Do you suffer from osteoarthritis? Unfortunately, Menopause reduces the amount of cartilage in your joints, which can cause uncomfortable and painful swelling during activity—bringing these symptoms on for the first time or exacerbating them. Luckily, your diet can help improve your osteoarthritis.
Reduce Symptoms of Osteoarthritis with Plant-based Foods
You truly are what you eat, and picking the right foods is so important to your energy levels, joint health, and overall state of mind. The following fresh foods are a hallmark of any body transformation diet:
- Plant-based Foods: What are plant-based foods, anyway? They are foods that come exclusively from plants without any animal ingredients. Plant-based foods include fruits, vegetables, and starches like potatoes. This diet excludes animal products like meat and dairy.
- Whole Foods: A ‘whole food’ is simply one that is not heavily processed by humans. Overly refined, junk eats, and most pre-packaged meals are not considered whole foods. Some people say a good rule of thumb for a diet is, if it lived a life, it’s good for you.
Plant-based, whole foods are so beneficial that researchers recently performed a study on their effects on the overall symptoms of osteoarthritis. Here’s what they found:
After a six-week period, those eating only a diet of foods like fruits, legumes, vegetables, and seeds plant-based diet had significantly less pain in their joints. Their mobility increased, and they felt more comfortable moving freely.
This data shows great promise for other Superwomen like you who want to banish joint pain so you can be as active as you’d like. But why a plant-based diet work so well? Let’s take a look at the science behind this body transformation nutrition plan.
How A Plant-Based Diet Reduces Inflammation
Osteoarthritis pain is closely related to inflammation. A whole food plant-based diet is a very non-inflammatory diet. It has a lower fat content and the fat that it does contain are healthy fats like omega 3 fatty acids.
This diet also helped the subjects lose weight. This further aided in the alleviation of pain because of two factors:
- It’s easier for joints to support a body that’s within the recommended BMI. In fact, for each pound of weight that you lose, you take four pounds of pressure off your knees.
- Fat cells cause inflammation in the body. By losing weight, you are ridding your body these inflammatory-inducing fat cells.
The whole foods plant-based diet also works well because of which foods it eliminates. Many foods containing fat, sugar, dairy, and meat are more prone to causing inflammation. Eliminating these foods drastically reduces pain and inflammation in the osteoarthritic joints.
The nutrient-dense foods that you eat on a daily basis with this diet, like vegetables, whole grains, and herbs will give you increased energy and better overall physical function.
Some people are hesitant to cut out animal products. They think they’ll miss out on vital nutrients like protein and iron. However, this diet still provides these nutrients! In fact, plant-based diets are widely recommended by doctors for patients who suffer from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
What do typical whole foods, plant-based diets look like?
You can enjoy a delicious bowl of oatmeal and bananas for breakfast. For lunch, enjoy a chickpea burger on a whole wheat bun. Come dinnertime, plate a hearty lentil soup with a leafy side salad.
We know, it can sound like a challenge to swap your entire diet for fresher fare! If you are skeptical of your ability to make the sudden shift to a whole foods plant-based diet, why not try a gradual change?
Start adding fruits and vegetables into the bulk of your diet. Limit your intake of sugar and animal products. You can even start slow and try out two or three meatless days per week. Meal prep too! Consolidating your cooking time so you always have fresh meals in the fridge is a game-changer for a wellness routine.
An improved diet will also bolster your mood and increase your confidence levels. Little by little, you will start to feel the benefits, giving you a powerful incentive to make the switch.
Don’t let osteoarthritis prevent you from living your life to its fullest, Superwoman! With just a few changes to your diet, you can curtail the pains and aggravations of joint swelling and return to the fulfilling, active life you love. If you need help, we’d love to be a part of your journey.
Clinton CM, O’brien S, Law J, Renier CM, Wendt MR. Whole-foods, plant-based diet alleviates the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Arthritis. 2015;2015:708152.
