Whether you are walking, running, cycling, climbing or taking part in any other physical activity, your joints bear the weight of your every move. It’s important to take great care of your joints to avoid discomfort, stiffness or reduced mobility over time.
You can maintain healthy joints simply by eating a nutritious diet, staying hydrated and exercising regularly. However, should you wish to support your joint health further, you can work the best supplements for joints into an already balanced lifestyle.
When do I need to take joint supplements?
The strength and mobility of our joints is reduced over time, as they age just like the rest of our body. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why so many people choose to start taking joint supplements as they get older in the hope of slowing down this process. However, not even the best joint supplements can reverse the effects of ageing. You can take joint supplements to support the strength and mobility of your joints over time. However, the most important things you can do to protect your joint health is to eat a balanced, nutritious diet and exercise regularly.
Best supplements for joints
Here are some of the best supplements that can be taken to support joint health.
Calcium
Calcium is crucial in supporting the health of joints, bones, and teeth, so it’s important that you get plenty of it. There are a wide range of easily accessible, calcium rich foods that you can work into your diet to make sure that you are getting enough calcium day-to-day. These include dairy products (such as milk, yoghurt and cheese), figs, asparagus, tofu, broccoli and fortified plant milks. Consuming these foods regularly should allow you to take in all the calcium that you need.
If you can’t take in enough calcium through food, however, you can support your calcium intake through calcium supplements, making this one of the best supplements for joints.
Collagen
Collagen is the body’s most abundant protein, supporting the health of skin, hair, and joints. However, after a person reaches the age of 20, their body begins to produce less collagen each year. While this doesn’t sound like it should make a lot of difference, the steady decline of collagen production in the body affects the elasticity of both hair and skin, as well as the strength of joints.
For this reason, it’s important to replenish the level of collagen in the body through other means as you get older if you require this. You can do this through consuming bone-based foods (bone broths or meat on the bone) and by consuming foods such as leafy greens or berries which contain vitamin C, the vitamin needed to produce collagen. You may also look to support your collagen levels by taking collagen supplements.
Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids support brain health, heart health, vision and, of course, healthy joints. Working omega-3 into your diet can be incredibly beneficial – you can do this by eating oily fish, such as salmon, tuna and mackerel. If you aren’t able to get your omega-3 through consuming fish, you can take omega-3 or fish oil supplements to help support your brain, heart and joints.
Iron
Everyone should be doing all they can to keep their iron levels up. This important nutrient supports energy production, as well as supporting growth and development and producing both haemoglobin and myoglobin. You can get your recommended intake of iron easily by consuming red meats and leafy green vegetables, though athletes may choose to support their natural intake through iron supplements.
If you believe you have an iron deficiency, be sure to consult your doctor to discover if your levels are lower than they should be.
Vitamin K
Vitamin K, particularly vitamin K2, helps to support bone health and decrease the build-up of calcium within your blood vessels, making it very beneficial for those looking to support their joints. This vitamin is obtained primarily from animal sources, generally within the liver and other organs. It can also be found in a number of vegetarian foods including dairy products and fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut. If you struggle to eat foods with rich sources of vitamin K then supplements may be a convenient way to support your vitamin K2 levels.
Blog provided by Nutri Advanced.
