If you’ve been trying to reduce overall aches and pains but have hit a bit of a roadblock, you might be able to move the needle by making a few small dietary changes. Some main dietary contributors that can increase pain are a lack of hydration, insufficient fiber, and too many processed foods. Making a few changes in just these areas can make a huge difference.
Stay Hydrated
About 70 percent of the body including muscles and joints is made up of water. Not drinking enough water leads to dehydration, causing your muscles and joints to become less lubricated and stiff. It can also lead to faster degeneration of the spine and the discs over time. Not drinking enough can also lead to headaches, low blood pressure, and insufficient fluids to flush toxins out of the body, which can lead to more pain and inflammation.
Mineral levels are also depleted when you are dehydrated. Due to their importance for the basic function and repair of many systems in your body, supplementation may be required if you’re not replacing these minerals within your diet.
Fiber
Slowly increasing your fiber intake (along with water) can help reduce inflammation, which can subsequently reduce pain. Eating fiber pulls sugar out of the body (that’s a good thing); sugar increases inflammation and leads to other physiological problems that may also contribute to increased pain in the body. Fiber also cleans out the intestines to ensure we don't have food and waste lingering for too long and getting reabsorbed into the body.
Processed Foods
Another huge contributor to inflammation is processed foods, which the body will eventually break down into sugar. I encourage you to take a look at your diet and log your food for a week or two (yes, there are apps for that). You may be surprised at how much sugar is being consumed, even though you’re not eating anything sweet!
“While it’s beneficial to remove or swap out inflammatory foods, you can increase some anti-inflammatory foods as well.”
These days, a lot of our foods are highly processed even if we cook everything at home. Most flour, for example, is processed to some degree, with white and bleached flour being the most processed. Switching to a more fiber-rich flour (such as a whole grain), or reducing flour usage in general, might be worth trying if you’ve been cooking with it in excess. Cooking oils are also inflammatory, but avocado or olive oil are two of the better options. Using avocado oil for higher-heat cooking and olive oil for lower heat is best.
You can also include coconut oil and butter in moderation for medium-heat cooking or baking. Switching from the more inflammatory oils like vegetable, corn, canola, sunflower, grapeseed, and safflower—as well as margarine—to these better choices could make a difference in your inflammation and pain levels over time.
While it’s beneficial to remove or swap out inflammatory foods, you can increase some anti-inflammatory foods as well. These fiber-rich nutrient foods include cruciferous veggies, greens, nuts and seeds, berries, and fatty fish (follow the acronym SMASH: sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon, and herring). There are some spices you can use in your cooking and baking that may help too, such as turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, or garlic.
If you would like a more structured approach to eating or more guidance, the Mediterranean diet or a whole food, plant-based diet (WFPB) might be right for you. Even within these diets’ guidelines, there may be ways to customize the foods you eat to make them specific to your needs.
Nutrition and diet are very individualized when taking into account a person’s specific conditions and symptoms, so it’s worthwhile to consult with your healthcare practitioner to figure out what works for you. Remember, what’s good for your Aunt Minnie, may not be right for you.
Mother’s Day is quickly approaching! This is the perfect opportunity to treat all the Mama's in your life and even yourself to a few sweet gifts to celebrate this beautiful day. Healthy Planet is currently running an INCREDIBLE Mother's Day Sale, full of pampering and practical products for all Mothers!
I have narrowed down my top 4 favourite products that not only do I use, but would make the perfect Health & Wellness gifts for the Mama's in your life this Mother’s Day!
Organika Collagen – Because healthy skin is always on trend. Collagen has many beautiful benefits that does our body so good - promotes skin health, boost muscle mass, improve ingestive health, burns fat, alleviate joint pains, promotes heart health, and improves cognitive health. Our bodies naturally produce collagen, however our ability to produce it decreases less and less as we age. This is why it is so important to either incorporate foods that contain collagen in our diet or supplement it with a product like, Organika Collagen. Because let’s be real, who doesn’t want beautiful skin?
Skin Essence Facial in a Jar – Spoil the Mama's in your life with this multipurpose product. You can either use this as an exfoliator to scrub away dead skin or leave it on as a mask so that the product can absorb all the oils and impurities out of your skin. Either way, this product will leave your skin super soft, supple, nourished and will brighten your overall complexion!
Everyone Hand Soap Coconut Lavender – This is the best naturally smelling hand soap on the market. I really love that it is kind to our earth, cruelty free, gluten free, does not contain synthetic fragrance, and really does a wonderful job at cleansing and moisturizing the skin.
