Can A Healthy Lifestyle Be A Key To Healthy Joints?

Over the past few decades, unhealthy lifestyle practices and eating habits have given rise to various health-related issues including obesity, which is a major risk factor for a wide gamut of diseases and ailments including joint problems which affect millions of people worldwide. While these problems are usually associated with elderlies, you will be surprised to know that young people too fall under the risk category. If we talk about India alone, reports have shown that nearly 15 per cent of the population, which accounts for more than 180 million people, is affected by arthritis, which is a hypernym used for a cluster of degenerative joint diseases that can call for the need for joint replacement. Dr. Vivek Mittal is the most trusted name when it comes to joint replacement surgery in India. You can consult him at his arthritis & joint replacement clinic in Delhi.

Our joints serve as the functional junctions that bind our bones together. Our joints bear the weight of our body and allow mobility which is very important to perform our day-to-day functions. Joint problems are accompanied by persistent pain and discomfort that can severely impact the quality of your life. These are mostly a result of unhealthy lifestyle habits that we inculcate in our day-to-day lives. This is indicated by the fact that the majority of patients opting for hip and knee replacement surgery in India are obese or overweight. The reason behind this is that excessive body weight can put an unnecessary strain on your joints thereby increasing wear and tear.

By now, you must have understood that there is a direct link between your daily lifestyle habits and joint health. Resorting to healthy lifestyle practices naturally alleviates the risks of various joint-related diseases by healthifying and strengthening your joints.

Wondering what you can do to improve your joint health?

Here are three simple tips recommended by doctors specialising in knee and hip replacement surgery in India that can help you keep your joints healthy and free yourself from the shackles of joint pain:

• Change what’s on your plate –You will be surprised to know that the food that you eat can directly or indirectly impact your joints. While certain food products can contribute to joint damage, others can help to alleviate the same. Anti-inflammatory is grabbing a lot of attention nowadays.  An anti-inflammatory diet, also known as the Mediterranean diet, can do wonders for your joints by helping to reduce stiffness, pain and discomfort. Such diets are rich in prebiotics, fibre, antioxidants and omega-3s. Anti-inflammatory foods are not only good for your joints but also various other organs including your heart. Some popular anti-inflammatory foods that you can add to your diet include tomatoes, green tea, blueberry, broccoli and nuts.

• Kick the tobacco habit – Studies have shown that smoking can make you more vulnerable to developing joint problems by hindering your circulatory system and preventing the nutrient-rich blood from reaching the muscles and joints. If you are already suffering from some degenerative joint disease, tobacco can accelerate the cartilage loss thereby adding to the problem. Patients undergoing knee and hip replacement surgery in Delhi are also recommended to abstain from smoking as it can give rise to unnecessary post-surgical complications. Quitting smoking might be difficult, but it is not impossible.

• Go lean go healthy –As mentioned earlier, excessive body weight can put an unnecessary strain on your joints thereby leading to chronic wear and tear. Hence it is very important to maintain an ideal body weight. Most of us plan to go to the gym and work out, but never put this plan into action and keep procrastinating. You do not necessarily need to join a gym to lose weight. Just modify your diet and indulge in low-impact activities daily. Go out for walks, try swimming and cycling. It is high time to stop procrastinating and start acting.