I have treated quite a few of clients with joint/knee problems, diagnosed with osteoarthritis, characterised by loss of cartilage in the joints. Most have been told by the health practitioner that its caused by mechanical wear and tear.
According to Dr. Michael Greger it is “now generally accepted to be an active joint disease with a prominent inflammatory component.”
This is supported by the fact that, for example, there is significantly higher production of inflammatory prostaglandins from tissue samples obtained from the knees of people suffering from the disease.
Osteoarthritis is the most frequent cause of physical disability among older adults in the world, affecting more than 20 million in US alone. It is estimated that 20% of us will be affected in the coming decades and it is becoming more and more widespread among younger people.
The good news is, ‘If the loss of cartilage is caused by inflammation, an anti-inflammatory diet may indeed help. A recent review concluded that using optimal nutrition and exercise as the “first-line” intervention in the management of chronic osteoarthritis could well constitute the best medical practice.
The latest study took 50 patients suffering from mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis and gave them either the best available medical treatment, which included control with anti-inflammatory drugs and pain-killers, or the best available treatment along with curcumin (turmeric) supplement. The group with the added curcumin did significantly better, and were able to double their walking distance (see the results in my video, Turmeric Curcumin and Osteoarthritis). The curcumin group was also able to significantly decrease their drug use, side-effects, swelling hospitalizations, and other treatments.
In fact they found turmeric had as good or better results for patients with knee osteoarthritis, over a six week period, than those on drugs, without the potential side-effect of like ulceration bleeding and perforation of the stomach and intestines (that is, it can eat right through your stomach wall). In fact, that happened to someone in the study. Whereas the side-effects of curcumin include potentially protecting against a long list of diseases.
I found using turmeric with an oil, like olive oil, as a salda dressing, makes the turmeric even more potent or bio-available.
And as to what constitutes an optimal nutrition to prevent this quite of health problem, and improve overall health?
‘The China study “showed the serious health consequences of high consumption of pro-inflammatory foods (meat, dairy, fat, and junk) and low consumption of anti-inflammatory plant foods (whole grains, vegetables and fruits, and beans, split peas, chickpeas and lentils).” The unnatural Western diet “contributes to low-grade systemic inflammation, and oxidative tissue stress and irritation, placing the immune system in an overactive state, a common denominator of conditions such as arthritis.”
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/turmeric-curcumin-and-osteoarthritis/
