Healthy joints: how to help yourself to them? What is good for nutrition, lubrication + exercises

How to have healthy joints? How to help yourself, even naturally?
What helps and what harms joints?
What foods, exercises, medicines?
What nutrition will help lubricate joints?

It's not just collagen...

There's nothing easier than destroying healthy joints.
Unfortunately, at the time this happens, the patient may not even realize how damaging they are to themselves.
They consider all their habits normal, or they don't fully acknowledge the future danger. However, the joints suffer even when we don't perceive it that way.

Bad habits and old ways take their toll.

Have you hiked with an oversized backpack and not for the first time? Do you carry a bag "full of bricks" that you don't even need? Do you sit slouched in a chair or in another awkward position?

Do you have to lift heavy loads at work?

It takes very little to find out later in life that what you didn't consider harmful has caused you health problems and complications. Bad habits and their effects can also affect your joints.

Abnormal posture and loading can also cause problems with your joints:

• Experienced bad posture
• excessive unilateral loading of the joints
• poorly learned posture when lifting heavy loads
• bending and lifting in the wrong position
• incorrect head and neck position during sleep
• inappropriate footwear

Some habits significantly damage the joints:

• Overweight to morbid obesity
• insufficient exercise, low physical activity
• poor eating habits
• poor drinking habits
• lack of a certain substance (e.g. collagen)

Joint damage is also caused by:

• exposure to pathogens (viruses, bacteria)
• injuries with subsequent traumatic changes

All these bad habits can cause a problem in a few years with something as simple and banal as walking up one flight of stairs, bending at the waist or squatting when tying your shoelaces.

In worse cases, progressive, degenerative changes in the joints can cause problems with ordinary walking or starting to move

Joints in our body and their importance

A joint is a movable connection of two or more bone ends. It consists of a joint head that fits perfectly into an excavated joint socket. The end parts of these surfaces are covered by a thin layer of hyaline or ligamentous cartilage.

The joint is surrounded by the articular capsule (capsula articularis), which consists of a fibrous, synovial and transitional layer. The synovial layer produces synovia, i.e. joint lubricant. This provides nutrition for the joints and prevents friction between the joints when the head moves, thus preventing wear of the joint cartilage. It acts as a hydraulic device.

In spite of its strength, the joint housing has sufficient clearance not to impede physiological movement. At the same time, it is protected by a strong ligament. It is in firm connection so as to ensure stability and prevent luxation.

Table of basic movements with description

Correct posture keeps joints healthy: How to do it?

Although we talk about good posture almost all the time, most people forget about it during their daily routine. Even our grandmothers and great-grandmothers warned us not to slouch and to walk straight.

We are reminded of the correct sitting posture at work, especially in sedentary jobs. Some employees are even trained in how to sit properly and use an office chair as part of their occupational health and safety training. The aim is to avoid musculoskeletal health problems and prevent injuries as much as possible.

Correct posture is defined as the balanced position of all segments and centres of gravity of the human body so that the sum of the forces acting on the bony connections is minimal.

In simple terms, it is the relative position of the head, trunk and limbs in a particular position, but also during movement.

If they are not, in practice this means overloading of a part of the body or a joint. Prolonged loading of a particular joint leads to its deformation. Joint deformities not only result in impaired joint function at various stages, but also cause painful conditions that make life difficult for the patient.

How to keep the centre of gravity in balance with each other?

Bones, joints and muscles work together to ensure the correct position of the body. Together they form a complex set of lever mechanisms controlled by the central nervous system.

Muscles can be further divided into two groups, namely postural and phasic.

• postural muscles - ensure static body position
• Phasic muscles - provide movement of the body

The interplay of these mechanisms ensures not only the correct position of the body, but also the active movement of the body.
Incorrect body position or loading means excessive strain on certain parts of the body and destruction of the joints in these parts!

Correct body position means:
The head is upright, with the face facing forward, and the chin and neck are 90° apart. The neck is extended, straight. The chest is straight, and the shoulders face outwards, not forwards. The shoulder blades are drawn back and downwards, achieving a balanced thoracic spine with no hunching. The arms are loose against the body. The abdomen is drawn in, the pelvis tucked in. The lower legs are straight, with a slight spacing of the feet. The feet are parallel.

The most common errors in relation to body position and movement:

• the angle between the head and chin is greater or less than 90°
• the thoracic spine is hunched and slightly forward
• the thoracic and lumbar spine is tilted to one side
• the shoulders point forward
• the shoulder blades extend forward and upwards
• the abdomen is not extended
• the pelvis is not supported
• the lower limbs are widely spaced
• the legs are not parallel, they are extrarotated with the little finger side

Maintaining an appropriate body weight avoids excessive pressure on the joints

Overweight and obesity are a worldwide problem and are afflicting more and more people.

