Search Joint Pain

New Remedies for Aches and Pains

by Dr. Susan Lark

Published 02/03/09

Aches and pains are often seen as an inevitable part of aging, but that’s just not true. They’re a warning that your body needs a little help, and if you know the proper way to heed that warning, then real, meaningful relief is within reach. Because aches and pains are the main cause of disability in women past middle age (October 2002, Journal of General Internal Medicine), this is a topic I write about quite often. And today I am going to give you some truly innovative therapies that you can use to stay limber, active, strong, and pain-free for years to come.

A Delicious Antioxidant Boost

Oxidative damage is one of the most important causes of “age-related” pain and stiffness. The body’s natural defense against oxidative damage is antioxidants, but when antioxidant levels can’t keep up, the aging process becomes a slippery slope. Mainstream scientists recognize that antioxidants are a potential strategy for reversing disease and aging (May 2008, American Journal of Cardiology), but it’s not as simple as taking antioxidants.

In nature, there are millions of different kinds of antioxidants, each with a unique anti-oxidizing task in the body. In fact,

• Most of the antioxidants in fruits haven’t been explored in a laboratory.
• Each type of fruit has different types of antioxidants.
• No single antioxidant can protect as well as the broad spectrum you’d get from eating a variety of the most potent fruits from around the globe.
• What’s identified in a laboratory as an antioxidant may not be bioavailable or bioactive in the human body.

For example, in one study, when healthy people ate a meal low in antioxidants, their blood antioxidant levels actually dropped. Adding whole plums and dried plum juice to their meals didn’t raise those levels, but adding blueberries, grapes, or kiwifruit did significantly (April 2007, Journal of the American College of Nutrition).

Recently, a team of scientists studied the blood antioxidant activity in 12 healthy people before and after drinking a proprietary blend of fruits already shown in the lab to be strong antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. The blend included whole Amazon açai berries (Euterpe oleracea) as the main ingredient, plant-based glucosamine hydrochloride, plus the juice of white grapes, nashi pears, acerola, aronia, purple grapes, cranberries, passion fruit, apricots, prunes, kiwifruit, blueberries, bilberries, wolfberries, pomegranates, lychee, camu camu, and the whole fruit puree of pears, bananas, and bilberries. Within two hours after consuming the drink, all subjects had a dramatic increase in blood antioxidant levels and a significant decline in blood markers for potentially damaging oxidative activity (September 2008, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry).

I usually recommend whole fruit rather than fruit juice so you can benefit from the fruit fiber while avoiding the high glycemic effect of isolated juice. The problem is, to get a broad spectrum of the most antioxidant-rich fruits would require weekly trips around the world and the consumption of more fruit than most people can manage. But with MonaVie Active (the fruit blend tested in this study), you can have your fruit and drink it, too. Its whole-fruit and juice components are concentrated, so 1 or 2 ounces once or twice daily provides more antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients than a whole bag of fruit from a typical North American grocery store. Even better, this delicious juice contains the benefits of red wine with none of the metabolic and liver-burdening drawbacks.

There are also reports about the effectiveness of MonaVie for relieving pain and stiffness, including the worst kind of chronic joint pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis. One reason it works so well is its list of potent, broad-spectrum antioxidants from whole fruit sources you’d be hard pressed to find consistently in any store. Antioxidants repeatedly have been proven to relieve even severe inflammation, swelling, pain, and restricted range of motion (February 2008, Clinical Rheumatology). These symptoms are the result of different kinds of oxidative stress, and it takes a coordinated team of varied antioxidants—including glutathione reductase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and glucose-6-phosphate—to address all the pro-inflammatory free radicals that are at the root of stiff, sore joints. Each antioxidant works through different avenues (February 2008, Clinical Rheumatology).

Visit www.monavie.com to learn more. You can find MonaVie in better health food stores, or call 801-748-3100 to find distributors in your area. If you can’t find this brand, I also highly recommend an antioxidant drink mix called Thrive! (available online at www.healthylivingnetwork.com).

1 2 3