Maintaining Joint Health Naturally - 10 May 2010
There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton. Bones support the body and joints are the places where two bones meet. All bones, form a joint with another bone, most joints are designed to protect the ends of bones where they meet. They also hold your bones together and they allow your rigid skeleton to move. Bones are connected to other bones at many different types of joint.
Our joints work extremely hard over a lifetime so it is not surprising that repeated strenuous activity involved in certain jobs and sports, and the ageing process, may affect their health and efficiency.
Genetic predisposition can also impact on joint health.
Research links joint health with three naturally-occurring ingredients, glucosamine, chondroitin and the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) found in cod liver oil and fish oil.
KNH High Potency Joint Care is an advanced formulation of glucosamine, MSM and chondroitin sulphates combined with essential minerals and traditional herbs providing active nutrition for tired joints.
- Ginger has long been studied as a support for the immune defenses such as inflammation
- Proline is an amino acid needed for the production of collagen and cartilage. It helps keep muscles and joints flexible
- Bromelan is a natural extract from pineapple stem that has been used traditionally to support the immune system.
- Boron, manganese, selenium and zinc are essential trace minerals beneficial in supporting healthy bones and joints
Glucosamine in Chronic Knee Pain - 27 July 2009
A small study conducted by The American College for Sports Medicine provides more results supporting the use of Glucosamine sulphate in chronic knee pain.
- Forty-five people with long term knee pain took part in a study to find out which patients responded best to treatment with glucosamine sulphate.
- After 12 weeks of daily treatment patients reported an improvement in the amount of pain they experienced and were less restricted in their daily activities.
- The results suggested that glucosamine was of similar benefit to patients regardless of age, body mass index or the presence of osteoarthritis, although patients with mild osteoarthritis had a slightly better response in terms of daily activity restriction than patients without osteoarthritis.
Glucosamine sulphate is commonly used by those suffering from knee pain, and especially pain linked to osteoarthritis. There are a number of studies similar to this one that collectively provide a considerable body of evidence supporting this use.
Joint Care - 12th June 2009
According to Arthritis New Zealand, more than half a million New Zealanders will have arthritis in their lifetime. That’s one in every six people over the age of 15 years – or, one in every three people over the age of 45 years!
There are over 140 different types of arthritis and these can affect people of all ages – from babies and toddlers right through to those in their adult years. In fact, there are many children and young people under the age of twenty affected by arthritis in New Zealand.
The word arthritis means inflammation of the joint. Swelling, redness, heat and pain are the signs of inflammation. Rheumatism means disease marked by inflammation and pain in joints, muscles or fibrous tissue. Arthritis is generally used to cover most of the inflammatory diseases that affect the spine, muscles, tendons and the bones, as well as the joints.
Aches and pains are no strangers to most of us – so how do you know whether you are at risk of getting arthritis? Arthritis New Zealand have a basic self-assessment checklist that describes signs and symptoms to look out for.
They suggest that if you experience:
- pain and stiffness in one or more joints
- early morning stiffness in or or more joints
- recurring pain, tenderness, or swelling in one or more joints
- overall aching, joint stiffness, and fatigue
- muscle weakness associated with joint stiffness
- difficulty doing daily tasks
and these symptoms occur for longer than 2 weeks it is a good idea to get checked out by your doctor.
What Can You Do?
While arthritis is generally a chronic condition (one that lasts for a long time) that you have to learn to live with, there are a number of things that you can do to help manage the condition.
Exercise
For many years it was thought that if you had arthritis you shouldn’t exercise due to concern that it may damage joints. However, research has now shown that exercise is very important in managing arthritis. It helps to keep joints mobile and reduce joint pain; increases muscle strength, prevents joint deformity; maintains and increases the ability to perform daily tasks and increases general fitness and a sense of well being.
There are a number of important factors to consider when exercising with arthritis such as: engaging in an exercise programme that is specifically suited to your needs depending on how much damage to the joints there is; performing the types of exercise that are suited to arthritis sufferers such as dancing, aquacise, cycling and low-impact aerobics. Again, Arthritis New Zealand have a detailed page on their website with lots of helpful tips on exercising with arthritis.
Omega 3 fatty acids
A lot of research has been conducted into the beneficial effects that the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA have been seen to have on inflammatory conditions in the body. These fatty acids are involved in production of the substances made by the body that control inflammation, and overall seem to contribute to a reduction of inflammation.
Green-Lipped Mussel
The New Zealand green-lipped mussel, Perna canaliculus contains a number of the omega-3 fatty acids seen to have anti-inflammatory properties, as well as glycosaminoglycans used by the body in the formation and maintenance of cartilage.
