Fish Oil Health Benefits: The Best Diet For Someone With Osteoarthritis Is

In case you were wondering, the best diet for someone with osteoarthritis is a whole food diet. That seems almost too simple, so lets look a little closer.

Essentially “whole food” means foods that aren’t processed. When natural food sources are processed many of their important nutrients are removed or rendered useless.

For example, whole grains contain protein, carbohydrates and essential fatty acids. When they’re made into bread, pasta or flour, the fatty acids are removed – not because they aren’t good for you, but rather because they can become rancid and spoil.

This would shorten the “shelf life” of the product, cutting into the manufacturer’s bottom line. To prevent this they take these essential fatty acids out of your bread.

So you can see why it’s important to eat food as close to their natural state as possible. This ensures they’re still loaded with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, fatty acids, and other vital factors that contribute to your health.

Ok! So you’re ready to eat whole foods, which foods do you choose for osteoarthritis? Good question. Well besides eating a well balanced diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and dairy, you’ll want to focus on the foods that prevent inflammation, improve your collagen and promote healthy bone and cartilage.

Let’s start with anti-inflammatory foods. The main food in this category is oily fish. Eating between 2 and 5 servings weekly will help your body overcome chronic inflammation.

Some secondary anti-inflammatory foods include things like blueberries, red and black grapes, beets, citrus and garlic.

The best foods to improve your collagen, which besides holding you together gives your tissues strength and elasticity, are part of the citrus family. Strong collagen allows you to bend and not break – so to speak.

To promote healthy bones, you need strong collagen as well as calcium from dairy or eggshells and amino acids from quality protein sources.

And finally, to make sure you’re keeping your joint cartilage intact and to repair any that might get damaged you need glucosamine. Shellfish, including the shell, are the best food sources for this.

Now I know it’s not always easy in our fast paced lives to eat as well as you should. So if you’re truly committed to the best diet for someone with osteoarthritis, then you should also consider supplementing your diet with natural food based supplements.

The most obvious supplements that help prevent and relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis are omega 3 fatty acids from fish and glucosamine hydrochloride from shrimp and lobster.

The first one relieves inflammation and the second one protects your joint cartilage. They work very well together to produce incredible results. And a glucosamine supplement is a lot easier that eating the shells of shrimp and lobster.

You may also consider supplementing your diet with vitamin C complex and calcium, especially if you’re a woman. Both are important for your bones and vitamin C gives you the added benefit of supporting healthy collagen.

It’s time to put away those processed and packaged foods. They offer you nothing but nutritionally empty calories. Make the healthy change to natural unprocessed foods and live longer for it.

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