Knee Problems
Inherited or Behavioral?
Often clients will tell therapist:
“I inherited my Dads hips. He had both of his hips replaced. Now I need to have mine replaced.”
“I got this problem from my Mom. She always had bad knees and she had several knee surgeries and then finally got a Total knee replacement, it looks like I’m headed down the same path.”
Your going to go down that same path if you continue to the same thing over and over regarding eating habits and exercises habits. Our nutrition and lifestyle choices throughout life have an enormous effect on our joints. Nurtition and exercise habits may have a larger influence that your genes.
The truth is you probably inherited their eating habits.
It’s not so much the genetics as it is what we are eating or what we are not eating.
Nutrition for Healthy Joints
We need to eat what Dr. Fuhrman refers to as GBOMBS.
Your joints need good nutrition so that they can maintain their flexibility and strength. When your body doesn’t get the nutrients, it needs it triages the nutrients. It sends them to the places that need them the most the brain and other organs. Or if the balance is incorrect it moves resources but not to our bodies benefit. A good example is too much sodium in your diet will draw the calcium away from our bones leading to osteoportic changes, or fluid accumilation is our tissues causing congestion of tissues leading to swelling, inflammation.
Adding greens will improve calcium levels to the bones, however you need a large amount for this to occur. Most Americans eat a SAD diet (Standard American Diet) shown here:
A lifestyle of eating should include Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, Seeds and nuts which is rich with in plant fiber and nutrient dense, loaded with vitamins, minerals that occur from our plant sources. Daily nutrition should be loaded with protein, filling, and encourage nutrients to flow from throughout the body more freely cleansing the lymphatic system of waste while nourshing the bones and muscles. Building bone, and feeding muscles for your joints to function optimally is our goal.
Blood Flow: if we have poor blood flow to the joints as well as the heart and brain we don’t get the nutrients we need to these sites so the organs and tissues begin to break down and age more quickly. If you have heart disease what that really means is you have a vascular problem. Blood flow to exercising muscles becomes impaired.
When we stop exercising the bones begin to weaken as well. Activity is a primary driver to bone building. Your arteries are not supplying the oxygen and nutrients that your heart needs for it work optimally. The arterial vessel become stiff, inflexible, calcified with plaque buildups. Exercise and nutrition provide the means to maintain flexiblity of the arteries throughout the cardiovascular system. These vessels must deliver the increased blood demands for the ability to be active.
A consequence can be peripheral arterial disease in the legs. Without the ability of the arteries to deliver blood flow to the exercising muscle - most often legs - there becomes significant pain, reduced pulses when the muscles become deprived of adequate blood flow. Yet exercise - with medical supervision can help one overcome this along with proper nutrition.
Often the cartilage that lines your joints gets harder, less supple and shows more signs of wear and tear. The result is arthritic changes occur. How much can nutrition influence the joints? Tons. Many of our patients thank us as they feel and move significantly better as a result clean eating. Start eating healthy, and move to promote blood flood. Physical therapy is a great way to help guide you back into a more active lifestyle. Let us help you!
Joint Swelling : The Nutritional Component
The average American diet is loaded with sodium. On overage we eat 3500 mg per day.
We only require 1500-2000 mg per day. Often the salt shaker is not where the excess sodium comes from. Our body requires sodium for the muscles to work. Sodium must pass in and out of the cellular fluids and feed the conduction system of our organs, muscles and heart. When it get's too low we get dizzy, lightheaded, low blood pressure, heart rhythm changes. So don't throw the salt out completely.
Read the labels of all of the processed foods you eat. The breads and cereals, soups, mixes, appetizers, cheeses, sauces and seasonings. Avoid foods with high amounts per serving and consider how many servings you are consuming.
By reducing sodium the tissues become less congested, swelling becomes reduced, range of motion improves, fatigue is reduces, breathing with activity/exercise becomes easier. Bones also lose minerals as a result of excessive sodium. Calcium becomes robbed from the bone.
Vitamin K2 helps to deliver calcium to bone and prevent it from being deposited within the soft tissues such as vessels, and organs, as this contributes to cardiovascular disease. This is extremely important for prevention of osteoporosis. If you are taking a calcium supplement you should research Vitamin K2 and talk with your health care provider regarding it's safety if you are on blood thinners, although it works different from Vitamin K.
Build bone through consuming nutrient dense foods and supplements.
A supplement we need is Vitamin D3. We need it up north from October to April the suns rays are not strong enough for us to absorb enough to meet our daily needs. The government recognized that and added it to our milk products hoping we would get adequate amounts. Most should supplement this, but nutritional sources of Vitamin D exists.....again....mushrooms...shitake is on of my favorite sources.
When you come to therapy at FYZICAL we help you understand your symptoms and how your body responds to nutrition, improving your joints range of motion, strength and ability for you to Love your life!
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