Ditch the grains, especially wheat: Avoiding grains in all forms – and yes, that includes beer (sadly) – was the single best move I made toward improving my joint function. Gluten intolerance is often connected to arthritis (yeah, avoid the vegan stuff and focus on the gluten avoidance), and Loren Cordain has tons of papers on possible connections between dietary lectins and arthritis (PDF). He focuses on rheumatoid arthritis, but I don’t think osteoarthritis and RA are so different. It’s just that osteoarthritis is assumed to be the “wear-and-tear” disease, but the moose story from last week (and the tale of the corn-fed Native Americans) refutes that.
Avoid excess omega 6 fats: Higher circulating levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a pro-inflammatory cytokine that I’ve mentioned before, are highly significant predictors of osteoarthritis of the knee. Can you guess which type of polyunsaturated fatty acid leads to excessive levels of IL-6? Exactly.
Skip the corn, soybean, canola, and vegetable oil and the resultant pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. Use animal fat, butter, olive oil, and coconut oil instead, and eat plenty of fatty fish or take fish oil.
Avoid potatoes: They’re not the worst things in the world, but some people report joint pain after consuming potatoes. I sometimes get tinges of my old knee pain if I eat potatoes on consecutive days, though the problem seems to worsen if I eat the skins.
Go for more Primal friendly starch sources, like sweet potatoes, yams, and winter squash instead.
Get plenty of sun or supplement with vitamin D: According to several studies, low vitamin D status is linked to increased osteoarthritis.
Use turmeric: Turmeric, specifically curcumin, its active ingredient, appears to protect chondrocytes.
Eat Indian dishes (just make sure ghee is used!).
Consider glucosamine supplements: Art Ayers had an interesting take on glucosamine. Rather than it providing the raw material for cartilage production as it’s commonly assumed, glucosamine actually binds to free transglutaminase 2 (TG2). TG2 is a well-known marker for osteoarthritis severity, and it often binds with gluten, resulting in the formation of pro-inflammatory antibodies. If glucosamine binds with TG2, less TG2 is available to bind with more inflammatory compounds.
Another option is to drink bone broth on a regular basis and gnaw on the articular endpoints of animal bones.
Lift heavy things: In order to support healthy cartilage, your joints must bear weight. PB Fitness is great for that, as is a more traditional barbell approach. Just don’t think biking or swimming is enough; those may be useful for folks with no cartilage at all, but if you want your chondrocytes to do their job, you have to provide the right stimulus, and that means load-bearing exercises. It remains unclear whether cartilage can actually regrow thanks to proper exercise, but we do know that resistance training improves osteoarthritis outcomes.
Either sprint or move slowly: Chronic Cardio increases systemic inflammation and increases your desire for inflammatory, cheap carbs like grains. Try sprinting or hiking instead.
Go barefoot: I’ve gone over this before, but I’ll reiterate. Wearing padded shoes disrupts your natural stride, and going barefoot allows valuable proprioreceptive input so you can intuitively adjust your landing to reduce stress on joints. Walking barefoot has also been shown to reduce loading on lower limb joints in patients with osteoarthritis (PDF).
When you get down to it, avoiding and managing osteoarthritis is pretty simple for your basic Primal eater. Avoid grains and other foods rich in dietary lectins. Reduce inflammation, both acute and systemic. Use anti-inflammatory spices. Get the right amount of exercise at the right intensity. Get some sun. Avoid autoimmune triggers, like gluten (and, for some, potatoes). Consider smart supplementation. Although to my knowledge this hasn’t been mentioned in research, I’d also suggest getting plenty of sleep every night, maintaining strong social bonds with loved ones and friends, and leading a low-stress lifestyle.
It’s pretty clear that the body deals with stressors rather indiscriminately, and a high stress lifestyle (no matter the source) is also an inflammatory one.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
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