Joint Healthy Exercise, Easing osteoarthritis

More than 100 types of arthritis exist, affecting people of every age, physical condition, and ethnicity. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, about 60 percent of Canadians with arthritis have difficulty participating in recreation or leisure activities, though keeping active is key.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. It affects the joints in the body; particularly the hands and the weight-bearing joints of the hips, knees, feet, and spine. The exact cause of OA is unknown, but what is known is that being overweight and sedentary dramatically increases the risk of getting osteoarthritis, especially in the hips and knees.

The ins and outs of OA

In a healthy joint, the material covering the ends of the bones—cartilage—acts as a buffer and a shock absorber when there is movement in that joint. The ends of the bones are also coated with synovial fluid, which allows each bony end to glide freely. Those plagued with OA have cartilage that is rough and thin, and the synovial fluid is thick and inflamed. Add the two together and you have a joint that is painful, suffers from a loss of mobility, and in severe cases is deformed.

Feed your joints with exercise

The Arthritis Foundation states that losing as little as 11 pounds can cut the risk of developing knee OA by 50 percent for some women, and losing 15 pounds can cut knee pain in half for many of those who are already suffering.

Exercise can also help liquify the synovial fluid, allowing the joints to glide easier, and it also “feeds” your joints. Cartilage—the buffer that protects the ends of bones—depends heavily on joint movement to absorb nutrients and remove waste, which means that for every step that you take you are not only strengthening the muscle and tendons surrounding that joint, you are also helping the cartilage and making it less susceptible to OA.

Try these three range-of-motion exercises daily to help keep your joints healthy and pain-free.

Knee to chest

1. Lie on your back and pull your left knee up toward your chest by placing both hands behind the knee. Keep right leg straight, with the heel pressing into the ground.
2. Using your arms, slowly pulse your knee toward and away from your chest 12 to 15 times and then hold the knee in for 20 to 30 seconds.
3. Repeat using the other leg.

Forward arm lift

1. Lean your back against a wall keeping your bum, lower back, shoulders, and head pressed against it while your feet are a few inches in front.
2. Pull your lower back in towards the wall by drawing in your abdominals and set your shoulders back and down.
3. Extend both arms down by your sides with palms out. Now lift both arms up and above the head, leading with the thumbs. Touch your thumbs to the wall. Continue lifting your arms up and down for a count of 15 times.

Back leg lift

1. Lie on your stomach with a pillow under your hips. Place your forehead on your fists to keep your neck in line with your spine. Bend the right leg so that the knee is bent at a 90 degree angle.
2. Contract the abdominals and slowly lift the front of the right leg up and off the floor, pressing the heel up to the ceiling. Hold the leg up for a breath and then slowly lower.
3. Perform 12 to 15 times, then switch and repeat with the right leg.

Exercising with osteoarthritis

If you have severe OA, check with your physiotherapist before you begin an exercise program.

As well:

• Allow for a longer warmup before your exercise session—10 to 15 minutes of light activity is recommended prior to any aerobic or strengthening workout.
• Begin slowly and progress gradually.
• Avoid repetitive or rapid movements to the affected joints.
• Set aside at least a few minutes every day for range-of-motion and flexibility exercises (such as the three listed in this article).
• Add 30 to 60 minutes, three days a week of strengthening exercises and aerobic activities (such as walking, biking, or swimming). If that is too hard for you to fit in, then aim for 15 to 20 minute segments, twice a day.
• After exercise, observe the two-hour rule. Muscle or joint pain that lasts more than two hours after the exercise means you probably did too much too fast.

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Getting Juicy

Another day, another round of nagging guilt. Yet again, you’ve failed to consume even close to the seven to 10 servings of fresh fruits and veggies recommended by Canada’s Food Guide. The question is, just how does one go about adding these healthy foods into an already busy lifestyle?

Here’s one terrific way: fresh juices. If you happen to have a juicer packed away, think about starting up a relationship with it again. Don’t have a juicer? Take heart. There is now a new concept in juicing that doesn’t even involve owning a juicer.

