Stacy Michaels:
Arthritis or Pain: Foods to
Avoid,
Food & Exercises to Help Alleviate
Pain
Arthritis is a continuous issue that millions of people
suffer all over the world. Some attribute it to age, genetics or certain health
issues. Although these do play a role in why some have arthritis but our
choices in food, lack of exercise and overall poor health play an even bigger
role.
What I’m going to try and do is just simplify for you the
foods to avoid, the foods to incorporate in your daily diet and the exercises
that can help relieve your discomfort.
After that, it’s really up to you to get started and
actually apply these tips to your life.
I know it’s difficult to make changes and it’s even more
difficult to say “no” to some of those foods you really enjoy. But you need to
ask yourself, “Is this food I’m about to eat worth it! Is it worth my
continuous pain and discomfort? Is it worth my degenerate health?” You don’t have to give up these foods
forever!!! You just need to make them an occasional treat, something you eat
maybe once a week or once a month, an exception to the rule. Seriously it’s
time to take control of your body and life!!! You can eat better & exercise, or you can
make excuses, BUT YOU CAN’T DO BOTH! Relying solely on your doctor and
medication to give you relief is only a band aid to the problem. Inevitably the
toxins from the “man made” medication you are taking bring about more side
effects and health issues. Laziness is a terrible reason for the slow death you
are allowing by relying on medication for your health. STEP UP and take some
responsibility for your health and overall wellness. Pointing the finger at
Health Care Problems is fine as long as you are doing everything in your power
to keep your health at its best.
All these food and exercise tips can be beneficial to
EVERYONE, not just those suffering from arthritis. In fact, these guidelines
can also help those with High Blood Pressure & High Cholesterol. Can you
imagine lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol enough to no longer have
to take the “man made toxic” medication anymore? YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN! I personally, have helped many of my clients
do just that and you can not believe how good they feel now!
Okay, now I’ll get off my soap box and get down to the
matter at hand.
Much of Arthritis is caused by the “ph balance” of your body
being off, thus allowing your body to have a high acidic level. Just like your
hair, in order to keep your hair healthy, shiny and strong you need to keep its
ph balance at good levels. Getting your acidic levels down in your body can
help alleviate your pain. Eating the right foods to help bring down
inflammation and avoiding foods that increase inflammation, will be a big part
of getting you back to balance.
Primary Key
Components:
- Eat Raw Fruits
& Vegetables (these foods are natural Alkaline)
- Take sufficient amounts of Calcium
with Magnesium
- Be sure to check with your physician to
find the exact
Amount of Calcium; Magnesium your body needs.
-
Drink ample amounts of
Water daily.
Getting your body weight in ounces of water each day helps to flush out the
toxins.
- Keep the
Stress Level Down, keeping
your stress down, keeps the acidity level in your body down.
First, let’s start
with foods to avoid…..BUT I will give you substitutes to modify these foods so
that you don’t have to give up some of your favorites all together.
Try to stay away from foods that are GLUTEN, white or
wheat flour based foods. Pastas, for instance, made of white or wheat flour can
easily be substituted with rice pasta. Avoid wheat and white breads, try
choosing gluten free bread (Rudy’s & Udo’s are great brands) or Sprouted
Grain Bread, Spelt Bread or Rice Bread (Organic is best). Crackers that are flour based, substitute them
with gluten free crackers or rice crackers (Crunch Master has great gluten free
crackers). Cereals, read your labels, buy gluten free but be sure the sugar is
also very low.
Avoid Fried & Processed Foods; these foods are
big culprits to inflammation. The breading used on most fried foods is gluten
based not to mention the saturated fat from the oils. Try making these foods at
home, like fried chicken for instance.
Dip the chicken in egg whites until it is completely coated,
then dip it in Gluten Free Bisquick mix with your choice of spices or seasonings,
bake on a cookie sheet greased with Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (olive oil
brings down inflammation).
Foods that are microwavable tend to be highly processed,
loaded with preservatives, sodium and chemicals that will increase your
inflammation. The more you can make your food from scratch the better. If it’s
a time issue, then try using a Crock Pot. There are great Crock Pot recipes all
over the internet;
www.allrecipes.com
is one of my favorites.
When reading the labels on foods check the ingredients, the
fewer there are the better. When there’s a long list of items you can’t even
pronounce, then that my friend, is a food loaded with preservatives and
chemicals.