Being overweight means that body weight is slightly above normal (BMI 25-30).
Obesity is already considered a disease of civilization (BMI over 30).

The sad fact is that children are increasingly among the obese. Excess body weight poses significant health risks to the human body.

TIP:
What is the difference between overweight and obesity?
BMIcalculation - know your body mass index

Obesity, in particular, has a very negative effect on the health of joint connections. Excess weight causes constant and unreasonable pressure to be placed on the joints. This damages and degenerates them over time. The joints are destroyed and their physiological function is significantly impaired.

Bring obesity to your knees!

Excessive fat storage in the body occurs mainly when energy intake is higher than energy output. Simply put, this means - overeating and laziness. If we can resist these two ills with willpower, the pounds will come off quickly, without the unwanted yo-yo effect.

So the key to reducing overweight and obesity is not overeating and adequate physical activity!

A healthy diet and exercise should therefore become part of your lifestyle. The hard part is just the beginning and the unusual. If you overcome this, you are on your way to the desired success.

A healthy diet and plenty of fluids is half the battle

Diet influences almost all processes in the body. Excessive intake or, on the contrary, a lack of certain substances can cause various diseases later in life. Diet and sufficient fluid intake are also important in the prevention of joint diseases.

TIP: Arthritis and the importance of diet in prevention and treatment

Which substances are most important for healthy joints?

In the prevention of joint disease, glucosamine, collagen, vitamin C and manganese are the most important. This is especially true of osteoarthritis, which is a degenerative joint disease.

1. Glucosamine is also called "joint nutrition". It binds water to itself, thus moistening the joints and ensuring that they are sufficiently flexible and supple.
2. Collagen is a protein that forms the basic building block of connective tissues, and therefore of joints in the body. It is also formed to some extent in the human body.
3. Vitamin C is essential for the sufficient formation of collagen fibres. A lack of vitamin C can also cause a collagen deficiency.
4. Manganese, on the other hand, ensures proper bone and cartilage growth and is also responsible for the transport of collagen in the body.

Foods containing substances important for joints:

• Animal cartilage
• pig ears and snout
• pork rinds, goosefoot (broth from the rinds)
• meat broths (soups)
• fish and seafood
• eggs
• strawberries, blackcurrants, lemon, orange, grapefruit, pineapple
• rose hips, sea buckthorn, berries
• tomato, pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, leafy and root vegetables
• oatmeal, cereals, wholemeal bread
• nuts
• rice
• sweet potatoes
• spirulina
• legumes
• cocoa
• teas
• fatty acids (rapeseed oil)
• gummies, jellies

Why is fluid intake so important?

Water is the basis of human life and health. The human body is made up of up to 80% water, which means that almost all metabolic processes take place in a watery environment. Adequate fluid intake and, of course, the quality of the fluid has a significant impact on the body's processes.

Water (among other things) helps to maintain the structure of cells, ensures the transport of nutrients in the body and is involved in their transformation. This means that, despite sufficient intake of substances from the diet and necessary for the joints, without water they would not be used properly. This is why dehydration is so dangerous.

• Dehydration causes thickening of the blood, a drop in blood pressure, and inadequate blood supply and oxygenation to the organs, including the joint structures.
• Dehydration, when total body fluid falls by more than 6%, causes fatigue, exhaustion, lethargy and reduced physical activity, thus impairing joint function.

Keep your joints fit: how to exercise properly

Physical activity helps to maintain healthy joints in two ways. On the one hand, it contributes to weight reduction. On the other hand, movement in the joint spreads synovium, and helps to nourish the articular cartilage.

TIP:
Put a stop to arthritis
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Knee arthritis is slowly but surely destroying your knee joints

The right exercises also counteract the pain of already damaged joints.

Caution:
Exercise must always be individually adapted to the patient.
The decisive factors are mainly age, health and general fitness.
Exercising inappropriately and excessively can cause more problems than it does good! This is especially true for older people and people who have not done anything before and are not fit.

Step by step physical activity

• The most natural movement for a person is walking. For a start, it is enough to include walking in your daily schedule.
• A very popular activity, especially among the older population, is Nordic walking (walking with sticks), which is gentle on the joints.
• Running is good for exercising the joints, helps burn excess calories, and also helps against depression.

