Arthritis is the breakdown of cartilage in the joints. This is followed by chronic inflammation of the joint lining. Typically this disease affects the hands, feet, spine, hips, and knees and results in limited movement of the affected joint.

Arthritis is commonly associated with aging though there are factors which result in people being afflicted sooner rather than later. Factors that increase the risk of osteoarthritis development include obesity, genetic factors, injury of the joint, continued stress due to physical activity and neuromuscular disorders such as diabetes.

Treatment

There is not treatment to stop or repair cartilage loss once it has been damaged, but there are methods to treat the painful symptoms associated with the onset of Arthritis. These may include dietary supplements, alternative treatments, mechanical aids, weight reduction, exercise and physical therapy or applying heat or ice to the affected area.

Prevention

There are things you can do to guard against the onset of osteoarthritis. These preventative measures include:

• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Doing regular, gentle physical activities such as walking, stretching, swimming or yoga on a consistent basis
• Avoiding joint injury or repetitive motions, especially as you approach and exceed 40 years of age
• Take your vitamins! Taking vitamins to make sure you are receiving optimum levels of joint health vitamins and proteins such as magnesium, potassium, glucosamine and chondroitin.

Arthritis patients need a healthy diet.  What arthritis patients need to do is go beyond healthy eating and they should consider a diet as a cure for their problem.  There seems to be a link between diet and arthritis.  Arthritis conditions can be influenced by an arthritis diet.  Depending upon which arthritis condition you have can depend upon the corresponding diet.  Here is an example.  A gout diet low in purine-rich foods and alcohol can and will lower blood uric acid levels reducing the likelihood of a gout attack.

Arthritis increases with excess body weight

If you have excess body weight this can affect a person having arthritis.  This puts extra strain on the joints.  Clinical studies have shown, that people who are 20% overweight can have more arthritis problems then the people who have proper body weight.  There are certain foods that act as allergens and can trigger arthritis problems and can also alter the function of the immune system.

A well balanced arthritis diet along with nutritious meals is important to a person’s well being.  Trying to avoid fad diets and unproven diet claims may help keep the body replenished with essential nutrients.  According to studies on the affect of diet for arthritis, it has been found that high cholesterol as well as high fat diets contributes adversely to arthritis.  The general diet plan should be designed to prevent the occurrence of arthritis in the first place and to relieve pain subsequently.

There are certain foods to avoid in a proper arthritis diet that include all foods from fast food restaurants, soda as well as starchy foods like potatoes. Red meat should be consumed as little as possible as too should anything containing high levels of saturated fat. On the other hand, to get relief from pain, patients may choose an arthritis diet containing fruits high in vitamin C such as oranges, strawberries as well as apples. In addition, oily fish is helpful as it contains much of vitamin E, and grains like wheat and brown rice also provide benefits as well.

What happens with western diets that are high in fat tends to promote arthritis.  A good arthritis diet should avoid these diets.  These good diets can also help people not afflicted with arthritis to become healthier.  The key really is and should be on nutritious types of foods that are part of weight loss programs.  But you should also consider cholesterol lowering diets or a low fat plan.  This will improve the long-term weight maintenance as well as reduce the amount of calories consumed.