Osteoarthritis help

I received the following email from a friend of my wife's family:

I met J... in Toronto she told me that you were very informed about nutritional supplements etc. I thought I would ask your advice and find out what you would suggest. I travel a lot and had a few accidents (car, falling off horses) and have started to develop osteoarthritis in my neck. I also start to get very stiff when I sit still for a long time, like on long distance flights. It helps when I can do regular exercise at home, yoga and working on my land which is physically hard work, for example cutting fire wood which I am doing right now) but when I am in some got forsaken place to work and can not wonder the streets easily (no time or for security reasons) I am usually taking major meds like ibuproven I wonder if you have any other suggestions, perhaps in terms of herbal supplements on what else I can do. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon,
S

I found this funny, because my wife (fully encouraged by our devious children) takes endless pleasure in making fun of all the things I do to take care of myself.  All the crueler because the luck of her genetics makes keeping fit and healthy a breeze.  Ah well...

My response to S summarized a lot of my thoughts so I thought to post it here:

S.....,

Ha! I know the feeling. As I get older, I feel fine, except my parts keep going. Jane may have overstated my expertise, but I can suggest things that seem to work for me.  First take a look at my blog www.AthleteAtAge.com.  I try to keep it up to date on my latest thinking and sources, although events in the financial world and the elections have distracted me.

Aging (at least the bad things that come with it) appears to arise from several processes in the body. These include:

• Dehydration,
• Oxidation,
• Calcification,
• Inflammation (arthritis), and
• One other that I can't remember right now. 

Diet, exercise, supplements, and in some cases drugs can moderate all of these. Some think that problems in one area can amplify others.

Diet solutions for inflammation seem straight forward (although they differ drastically from conventional wisdom). You need to address 3 areas:

• Food quality - a Paleolithic diet works best. It includes protein sources (meat, poultry, fish, eggs), fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil, nut oils, avocados), fibrous vegetables, and some fruits. NO grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, sugar, milk products, honey, bread, pasta, or processed foods. A little wine everyday might even help.

• Food quantity - look at "The Zone diet" it provides a baseline for determining quantity and proportion of macro nutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) relative to your lean body mass.

• Intermittent fasting - for periods between 12 and 16 hours per day (including sleeping hours) can have a very beneficial affect on metabolism, inflammation, insulin regulation (which aggravates inflammation). This appears to have the same affect as restricted calorie diets relative to life extension and retaining quality of life as we age. You need to consume the same number of calories as you otherwise would (or zone diet "blocks" if you go that way), just do it in the shorter feeding window. Drink lots of water even while you fast.

Any one of these will help, together they can provide remarkable affects in inflammation, hormone regulation, body composition, physical performance, and well being. Also note, almost all spices have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and insulin regulatory properties. If you drink coffee, stop.

Supplements:

• fish oil - good for everything, TAKE LOTS! Much better than taking ibuprofen (which can throw off insulin regulation).
• cinnamon - put it on everything you can. It regulates insulin and helps inflammation.
• glucosamine & chondroitin with MSM - important for your joints. You need to take this on an empty stomach.
• anti-oxidants: green tea, turmeric, resveratrol,
• buffered vitamin C before bed offsets cortisol,
• vitamin D3 (lots, you probably don't get enough exposure to the sun up north)

Water - drink lots 2 to 4 liters per day, great for everything but in your case it especially helps synovial fluid generation to lubricate joints.

I do joint mobility exercise before physical activity to wash the joints with synovial fluid, this lubricates them and prepares them for whatever else you do. Scott Sonnon has developed a lot of this work:

• Intu-flow (joint mobility exercises) https://agelessmobility.3dcartstores.com/Intu-Flow_p_0-8.html get the video, you can do these anywhere.
• Good YouTube video of Scott at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6uK76TQYig&eurl=http://www.rmaxinternational.com/home/

Add short, intense, weight bearing exercise and you've got most of what you need to do to keep moving (for a long long time).

Finally for acute pain and inflamation I use DMSO topically. Use only 99.9% pure DMSO in water. Don't use any DMSO with aloe or anything else in it. No gels. Wash the area (your neck) with soap and water, wipe it with alcohol, then apply DMSO. It smells terrible, the smell lingers, it can give you a yucky garlic taste in your mouth, but it does remarkable things for inflammation from arthritis and injuries.

Good luck. Feel free to ask any other questions or request clarifications.

Best,
---

Alpha^2