Saturday, September 7, 2013

Green Lipped Mussels and Antioxidants - Do They Help Arthritis?


What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is a joint disorder that causes inflammation of one or more joints. This disorder affects the cartilage in the joints, which aid in shock absorption and smooth movements, making the bones rub against each other, which leads to swelling, stiffness, chronic pain and severe inflammation. Arthritis is commonly caused by injuries, wear and tear on your joints, autoimmune disorders or an infection by a virus or bacteria.

Do Green Lipped Mussels Help with Arthritis

When you are diagnosed with arthritis, you will be given a number of medications bring relief from the pain or inflammation it causes. Many of these medications have adverse side effects. One way to avoid these side effects is by resorting to natural supplements such as green lipped mussels. Green lipped mussels are native to New Zealand and extracts from these mussels have been found to contain omega-3 fatty acids which have strong anti-inflammatory abilities. Green lipped Mussels have a unique combination of minerals, natural proteins and mucopolysaccharides which improve joint mobility and assist in cartilage maintenance. This makes this supplement particularly effective in reducing arthritic pain and other symptoms related to arthritis.

Persons who use green lipped mussel supplements have been known to show marked improvement within 6 weeks of use. There are many other clinical studies conducted that support the use of green lipped mussel supplements in fighting the inflammation associated with arthritis.

Antioxidants and Arthritis

In addition to green lipped mussels, anti-oxidants have been found helpful in reducing the effects of arthritis. When the body is inflamed or under any form of stress, it produces free radicals. These free radicals are very unstable and cause damage to the cells of your body. This in fact worsens the inflammation. Therefore, the more free radicals one has, the more the severe the inflammation especially for people with arthritis.

One way of minimizing inflammation in the body is by neutralizing free radicals. This is best done by using antioxidants. A paper published in Journal of Clinical Rheumatology, on antioxidants and arthritis, show that antioxidants can help reduce inflammation caused by arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis. This evidence supports the use of antioxidants in minimizing arthritis. There are many other similar clinical studies, which have led to the same conclusions.

It is worthwhile to note that although the body can fight free radicals by eating antioxidant rich food, modern lifestyles and farming technology has reduced the level of antioxidants available in food. This has made it very difficult to get adequate amounts of antioxidants solely from eating food. Many persons have turned to supplements to increase their intake of antioxidants leading one to take antioxidant supplements from sources such as green lipped mussels.

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