“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison
It’s true; the future of medicine should focus on regeneration and prevention. Why are we putting so much time, effort and funds into figuring out ways to cure diseases and painful conditions? Wouldn’t the best course of action be to prevent those conditions in the first place? Shouldn’t we be focusing on ways to heal the body naturally?
The trend is slowly shifting towards prevention and regenerative medicine but in the mean time there are a few simple things you can do today to prevent joint pain and arthritis tomorrow.
Diet:
The number one cause of joint pain and arthritis is wear and tear. People tend to think that cartilage degeneration and old age go hand-in-hand. This just isn’t true. Age is a factor of wear and tear, and a healthy diet is a great way to postpone the degeneration. Do you think extra pounds of pressure are better or worse for your knees? It’s common sense. The more you weigh, the more stress you are putting on your joints. The less you weigh, the less stress you put on your joints and the less wear and your cartilage will endure. What can you do?
When it comes to dieting it all starts in the kitchen. You could go get a nutritionist to discuss your dieting goals, or you can do some research and create a plan for yourself. WebMD has some great suggestions when it comes to losing weight and preventing weight gain. Here’s some key takeaways:
- Follow a healthy eating plan by focusing on low-calorie foods that are dense in nutrition. You want to eat a lot of fruits vegetables and whole grains. Do your best to avoid snacking (since most snacks are high in salt, sugar and fats).
- Do your best to avoid triggers that make you eat. Some people eat when they’re stressed; some people eat when they’re bored. If you’re one of those people try your best to avoid stress or being bored.
- Monitor your weight loss. People who weigh themselves are way more successful than people who weigh in once a month. You want to see your progress and you want to notice your slip-ups. Weighing yourself often gives you insight as to why you may have weight increases or decreases.
- Consistency is key for weight loss and weight prevention too. You want to be consistent with your diet as much as possible. Some people say they have a splurge day from their diet where they eat whatever they want once a week. If you’re serious about weight prevention, stay away from this inconsistency.
Exercise
You knew this one was coming. Exercise is the other key ingredient to not just an overall healthier lifestyle, but also joint pain prevention. When you exercise you reduce the amount of stress on your joints by reducing your weight and you also strengthen the muscles around the joints, which protects them from wearing and tearing.
There are a ton of exercises you can do to help manage your joint pain and arthritis. However, in this article we’ll focus on joint pain prevention. Let’s assume you’re joints are okay, but you are new to exercising and you want to learn. Here’s where you can start today:
- Start by assessing your fitness abilities so you have a rough estimate of where you stand physically. If you have never jogged in your life the best place to start is with a brisk walk, not a 5K. Measure your BMI, try to do some pushups, go for a walk etc. and measure your results.
- Set some reasonable and specific goals. Before you can start jogging or hitting the gym you have to first have a goal to work towards. Are you trying to lose weight, are you trying to finish a 5K etc. You need to write down where you started and where you want to be so you can notice your progress. A good fitness goal is time specific and measurable. A poor example of a goal is “I want to be a better jogger” a good goal example would be “In 16 weeks I want to be able to finish a 5k at 9mins/mile”.
- Create a workout that fits your schedule, your goals and your fitness level. Now that you have goals you have to put in the work to achieve those goals. However, you also need to be able to make your workouts suit your lifestyle or else you’ll become overwhelmed and quit. If you start a workout that’s too intense you’ll scare yourself away. If you create a workout that takes three hours you might not always have time and you’ll quit. Create a reasonable workout for yourself and start small. Baby steps.
- Consistency is also the main ingredient to a workout as well. Don’t plan on seeing any results right away. Just like gaining weight is slow and incremental, working out and getting healthy is slow and incremental as well. Be patient and make it a lifestyle.
Hopefully you don’t have any joint pain and you’re reading this at the right time. Many people can change their lifestyle today and prevent joint pain tomorrow. However, for many people it’s too late. Many people have been overweight their entire lives and are now cursed with joint pain and arthritis. What can these people do?
If you are interested in joint pain prevention and regeneration then Chiropractic Athletic Center may be an option for you. If surgery isn’t on your priority list contact the Chiropractic Athletic Center in York, Pa today!
