Caring For Your Joints And Bones

Caring for your joints and bones

Examine everything from specialized yoga practises and joint mobility

exercises to the greatest diets and nutrients for growing and keeping healthy joints and bones.

Joint and bone health is important at all phases of life, from developing strong bones in childhood to ensuring strong and mobile joints in maturity, and maintaining bone density and joint health into our later years.

If you've ever had joint discomfort or broken bones, you realize how critical it is to understand the nutrients required for strong bones, joints, and connective tissue.

When it comes to yoga, there are numerous practices that can help to care for joints and bones, ranging from weight-bearing poses to joint rotations, as well as the capacity to relax the nervous system, which can help to reduce pain levels.

Continue reading for a comprehensive look at joint and bone health, including everything from specialized yoga practices and joint mobility exercises to the greatest foods and nutrients for growing and keeping strong joints and bones.

Taking care of our bones

Healthy bones

Our skeleton is made up of both bone and cartilage, hence childhood and adolescence are known as the "bone-building years." More of this softer, elastic tissue known as cartilage is found around the joints, hips, and ribcage to allow the body to continue developing and altering shape.

Children are more flexible because their bodies contain a lot of cartilage, and because they're continually creating new bones, they're also more likely to heal rapidly from accidents.

By the time we reach the age of 16, most of the cartilage has hardened into bone, and by the time we reach the age of 25, our bones have entirely hardened, a process known as 'ossification.'

Children must move spontaneously and often as they grow in order to develop strong bones and joints. Stress causes bone density and repair, thus simple activities like walking, leaping, crawling, skipping, and carrying heavy objects can all help drive bone growth.Unfortunately, one of the issues facing children today is weaker bones, which research shows could be caused by a lack of movement, a deficiency in sunlight and vitamin D, and a poor diet. What Richard Louv coined ‘nature deficit disorder’ is not only having an impact upon children's mental health, but their physical health too. If we want to help children grow strong and healthy bones, it’s thus pretty important to simply let them be children; to play, move, hurt themselves at times, and heal naturally.

Adult Bones Because peak bone density is expected to occur in our early twenties, concentrating on bone health becomes even more critical as we grow older. Sedentary behaviour, excessive indoor time, a processed-food diet, and stress can all have a deleterious impact on joint and bone health.

To counteract this, it's critical to engage in weight-bearing activity, ingest adequate calcium and vitamin D, and spend time outside, as vitamin D from the sun influences how much we can absorb from food.

While we're thinking about food, we should also think about intestinal health. We can eat all the organic, bone-healthy foods we want, but if our stomach can't absorb them due to conditions like leaky gut, colitis, or IBS, we may be low in crucial nutrients. Focus on good quality probiotics from yoghurt, sauerkraut, kefir, and miso, as well as prebiotics from almonds, bananas, leeks, and onions, in addition to bone-building nutrients (which are listed below).

Bone Degeneration

It's probable that our bone density will deteriorate as we become older. This isn't to mean that we shouldn't be concerned about weak bones as we get older, but bone health is crucial at this age.

Due to diminishing levels of hormones like oestrogen, postmenopausal women are more prone to experience lower bone density, or 'osteopenia,' however there are many natural strategies to promote bone health and avoid osteoporosis at this time of life.

Because of the diminishing levels of hormones like oestrogen, post-menopausal women are more prone to have lower bone density, or 'osteopenia,' but there are many natural strategies to promote bone health and avoid osteoporosis at this time of life.

Low bone density is linked to osteoporosis, which increases the risk of hip and spine fractures. Lower hormone levels have been linked to a diet high in acidic foods like sugar, long-term excessive intake of alcohol and fizzy beverages, smoking, and steroids found in eczema, asthma, IBS, and arthritis treatments.

At this point, natural measures such as food, activity, sunlight, and mental health care are all helpful in maintaining bone density.

Arthritis

Arthritis can be divided into two categories that cause pain and discomfort: Osteoarthritis is a 'degenerative' joint disease that is frequently referred to as joint 'wear and tear.' The cartilage in the joint wears down with osteoarthritis, exposing the bones and causing bone spurs. The discomfort usually develops over months or years, and it affects larger weight-bearing joints or those that have been injured previously.

Exercise that raises synovial fluid within the joint and builds muscle around the damaged joint to support it are both important in treating osteoarthritis.

Acupuncture and massage can help relieve discomfort, and vitamins like vitamin C (which encourages cartilage formation) and glucosamine and chondroitin (which increase cartilage and synovial fluid health) can aid. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which immune cells attack synovial joints inappropriately, causing them to become inflamed and swollen.

Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by a genetic predisposition, but the environment and lifestyle have the greatest impact (poor gut health, a diet high in processed foods, and exposure to stress and environmental toxins can all increase the risk of rheumatoid arthritis). A Mediterranean diet without nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and aubergines), avoiding gluten and sugar, and consuming anti-inflammatory foods like omega three fatty acids from nuts, seeds, and oily fish, quercetin from red onions and apples, vitamin C from broccoli, berries, and citrus fruits, vitamin D, and herbs like turmeric and boswellia are all part of a natural approach to rheumatoid arthritis.