Exercises for the weight-bearing and most stressed hips

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, hands next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, feet slightly apart
Exercise 1 - Rotate the toes of your feet outward and back toward you

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, hands next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, feet slightly apart
Exercise 2 - Lift one outstretched leg off the mat (foot is at the height your hip allows) and bring it back slowly, alternating

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, hands next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, legs slightly apart
Exercise 3 - Lift one outstretched leg above the mat (leg is as high as your hip will allow) and return it slowly to just above the mat. Lower the leg and return it to a straight position. It remains above the mat. After a few repetitions, alternate legs

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, hands in line with your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, legs slightly apart
Exercise 4 - Lift one outstretched leg above the mat (leg is at the height your hip allows), make small circles with the toe. Alternate legs

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, place your hands next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, legs slightly apart
Exercise 5 - Lift one leg above the mat, bend at the knee, grasp the knee joint with your hands and pull it towards your chest, bring the leg back. Repeat alternately

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, place your hands next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, feet slightly apart
Exercise 6 - Lift your legs off the mat, bend at the knees, alternate forward and then back

Basic Position 2 - Lie on your side, lower arm extended upwards, lower leg slightly bent at the knee, upper arm bent at the elbow, palm facing down towards the mat at the chest area (use this hand to keep the body stable)
Exercise 7 - Leg pointing upwards is extended and slightly above the mat. Extend the leg and pull it sideways and upwards, hold for 10 seconds, then release. Alternate legs

Basic Position 3 - Sit up straight in a chair, holding the back of the chair with your hands, knees bent in sitting position
Exercise 8 - Pull the knee of one leg as close to your chest as possible, hold for 10 seconds and release. Repeat the exercise alternately with both legs

Basic Position 4 - Stand on the mat, feet hip width apart, hands at your sides
Exercise 9 - Step forward (lunge) with your right leg, carefully shifting your body weight, keeping your left leg behind, return to the starting position. Repeat alternately

Exercises for sore knee joints

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, arms straight next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, legs slightly apart
Exercise 1 - Lift one leg off the mat, slowly bend at the knee while pulling the knee towards your chest, alternate

Basic Position 1 - Lie on your back, place your hands next to your body, plant your pelvis, draw in your abdomen, feet slightly apart
Exercise 2 - Lift your legs off the mat, bend at the knees, alternate moving forward and then back

Basic Position 2 - Stand on mat, feet hip-width apart, hands pinned to body
3rd exercise - Bend leg at knee, bring both hands to chest, lay back and alternate legs repeatedly

Basic Position 2 - Stand on the mat, feet hip width apart, hands pinned to body
4th exercise - Bend leg at the knee. Pull knee upwards, bend opposite arm at the elbow and pull elbow towards knee of active leg

Basic Position 2 - Stand on the mat, feet hip width apart, hands pinned to the body
Exercise 5 - Bend one leg backwards and upwards at the knee. With the hand on the same side, grasp the toe of the leg and push the heel towards the gluteus maximus

Basic Position 2 - Stand on the mat, feet hip width apart, hands at your sides
Exercise 6 - Step forward (lunge) with your right leg, carefully shifting your body weight, keeping your left leg behind, return to the starting position and repeat alternately

Basic Position 3 - Sit in a chair, hands on the back of the chair, knees bent in sitting position
8th exercise - Pull the knee of one leg as close to your chest as possible, hold for 10 seconds and release, repeat alternately with both legs

Exercises for stiff shoulder muscles and joints

Basic Position 1 - Sit on the mat in a Turkish sitting position, hands resting loosely on thighs
Exercise 1 - Extend one arm forward, bend at the elbow, slowly move it towards the chest with the other hand holding the elbow of the active limb until the forearm is pointing backwards. Alternate hands and repeat

Basic Position 1 - Sit on the mat in a Turkish sit-up, hands resting loosely on your thighs
Exercise 2 - Extend your arms backwards, or as far upwards as possible for the more experienced. You can bring your hands together behind your back

Basic Position 2 - Stand on the mat, feet hip width apart, arms pinned loosely to your body
Exercise 3 - Circle shoulder joints repeatedly forward and then back

Basic Position 2 - Stand on the mat, feet hip width apart, arms pinned loosely to your body
Exercise 4 - Pull shoulders up as far as possible, hold and then release with an exhale. Repeat several times

Basic Position 2 - Stand on mat, feet hip width apart, arms extended and in line with shoulders
5th Exercise - Raise outstretched arms upwards until they touch overhead. Then lower to starting position, repeat

You can find many videos of exercises on the internet. Just choose what suits you best. However, people suffering from joint conditions should be more cautious and search for exercises carefully, taking into account their current state of health. Otherwise, they could overload and worsen the condition.