, in any case, lose their effects.

Although rheumatoid arthritis is considered a progressive disease, it does not progress the same way in all people. It could range from very mild to severe symptoms and accordingly, you can cure this health condition.

How Does Arthritis Change Lives?

Living with arthritis is not easy, it can get quite challenging. It affects your way of life some or the other way. It does affect your everyday regime, and relationships with your friends, family, and society. This is why it is important to understand its repercussions and deal with it the right way.

Now that you are aware that it is a progressive disease, it is important to know that there a lot of things that you as someone suffering from arthritis can cope with, change, and overcome just by bringing lifestyle changes. Also, symptoms of arthritis can be cured through herbal supplements for joint pain.

So, before you dwell on research on joint health and inflammation, you must know that arthritis does change your life but you can turn things around through the right medications, self-care activities, right diet, joint protection techniques, regular exercises, and most importantly, a positive attitude.

When to Ask for Help?

You are the best judge to decide that. It would be best to ask for help when you need it the most. Although it is important to consult professionals, it is equally important to be self-reliant. Nevertheless, you will be requiring assistance at some point, and it is okay to ask for help. Health community agencies, medical professionals, physiotherapists, religious groups, and nurses are close at hand ready to assist you in this journey.

It is important to ask for help as there will be a lot of things in the beginning that you will be unable to do. This is all the more vital for activities that require stress on the joints. Also, it is necessary for you to admit and acknowledge the life with arthritis; this would also help your family and friends understand your lifestyle better.

Also, there will be times when your family and friends would feel overwhelmed or react strongly due to your condition. This is possible when they will be distanced and shut out from you, therefore, allow them to help you. It would be best to share your troubles with them, tell them about the amount the stiffness and pain in your joints especially if there is a pattern. For instance, if the pain is severe in the evenings and better in the morning, rate the intensity of the pain from one to ten, make sure to understand the variations in the pain by sharing them with a professional.

It is good to be independent, but do involve your friends and family in doing chores and making arrangements for a new lifestyle for you. Your colleagues, friends, and family should be able to understand if they have to make alternations to a plan at your convenience. This journey, although possible without help, is incomplete without assistance.

How to Cope with Arthritis?

As someone who is in their initial stage of arthritis, you must know that coping skills must be learned and practiced to get yourself safely on this journey. You can turn around your life with a healthy lifestyle and mindset. Consider medications and consultations as external aids, the real help for you are your habits and attitude.

Apart from arthritis, there are a lot of challenges that a common man faces in their daily life.  This could lead to stress, pain, depression, anxiety, etc. The biggest challenge while coping with arthritis is that these problems would continue to trouble you. Therefore, make your mental health a priority as it will help you overcome stress and anxiety. The best way to deal with these feelings is to let them out and share them with your friends and family.
Make sure to include light exercises and a healthy diet in your regime. There are certain foods such as sugar, gluten, fried items, red meat, etc. that are considered bad as they could lead to inflammation in the body. Meditate every day or perform mental exercises to help you cope with the struggles and challenges.

Another great way to help ease the pain, regardless of it being physical or mental is to join groups and communities. It is great to share and hear stories of transformation, and positivity during this journey to keep you uplifted throughout.

The Bottom Line

Living with arthritis is not easy, but it is possible with utter determination and dedication to improving. There may not be a medical cure to eliminate arthritis completely. However, each day gets better and pain-free, if you choose to lead in a positive direction.

Blog, Jod Rakshak

Foods and Beverages to Avoid with Arthritis

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Living with arthritis in this day and age is more common than you know. In fact, up to 40% of men and 47% of women may be diagnosed with osteoarthritis during their lifetime. Both rheumatoid arthritis and Psoriatic arthritis are chronic inflammatory diseases. They are also auto-immune diseases that have no known causes. Having said that, they are also progressive diseases that means managing the condition is mostly carried out by lifestyle changes which ultimately slows down its effects and progress.

Arthritis, though a chronic, and painful health condition can be managed through a healthy diet.  It has not been proven medically but people suffering from arthritis have claimed effective and positive results by changing their lifestyle and taking herbal supplements.

In most cases, people are aware that staying active and eating healthy would cure arthritis and bring about good results. However, they are not aware of the foods they should be avoiding while suffering from this disease.