Jump into juicing

Juicing is a method that extracts the juice from fruits and vegetables, leaving the pulp behind. This allows you to consume large amounts of nutrients and digest and assimilate them quickly. It is a lot easier to drink 8 oz of liquid than to consume 3 lb of food! Plus, juicing gives your digestion, assimilation, and elimination systems a much-needed rest from the constant work they do, allowing your body to cleanse efficiently and obtain maximum nourishment.

Concentrated cleansing

A juice-only fast of several days can be an amazingly healing and cleansing experience. But juicing on a daily basis can also be a strategy to get concentrated nutrition in a short amount of time. With juicing, you can start your day with a refreshing drink that contains four vegetable servings and two fruit servings, all before 8 am. In case you’re counting, that leaves you only one more fruit or veggie to consume during the day to meet the minimum requirement, more than easily done.

It’s now easier to do than ever before, simply by using your high-powered blender instead of a juicer. Just add the fruits and vegetables to your blender with a cup or so of water (depending on which fruits or vegetables you are using), blend, and strain through a mesh bag (often called a nut milk bag).

Most alternative health experts advise consuming way more fresh raw fruits and vegetables than listed in government guidelines. But with the power of juicing—whether juicing at home or buying at your favourite health food store or juice bar—your days of nagging guilt over not eating right are over.

Recipes

• Immune System Booster Juice
• Energy Enhancement Juice
• Weight Loss Booster
• Ambrosia

Combining juices

Don’t worry about mixing fruits and vegetables in the same drink. You may have read so-called rules somewhere about food combining, but those rules don’t really apply to juices. Juices are quickly and easily assimilated by the body.

What to do with the leftover pulp?

This is a common concern, as people do not like to waste food. However, the very concept of juicing is to remove the pulp so that digestion and assimilation of the nutrients will be rapid, so the pulp often goes into the compost pile.

Over the years useful and clever ways have been devised to use the pulp. If Fido needs to lose weight, add some pulp to your dog’s food for roughage so he will feel full on fewer calories (check first with your vet to make sure which fruits and veggies are safe for him to consume and which are not). Mix some pulp in with your salad, sneak some into soup, blend into smoothies, or use it in baking.

Nutrients and cleansing: health benefits of popular juices

Juice	Nutrients and cleansing health benefits
Apple	vitamins A and C; phytochemicals, pectin, and boron digestive, diuretic, antiseptic, and cleansing
Beet	vitamin A, potassium aids liver and gallbladder
Cabbage	thiamine; calcium; iron; magnesium; phosphorus; potassium; vitamins C, K, and B6; folate; and manganese antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-ulcer, aids memory, detoxifying, restorative, boosts immunity, and promotes healing
Carrot	vitamins A, B, and C; iron; beta carotene; calcium; potassium; and sodium cleansing effect on the liver and digestive system; antioxidant
Celery	vitamins A, C, K, and B6; pantothenic acid; calcium; magnesium; riboflavin; phosphorus; folate; potassium; and manganese neutralizes acidity in the body; natural diuretic and laxative
Cranberry	vitamins A and C; iodine and calcium; flavonoids; enzymes; malic, citric, and quinic acids antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, emulsify fats
Cucumber	vitamin A, iron, and potassium high water content; a good vegetable for juicing also contains sterols, which may help reduce cholesterol
Grape	flavonoids, resveratrol, boron, and potassium antioxidant and antiviral
Kale	vitamins A and C, chlorophyll, calcium, iron, folic acid, potassium, and sulforaphane boosts the body’s detoxification enzymes
Orange /citrus	vitamin C, limonene, and flavonoids anti-inflammatory; supports immune system
Pineapple	vitamin C, potassium, bromelain, and iron digestive aid

Some final notes on juicing: remember the old saying, “Variety is the spice of life”? Rather than repeating the same recipe day after day, juice an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables taken from all the colours of the rainbow: white, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green. This will ensure that you are obtaining a rich variety of nutrients. Happy juicing!

More about → Getting Juicy