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Get Moving Again, Painlessly!

by Dr. Marcus Laux

Published 02/03/09

Want to Speed Things Up a Little?

As your joints begin to feel better, start moving—that’s the fastest way to help your joints. Every time you bend or flex, it draws nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood into your joints and removes waste. All of this increases your body’s efforts to rebuild and repair the cartilage and maintain its integrity. Long-term exercise can also decrease pain. Some ideal activities are swimming, water exercises, yoga, T’ai Chi, and those that are similarly non-stressful to joints.

Another way to support joint health is with glucosamine sulfate. Glucosamine is a building block of healthy new joint cartilage and helps to reduce the breakdown of existing cartilage.

Glucosamine is also part of the synovial fluid “cushioning” in your joints. It’s what helps to lubricate and protect them, so you can bend and flex with ease. That’s what lets you climb a flight of stairs or open a jar without difficulty. Plus, glucosamine helps to maintain the space surrounding and between the joints.

Fight Joint Aging with Antioxidants

Lastly, you want to help protect your joints from damaging free radicals, which can cause your joints to age over time. One of your best defenses against free radicals is antioxidants. These tiny but powerful protectors seek out and destroy harmful free radicals.

The top antioxidant I recommend for your joints is grape seed extract. That’s because it contains a substance called OPC (oligomeric proanthocyanidins), which binds to the collagen in your joint connective tissue—neutralizing both fat- and water-soluble free radicals. The fewer free radicals you have, the better it is for your joints—in fact, if there was a joint “fountain of youth,” this would be it!

One last thought to remember; we are made to heal. When I went through medical school, we were taught that cartilage did not regenerate. Now, we know differently. What’s essential is that you support your body so it can do its job. But, as a follower of natural medicine, you knew that.

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