Simple tips to maintain your joints healthy

As you may remark, joints problems became in the last decade a major issue for a large portion of the population -young and old alike- with a negative impact on the quality of life.
Before probing the ways that keep your joints healthy, lets clarify what is a joint; an articulation (or joint) it is the area where two or more bones meet, and you have about 360 of them, there are three major types of joints based on the structural properties: fibrous joints which are immobile, cartilaginous joints with a very limited mobility, and the synovial joints , the widely know type of joints and the most movable type of joint in the human body. As with most other joints, synovial joints achieve movement at the point of contact of the articulating bones.

Mobile joints are vulnerable to a wide spectrum of diseases; inflammatory ones (called arthritis), infections, physical trauma, dislocations and cartilage degeneration, thus keeping them healthy as long as possible is the key for an enjoyable life. The good news is there are plenty of simple ways that - applied during your daily routine- will maintain your articulations in shape.

Movement is the key:

In other terms, keep the functionality of your joints on, this is the first, the simplest and the most essential thing you can do to support your joints health, Avoid maintaining one position for too long (like standing or sitting for hours). When working at a desk, get up every 20 minutes and stretch your whole body. It helps your osteoarticular system as well as your circulatory one, do the same maneuver while sitting at home watching television or reading a book.

For the optimal results, concentrate on low impact movement; low impact exercises are gentler type of exercise that minimizes the stress put on joints during day like yoga, swimming, and biking, these activities mobilize your joints without an important force applied on the joints. On the other hand avoid exercising on the hard pavement and sports that are known to be hard on the joints, like basketball and tennis.

Keep an eye on your ideal weight:

Especially for the lower joints, like hips, knees and ankles, which are the most vulnerable to degenerative diseases like coxarthrosis and gonarthrosis. Carrying excess body weight adds needless stress to our joints, accelerating the degeneration of the cartilage (the smooth layer within a joint  making movement possible) in particular the weight-bearing joints (as we mention above).

Strengthening the muscles surrounding the joints

Joints don’t move by their own way, they are surrounded by muscles that represent the motor force of the body skeleton; thus muscles that hold our joints must be kept as healthy and strong as possible. Notice that muscles take significantly the load off of your joints, so if your muscles aren’t strong enough to fulfill their job and support your body weight you will find that your joints take the hit instead, speeding up their aging. Fortunately, you can improve your muscle strength by doing strengthening exercises, and it doesn’t mean you have to go to a gym, strengthening exercises are available everywhere (YouTube,Instagram…) and you can do them by yourself. With appropriate strength training, you can enhance your joints stability as you decrease pain (if you suffer from).  Be cautious to balance your workouts and not overdo or turn these exercises into a high impact activity .

Hydration

Keeping your body hydrated is so beneficial when it comes to joint health and maintaining it. Your cartilage tissue is made of up to sixty to seventy percent water ,and staying hydrated keeps the joints in the right shape and maintain lubrication. Cartilage is kept lubricated by a liquid known as synovial fluid, this liquid is produced proportionally to your daily water intake, thus If your daily water intake is unbalanced, the production of the synovial fluid is reduced which increases the risk of friction, cartilage deterioration and pain.

A well-balanced Diet is important

Unfortunately, what people these days ignore is that we are what we eat, in other terms, our food impacts generally our whole body and specifically how our joints are, eating carelessly has never been the right path as food that help to protect our joints is negated by other that worsen joint health. Eating processed, artificial foods it comes as no wonder that the body recognizes these foods as foreign, starting an inflammatory reaction that will incorporate the whole body. High index sugar, saturated fats and meat can worsen joint pain whilst foods that are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant such as vegetables, whole-grains and fruit help to avoid joint diseases caused by inflammation. 

Increasing rationally your calcium intake helps to look after your muscles, bones and joint health. Vitamin D and Calcium are the main minerals that keep your bones strong and minimize the risk of bone degradation, without forgetting that Vitamin D is actually needed for calcium absorption. You can get vitamin D through sun exposure, healthy diet, or supplementation, especially if you live in an area with low sunshine exposure or foggy all over the year.

Fight the stress out!

When we are stressed, the human body spontaneously triggers an inflammatory response which weaken the immune system and affects other parts of the body ,like joints, it can cause the joints to swell and become painful, less mobile and hot. Stress leads to an increase of the stress hormone levels: Cortisol, and this increase drives down significantly the production of collagen which is an important part of repairing the damages within the joint and maintaining it healthy and mobile as long as possible. Furthermore, stress can cause muscles to tense up; this surplus tension doubles joints work and makes daily activities so much harder, which lead to further inflammation, discomfort and cartilage degradation.