The Ayurvedic perspective on bone health

Ayurveda, yoga's sister science, recognises that we have multiple 'layers' of biological tissue, each of which requires distinct vitamins and minerals. The seven Dhatus are a group of body tissues that include:

Rasa (the plasma, lymph and immune cells)

Rakta (blood)

Mamsa (muscle)

Meda (fat)

Asthi (bones)

Majja (the nervous system tissue)

Shukra (male) and Artava (female) (reproductive tissue).

According to Ayurveda, all other layers of the body must be adequately nourished in order for the deeper layers of tissue, such as the bones and Shukra or Artava (the reproductive system), to get nutrients. If we don't eat enough excellent stuff to properly nourish our skin, blood, and muscles, it could affect our bone health.The first step towards building better bones then? Building a body that is fully nourished and cared for from the inside out. Perhaps take a moment at this point to pause and consider whether there are parts of yourself that perhaps don’t feel fully fed – does your skin feel dry? Do your muscles feel weak? Do you feel mentally or emotionally exhausted? Try to address these aspects before moving onto the deeper layers of tissue.

Yoga is a great way to maintain your joints and bones healthy.

A consistent yoga practice has been shown in several studies to help preserve bone density and prevent osteoporosis as we age. When we apply a healthy amount of stress to our muscles, joints, and bones, we stimulate osteoblasts — bone-forming cells that, when stimulated, transform into osteoclasts, which are the cells that become embedded in the bone and help reinforce the skeleton. The finest postures are those that require us to strengthen and maintain our muscles and joints. To strengthen the ankles, legs, hips, shoulders, and wrists, try adding asanas like Utkatasana (chair pose), Virabhadrasana || (warrior 2), and plank to your yoga practise.

According to Loren Fishman, MD, a Columbia University physiatrist specialising in rehabilitative medicine, yoga postures can actually build back bone density in the spine and femurs, even if decreasing levels of oestrogen do induce osteopenia or osteoporosis in women after menopause. The research looked at twelve different postures:

Vriksasana (Tree Pose)

Triangle Pose (Trikonasana)

Warrior 2 — Virabhadrasana II

Side-angle pose (Parsvakonasana)

Twisted Triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

Salabhasana (Locust Pose)

Bridge — Setu Bandhasana

Supine hand-to-foot A — Supta Padangusthasana (leg raised)

Supine hand-to-foot B – Supta Padangusthasana (leg to the side)

Straight-legged twist (Marichyasana B)

Lord of the Fishes Pose – Bent-knee Twist Matsyendrasana

The corpse pose is called Savasana.

All of these poses can be found in our yoga poses library.

In terms of joint health, there's an age-old exercise known as the Pawanmuktasana series, which may be found in literature like Swami Satyananda's Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha.

Joint rotations, flexing and bending of the knees and ankles, and floor-based stretches are among the simple motions that can be used as a warm-up for more intense practice or as a daily dose of joint-friendly movement. Modern mobility practices, interestingly, are increasingly emphasizing the relevance of joint strength and mobility. David Croft primarily works with males to help them recover and strengthen their joints after years of painful sports or exercise. "Physical exercise should make you feel better, not worse," he argues.David has helped clients go from experiencing constant severe knee pain, to being able to run with ease. “With strong joints, you’ll be able to rely on your body to do what you want with more confidence. As well as strength, joint mobility is
very important too. Being able to squat down to pick something up, to move around comfortably with your children or to engage in your favorite sports pain-free is something everyone deserves, and is achievable when you put the work
into creating strength and mobility in the joints”.

Meditation

Stress can disrupt not only the hormone system, but also bone health and nutrient use. When we are in a chronic state of stress, much of our energy is spent dealing with the inflammation, circulating cortisol, fast breathing, and stiff muscles that result. The body redirects energy away from deeper levels of tissue such as the reproductive system and bones as it uses it to deal with what it perceives to be 'urgent' and stressful problems. Research shows that elevated levels of cortisol (the ‘stress hormone’) can actually block the body’s ability to absorb calcium, and also blocks those important bone-building cells from creating new bone. The solution? It’s time to focus on de-stressing and relaxing your nervous system.

While a focused yoga practise is well-known for reducing stress, if you're recovering from a bone injury or concerned about joint health, you'll want to focus on relaxing deeper and more often. Incorporate more restorative yoga throughout your week, and aim to establish a daily meditation practices — even five minutes may make a big difference.

Healthy joint and bone foods and vitamins

There are many meals that can assist to nourish bones and joints, but here are several to avoid:

Sugar

Drinking too much alcohol

Finished meats

Caffeine overdose

Carbonated beverages

Too much sodium

Because improperly cooked beans might inhibit calcium absorption, soak your legumes in water for a few hours before cooking to lower phytate levels.

Here's what you can look forward to!

Kale, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, collard greens, sauerkraut, and edamame are all high in vitamin K.

Berries, peppers, broccoli, kiwis, citrus fruits, guava, and papaya are all high in vitamin

Collagen is found in fish, chicken, eggs, garlic, and white tea.

Dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, nuts, lentils, chickpeas, and flax seed are all high in magnesium.

Mushrooms, oily fish, liver, eggs, and sunlight all contain vitamin D.

Nuts, seeds, nut butters, seafood, avocado, walnuts, and flax oil are all high in omega 3.

Calcium-rich foods include organic cheese, yoghurt, milk, leafy greens (excluding spinach), and tahini.