Glucosamine and Chondroitin
Glucosamine and Chondroitin have been the focus of a great deal of research. They are both important compounds in the formation and maintenance of connective tissue, including cartilage.
Studies on the use of glucosamine sulphate have shown it to be beneficial in reducing pain in arthritis. It is not present in significant amounts in most diets. Most research with people who have osteoarthritis uses 500mg of glucosamine sulphate three times per day.
There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton. Bones support the body and joints are the places where two bones meet. All bones, form a joint with another bone, most joints are designed to protect the ends of bones where they meet. They also hold your bones together and they allow your rigid skeleton to move. Bones are connected to other bones at many different types of joint.
Our joints work extremely hard over a lifetime so it is not surprising that repeated strenuous activity involved in certain jobs and sports, and the ageing process, may affect their health and efficiency.
Genetic predisposition can also impact on joint health.
Research links joint health with three naturally-occurring ingredients, glucosamine, chondroitin and the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) found in cod liver oil and fish oil.
High Potency Joint care
KNH High Potency Joint Care is an advanced formulation of glucosamine, MSM and chondroitin sulphates combined with essential minerals and traditional herbs providing active nutrition for tired joints.
Ginger has long been studied as a support for the immune defenses such as inflammation
Proline is an amino acid needed for the production of collagen and cartilage. It helps keep muscles and joints flexible
Bromelan is a natural extract from pineapple stem that has been used traditionally to support the immune system.
Boron, manganese, selenium and zinc are essential trace minerals beneficial in supporting healthy bones and joints
We now have our NEW BLISTER PACKS IN STOCK!!!
FAT FAQs - 15th May 2009
The essential fatty acids are becoming increasingly well known, and used by more and more people as a growing number of health benefits are now associated with these important compounds. But how many people know what essential fatty acids are, what the difference is between omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and what they do in the body?
What are Essential Fatty acids?
Fatty acids are the building blocks of fat molecules, and essential fatty acids are fatty acids that are needed by the body, but cannot be made by it, and so must be obtained from the diet.
What is the difference between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids?
The essential fatty acids consist of two groups of fatty acids, the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The number refers to the chemistry of the fat, and simply indicates the position of a double bond between carbon atoms in the fatty acid molecule.
What are omega-9 fatty acids?
Omega-9 fatty acids are considered necessary yet ‘non-essential’ because the body is generally capable of making these, as long as the omega-3 and 6 essential fatty acids are present.
What is the difference between the fatty acids such as DHA & GLA?
In the body, fatty acid synthesis starts with two short chain essential fatty acids:
Omega-3:
ALA (Alpha-linolenic acid)
and Omega-6:
LA (Linoleic acid)
These two essential fatty acids are converted by the body to the other fatty acids.
What do essential fatty acids do?
Both omega-3 and -6 essential fatty acids play an important role in the production of prostaglandins, powerful hormone-like substances that regulate many important physiological processes including blood pressure and blood clotting, as well as the inflammatory and allergic responses.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids provide the precursors for the prostaglandins that are known to reduce inflammation, reduce platelet aggregation (helping to keep the blood ‘thin’) and inhibit other pro-inflammatory substances.
Essential fatty acids are also important for healthy skin and hair, nerves and cell membranes.
Clinical and research studies have shown omega-3 to be beneficial in heart and vessel health, mental health and weight management as well helping to reduce inflammation in conditions such as osteoarthritis.
What is the difference between Fish oil, Flaxseed oil, Hemp oil and Evening Primrose oil?
Fish oil
Fish oil is probably the most well-known source of omega-3 fatty acids. Most specifically it provides you with preformed EPA and DHA, the two fatty acids known to be most beneficial for brain and nerve health. The conversion from ALA to EPA then DHA has been performed by the fish and so doesn’t need to be done by your body, making these two important fatty acids readily available.
Flaxseed Oil
One of the most concentrated vegetable sources of the omega-3 fatty acid, ALA. Flaxseed Oil provides your body with the essential fatty acid starting point it needs to make the other omega-3 fatty acids. Flaxseed oil is especially beneficial to people following a vegetarian diet who don’t get any of this essential fatty acid from foods such as fish.
Hemp seed oil
Is also high in ALA, but a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition demonstrated results that suggested that it was less effective than flaxseed oil in providing ALA to participants.
Evening Primrose oil
Evening Primrose oil provides you with the omega-6 fatty acid, GLA which is present in very few plants. GLA is known to be one of the beneficial omega-6 fatty acids that shares many of the functions of the omega-3 fatty acids. People with allergies may have difficulty converting LA to GLA in their bodies, and GLA is one of the fatty acids considered beneficial allergic conditions such as eczema.
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