Limit your SUGAR intake; processed sugar not only
helps to keep the excess body weight, it also lowers our immune system and adds
to hormonal imbalance. Keeping your sugar intake to mainly raw fruits and
organic fruit juices helps to lower your inflammation, as does the Vitamin C
contained in those foods. Try to also substitute your sweeteners with Stevia
based sweeteners like Purvia, Truvia, etc.
Lowering your DAIRY can also help bring down inflammation;
try to substitute with soy, rice, coconut or almond products. You can find milk
and ice cream made of soy, coconut, rice or almond, as well as yogurt,
creamers, etc. If using a Protein Powder try to stay away from “whey protein”,
a better choice is “brown rice protein”, or “hemp protein”.
Alcohol and; Tobacco always play a big role in health
issues; issues like joint pain and discomfort. Sorry I’ve got no substitutes for this
one L
Oils to Avoid; cooking and foods containing
vegetable, corn, soy bean or canola oil tend to add to inflammation.
This now brings me to
the foods we want to add to our diet to bring down inflammation:
-Good Oils; Organic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Flax seed oil, Avocado Oil, these
contain high amounts of Omega 3 which have shown to help bring down
inflammation.
-
Other forms of Omega 3 to add to your diet:
Nuts, Flax Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Fish
(salmon, tilapia, mahi mahi, tuna, herring, etc.). Try also adding a good Omega
Supplement to your daily routine, organic is always best. Something New to
try….
Organic Chia Seeds,
they are extremely high in Omega 3 and are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins,
minerals, and fiber. http://nuts.com/cookingbaking/chia-seeds/organic.html?gclid=CLLUkMng2K0CFUUaQgodrjUQgQ
-Vitamin D; Since we are trying to lower your dairy
try getting your vitamin D through a good supplement and getting 10 – 15
minutes of sunlight a day, without sunscreen.
-
Vitamin C; this is such an important vitamin that we
need daily, besides helping our immune system it also adds to protecting
collagen. Getting your daily vitamin C thru foods like citrus fruits, broccoli,
sweet peppers, etc, are a better choice but if you take a supplement be sure
not to exceed 1500 milligrams per day. One of my favorite supplements is made
by Health Force Nutritional called “Truly Natural Vitamin C”, comes in powder
form and is organic & vegan. (
http://www.healthforce.com/shop?page=shop.product_details&flypage=garden_flypage.tpl&product_id=31&category_id=2)
-Spices & Other Foods – Tumeric & Curry are
great spices to not only help boost your metabolism, add flavor to foods but are
great Anti Inflammatory. Add Ginger to your meals, Ginger has shown to bring
down inflammation and for some have aided as a pain reliever. Chili Peppers,
spicy can be better! Fresh Chili Peppers or dried added to foods can bring down
inflammation.
Besides getting a
good diet dialed in, you also need to MOVE! Arthritic pain gets worse the more
you lead a sedentary life style. Make exercise a big part of your everyday
life, it will improve muscle tone (which will take a lot of pressure off your
joints), improve circulation, improve your energy levels, etc.
-Strengthening Weight Resistant Exercises – Building
up muscle tone helps to keep pressure off your joints and give you the strength
to get around more efficiently. It also helps in reducing the risk of
osteoporosis. This can be accomplished thru light weights, exercise bands,
resistant exercises, etc. Be sure to check with your physician before starting
any exercise program.
* Stacy’s Fitness Channel on YouTube offers instructional
videos on strength training.
-Flexibility - Stretching is a great form of exercise
without putting any pressure on your joints, improves range of motion, gives
relief to stiff joints and improves circulation. Try taking a yoga or tai chi class to learn
some beneficial stretches. Doing stretches first thing in the morning or before
an exercise regime is a great way to get the body warmed up and relieve
tension.
-Cardiovascular Exercises – Doing some form of
cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise at least 3 – 4 times a week from 20 – 30
minutes will help keep the blood flowing, the body’s heart and lungs healthy, stronger
bones, relieve stress & tension and aid in maintaining a healthy body
weight. Find a form of aerobic exercise that you enjoy and is low impact on
your joints, for instance; walking, water aerobics, bicycling, swimming, etc. But
find something you can take pleasure in and will do on a regular basis.
Changing things up is always good for the body and the mind.
Remember every “BODY” is different and finding what works
best for you is going to take some trying of different things.
Stacy Michaels
Business
Owner/Personal Trainer/Fitness Model
www.stacysfitness.com
