Foods That Ease Joint Pain

Excerpt from from Food Is Medicine: 101 Prescriptions from the Garden By Kathleen Barnes

JOINT PAIN

Your Garden Rx: chili peppers, oregano, spinach, cantaloupe, broccoli

Joint pain is almost always caused by some sort of inflammation of the joints, usually due to wear and tear over the years that causes deterioration of the cartilage, a soft tissue cushion that separates the bones. However, joint pain can be caused by an injury or, in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, by an immune system overreaction to your body’s own cartilage. Over time, joint pain can reduce mobility and negatively affect quality of life.

Inflammatory compounds in highly acidic meats (beef and pork primarily) may aggravate the inflammation, so if you’re suffering from joint pain, you might consider cutting back on your red meat intake.

For some people, the pain may be caused by an allergic-type reaction to certain kinds of foods. Dairy foods are the most frequent culprits in this type of joint pain, so eliminating them may help. Increasing your water consumption may also help.

Knees, hips and hands are the most common sites of joint pain, although it can occur anywhere. If you are overweight, losing weight can ease the strain on your joints.

Conventional medical treatment for joint pain is most often NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), a class of prescription and nonprescription drugs (like aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen) that can cause serious problems ranging from gastrointestinal bleeding to heart attacks and liver failure.

Your Garden to the Rescue

Capsaicin, a compound found in chili peppers, helps reduce pain and inflammation. Eating hot chilies and using a salve or cream made from them (or cayenne pepper) can give you relief. The multifunction beauty of chilies is they also contain salicylates that act like aspirin to relieve pain.

Foods high in vitamin C can help rebuild collagen, the building block of cartilage. Look for your vitamin C in spinach, cantaloupe, broccoli and berries.

Oregano is another excellent anti-inflammatory, with dozens of ingredients that help relieve swelling and pain.

RX from Outside Your Garden

Curcumin, ginger and holy basil (an Indian herb, not the same as our garden basil) have some of the most powerful anti-inflammatory compounds known and they’re free of side effects.