We have got you covered, take a look at the following list of foods and beverages you must avoid if you are suffering from arthritis:

Refined Carbohydrates and Sugar

Refined Sugar

 

Whether or not you have a liking for sweets, it is the go-to food item for days when you wish to feel better emotionally or physically (during cramps and pains, etc.). The fact remains it is not easy to give up on sugary items and they are no less than addiction. Most of us, like our meals with soft drinks and other sugary sodas.

Sweet treats like cookies, pastries, candies, donuts, etc. are full of refined sugars which is harmful to the body. If you find glucose, fructose, or any word that ends in ‘ose’ in the ingredient list of the edible product you are purchasing; you must keep it back as it is packed with refined sugars. Other harmless products like baked goods and white bread are also packed with refined sugars which you must avoid to improve your health condition.

Dairy Products

Dairy Products

 

This one’s a shocker as it is a universal fact that dairy must be consumed to get enough vitamin D and calcium. It is encouraged and promoted right from our childhood to consume products rich in calcium, particularly, dairy. However, you also must know that dairy also increases inflammation in the body as it contains saturated fats.  Therefore, you must keep a check on your dairy consumption. Lifestyles changes should not be sudden, you can gradually reduce dairy by switching to low-fat dairy products for starters.

Alcohol

Alcohol

 

Alcohol is toxic for your body regardless of your health condition. Nevertheless, it is one of the major contributing factors to inflammation. Moderate and occasional drinking is not harmful but if you are suffering from arthritis, you must avoid it at all costs.  Another major reason why alcohol is not recommended is that it would hamper the effects of the strong medicines prescribed to a patient suffering from arthritis. Your body will not be positively receptive to the medicines. Therefore, a big no to alcohol and alcoholic beverages.

Processed and Red Meat

 

Red Meat

 

Again, inflammation is inevitable due to the consumption of processed and red meats. High levels of inflammatory markers like interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and homocysteine are present in red meats and processed meats which are harmful to people suffering from arthritis. In a rather detailed study, it has been proven that people with Rheumatoid arthritis complained of conditions worsening due to diets heavy in red and processed meats.

Gluten

 

Gluten

 

Gluten is a family of proteins found in grains including barley, wheat, spelt, and rye. Wheat among all is the most of all gluten-containing grains. There have researches conducted to prove that gluten, after all, is a major contributing factor for increased inflammation, and reducing it may reduce the effects of arthritis symptoms. This is why people suffering from celiac disease are at a greater risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. It is a known fact that celiac disease sufferers often have inflammation and joint pain as symptoms. Gluten can be found in some other harmless food items like soups, soy sauce, pasta, and couscous, etc. Be wary of gluten content in medications, vitamins, and supplements.

Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Fried items

 

Omega fatty acid

 

Regardless of the kind of oil you use to cook your food, fried foods are never good for your health. They are high in trans fats and therefore, it would be best to eat broiled or grilled foods. Why? Because not only do trans fats lead to tons of life-threatening diseases but also increases inflammation. Some varieties of vegetable oils are toxic to your health. Heavy diets rich in omega-6 fats and low in omega-3 fats increase the severity of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. This means avoid butter, coconut oil, lard, margarine, etc. as much as you can. Fried foods are dangerous as the most common oils used for frying like corn oil and vegetable oil are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Also, frying itself as a cooking method can lead to inflammation.

Artificial sweeteners

 

Artificial Sweetener

 

This is going to be disappointing for some to digest but as healthy as they seem, that is just a marketing gimmick, they are a lot more harmful. Artificial sweeteners or aspartame seem perfect as you require a very little amount of it to get a good amount of sweetness in your teas and other beverages but since they are artificially processed, humans cannot digest it easily, this results in increased inflammation.

The Bottom Line

Arthritis, regardless of how uncomfortable the journey is, it gets better with the right choices in life. Take control of your dietary habits and a daily dose of ayurvedic supplements for joint pain, you will soon see a reduction in inflammation and its inducing symptoms.

Blog, Jod Rakshak

6 Best Breakfast Smoothies to Cure Inflammatory Arthritis Pain

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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This becomes all the more important when your breakfast is your source of power-packed nutrients for overall health. In the end, you are what you eat and that’s what makes a big difference in either stopping inflammation or aggravating it. Inflammation plays an important role in your life especially when you are suffering from inflammatory arthritis. Your mornings start with swelling, tenderness, pain, and warmth in your joints. Along with that, stiffness lasts for hours.