Andalou Naturals Body Lotion Lavender Thyme – You will not catch me without some sort of hand lotion in my diaper bag. With all the diaper changing and constantly washing my hands to avoid catching my toddler’s germs, it strips away my natural oils leaving my skin super dry and cracked. I love this hand lotion not only does it DELICIOUS but it also does a fab job at moisturizing and keeping the skin moisturized for a long period of time. If Lavender Thyme isn’t your jam, they also have a large selection of other scents as well!
Written by Healthy Planet Ambassador @lifestylebycp. Follow Cherrie as she lives her best life spreading her vision of the Health and Wellness lifestyle with the help of Healthy Planet!
It was December 2003 when the news broke that would launch our company on a global scale. A highly regarded American Journal published their results of a lengthy comparative trial, testing the top 18 products in North America designed to halt the inflammation and pain associated with common degenerative conditions such as tendonitis, arthritis, neck and back pain. Horse Journal (October 2003) proclaimed Recovery® the “best overall for arthritis”. We were simply blown away reading our name highlighted as the best product in the business in what is considered to be like "the bible of the horse industry"! Where the 17 other elite products from the USA and Europe failed to achieve worthy results in the relief of pain and inflammation, Recovery® showed 80 – 100% improvement in trial participants in only three to five weeks.
What is even more interesting is how this proves our product efficacy. The trial participants were elite horses, and the administrators of the trial were veterinarians from the Horse Journal in Connecticut, the equine industry’s most prestigious journal. You simply cannot fool an animal or induce a placebo effect.
The equine industry is the most competitive industry in regards to natural pain-relief products because show and race horses cannot receive drugs to counteract pain and inflammation. Horse trainers administer natural products—and they must work as word spreads rapidly in the horse world.
Recovery® is now so popular that many of Team Canada's and Team USA's horses are administered it in their feed on a regular basis as a preventative measure and to I prove performance.
*What does this mean for you? When it comes to relief of pain and inflammation, the only difference between a horse and a human is two legs. Recovery® is a broad-spectrum product designed to improve the body’s ability to heal and halt damage that precedes inflammation, spasm, pain and immobility. It also improves the skin, breathing, and digestion. We believe that Recovery® is the most powerful pain relieving and anti-inflammation product on the market. It addresses the root of the problem, which is CELL DAMAGE. *
The Path that led to the discovery of Recovery® *
The journey began over a decade ago when, as a student of molecular biology and nutrition, I began to question the precise mechanisms that cause the cells of the body to age and break down. Recognizing that much of this cellular breakdown was due to oxygen-induced molecular instability, I set about developing a formulation to inhibit this instability. The formulation, named Recovery®, consisted of plant compounds that are known to protect the plant from physical and chemical aggressors.
While in Holland, I had the opportunity to test the efficacy of Recovery® on many of the European community’s top professional ballet dancers. Like many sports, ballet often results in pulled muscles and tendons, particularly the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) at the outer edge of the kneecap. This ligament is so vital to the proper movement of the leg that damage sustained to it can result in loss of mobility for a year or more and often ends a dancer’s career.
After taking Recovery® for a few weeks, doctors assessing the effects of the formulation noted a significant reduction in expected recovery times. Dancers, who would normally be troubled by stiffness and loss of mobility following the natural or surgical repair of the ACL, were able to quickly regain mobility and return to the stage.
Following my return from Holland, my brother Trevor and I were able to work with equine veterinarians, horse breeders and trainers. Horses are subject to numerous problems in their legs due to their relatively heavy body weight. Their risk of injury increases if they are raced or jumped. In much the same way as with the ballet dancers, horses also recovered more quickly and successfully from injuries and surgical intervention.
The results with people and animals were so dramatic that Trevor and I, with the help of our mom and dad, decided to form a private family company in 1999 to manufacture and sell Recovery® to veterinarians. The veterinarians experienced such significant results with the animals they were treating that they began telling people that they should also be taking Recovery® which in turns led to the launch of the human version of Recovery®.
*How Recovery® works*: Recovery® works in two distinct ways: by increasing the cell’s receptivity to anabolic (building) compounds such as insulin and thyroid hormone, and by reducing catabolic (destroying) action due to oxidation. The effects of treatment with Recovery® are realized throughout the body and include decreased pain, spasm and inflammation, improved circulation, improved drainage and improved healing.
Many clinicians find Recovery® successful in alleviating conditions th ...