The best way to cure and treat arthritis at home would be to consume herbal supplements that would keep your joints healthy and pain-free. Having said that, a bonus would be to eat healthy and eat right to make sure that you get the benefits of a proper diet to help you heal. A good diet, especially a good breakfast smoothie will help you a long way to protect yourself from inflammatory arthritis. It will also help ease the stiffness, pain, and tenderness in your joints due to inflammation.

What is inflammatory arthritis?

Inflammatory arthritis is a condition that can be used to describe a group of ailments caused by an overactive immune system that consequently results in inflammation. This includes inflammation of joints, stiffness in the knees, and joint pain in the morning. However, inflammatory arthritis can also have ill effects on your connective tissues and other organs. Science says that arthritis is irreversible however Ayurveda, Indian herbs, and herbal supplements have proven to cure inflammatory ailments like joint pain, osteoporosis, and even arthritis.

It is safe to say that there is a lot of scope in curing and healing joint pain, stiffness, and tenderness that derives from inflammation due to arthritis and other ailments through Ayurvedic natural supplements.

As we enter spring and welcome summers, it is the best time to take charge of your joint health as the weather will go easy on your knees and joints. Summers are the best time for healthy, chilled breakfast smoothies. It is to be noted that we will suggest different varieties of smoothies. However, it would be best to include seasonal fruits and vegetables for added benefits.

On that note take a look at some of the best anti-inflammatory smoothie recipes which would help you combat inflammation and inflammatory pain.

Strawberry Smoothie

Strawberry Smoothie
Who doesn’t love strawberries? Strawberries are not only delicious but power-packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients. Along with strawberries, you can add cranberries or beets for added nutrients. These rich pink ingredients are natural detoxifiers. Cranberry is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. All you need to do is take a glass of milk, add strawberries, beets, cranberries, and a dash of ginger to get rid of the soreness and stiffness, and blend! This is your go-to smoothie for a delicious, anti-inflammatory breakfast.

Turmeric Smoothie

 

Turmeric Smoothie

Anti-inflammatory dishes are incomplete without turmeric. This sunshine yellow smoothie is a great start to your mornings. All you need to do is whip up mango, pineapple, ginger, turmeric, ice, and milk and you are good to go! Mango and pineapple amp up the sweetness and a dash of ginger and turmeric would help balance the flavor with their earthy taste. This way, there is no need for sweetening agents.

Dragon Fruit Smoothie

 

Dragon fruit

Another great pink smoothie for a healthy, power-packed breakfast, pitaya or dragon fruit is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Not only this fruit is low in calories but packed with iron, vitamin C, vitamin B, and calcium. All of these nutrients are helpful for your joints. The main ingredient for the smoothie is dragon fruit but you can also add a few cubes of pineapple or shredded coconut and ginger with a dash of honey. Sprinkle some flax seeds and voila!

Citrusy Sunshine Smoothie

 

Citrusy smoothie

This smoothie is not only anti-inflammatory but an absolute energy and mood booster. The main ingredient in the smoothie is avocado which contains stress-fighting glutathione, useful in blocking oxidative damage, vitamin E, folate, and beta-carotene. It will also give the smoothie a creamy texture which is perfect for a smoothie. Another great ingredient for the smoothie is orange or lemon that is rich in antioxidants and vitamins. Add a banana to the smoothie and you will feel replenished, and full of energy.

Typical Tropical Smoothie

 

Tropical smoothie

Although the name suggests typical; there is nothing typical about this smoothie as it is a quintessential anti-inflammatory breakfast smoothie. This one works great for summers as it combines the best of the tropical world. For this smoothie add fresh mango or pineapple, turmeric, ginger, and coconut milk. All inflammation-fighting ingredients, packed into one lip-smacking smoothie.

Orange Breakfast Smoothie

 

Orange smoothie

Another great breakfast smoothie loaded with health benefits is-orange breakfast smoothie that has nothing to do with the fruit orange. It is rich in antioxidants as it has the benefits of carrots, lemons, and pineapple. Blend them with the best anti-inflammatory ingredients — turmeric and ginger. They give the smoothie a warm earthy flavor. Carrots and pineapple bring sweetness to the smoothie. Lemon balances the flavor with its citrusy zest. You can add a banana for a rich texture and added health benefits.

All in all, the above-mentioned smoothies are your go-to breakfast alternatives for overall health. All of these smoothies are packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients which will help you combat inflammation and related ailments. Feel free to experiment by adding leafy greens or nuts to the smoothies for overall health benefits. To reap the benefits of these breakfast smoothies is by being consistent and combining them with a dose of herbal supplements every day.