Last week we talked about a healthy diet for arthritis sufferers, on the flip side, here are some pro-inflammatory foods you should try to avoid.

Fatty fats

Consumed properly and in moderation, notorious artery-cloggers like meats, eggs and dairy products can be an important (and delicious) part of a healthy diet. And sometimes it can be hard to find protein and certain vitamins elsewhere.

But these foods also tend to be guilty of containing large amounts of saturated fat and a fatty acids called arachidonic acid, both of which can make inflammation worse. Similarly, trans fats can cause the same problems, but without some of the benefits. Insist on low fat dairy products, lean meats and egg whites.

Sugary Foods and Simple Carbs

This category contains the most obvious pro-inflammatory bad habits… and for many people the most difficult bad habits to break. High-sugar foods such as soft drinks, some juices, candy, pastries, popular “candy coffees” like mochas and blended iced drinks, and sugary cereals can all lead to inflammation (as well as innumerable other problems). The list is long and notorious. High-sugar foods worsen inflammation because they increase levels of pro-inflammatory compounds like cytokines. Foods like white rice and white bread — while less obvious than Snickers bars — can have similar effects.

Nightshades

There’s plenty of debate about nightshades — i.e. foods like potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant — but many experts believe that this family of plants makes inflammation pain worse, despite other, more obvious and well-documented nutritional benefits. The reason lies in a chemical called solanine, a natural substance used by plants as a defense mechanism that has been known to cause pain in some arthritis patients. Since the science here is still unclear, monitor your own reactions to these foods.

TV Dinners & Fast Food

We know the allure — you’re busy, with little time to cook. But cheap, frozen, pre-prepared dinners and fast food taste decent for a reason. Since it’s difficult to lock in more natural flavors in such foods, these meals tend to contain enormous amounts of lowest common denominator ingredients like sodium and cholesterol instead. Despite the tempting benefits, avoid these.

Grimacing about changing your dinners? This kind of diet isn’t that different from what most nutritionists recommend for non-arthritis patients as well. So use the anti-inflammatory benefits as the motivation you’ve been looking for to embrace a healthy lifestyle.

Visit our Guide to Joint Health for more arthritis health and lifestyle tips and remember to continue using Castiva Warming Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion with Capsaicin or Castiva Cooling Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion for fast acting temporary relief from arthritis and joint pain.

There’s not a more discussed topic concerning osteoarthritis relief than diet. This obsession makes sense — diet is one of the few things patients can control while fighting a condition that seems to do little else beyond stripping them of their independence. The science is by no means settled when it comes to diet and arthritis, and it seems like every day there’s a new study claiming something different. But here are a few diet basics you can count on and apply to your daily life:

1. Antioxidants

During inflammation, your body produces something called “free radicals” — basically the unpaired, cell-attacking molecules behind the aging process that are released in response to toxins in your system. Foods rich in antioxidants help lessen the damage done by free radicals, and slow the progression of arthritis.

Antioxidant-rich foods come in all shapes and sizes, but usually include at least one of these elements:

• Vitamin C in most citrus and berries, vegetables and colorful peppers
• Selenium in nuts, tuna, crab, and whole grains
• Beta carotene in sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and greens
• Beta cryptoxanthin in peppers, corn, oranges, watermelon and squash
• Anthocyanidins in most berries, eggplant, plums, and red onion.
• Quercetin in onions, leeks, cherries, tomatoes, blueberries, cocoa powder and red apples.

2. Savory Soys

Soy products like tofu, soy milk and tempeh protect bones through compounds called isoflavones — organic compounds that might also help prevent breast and prostate cancer — plus heavy doses of vitamin E and calcium.

3. Omega 3 Fatty Acids (Salmon, Most Seafoods, Some Eggs, Flaxseeds, Seaweed)

Omega-3s make up one of the healthiest groups you can eat. The fatty acids suppress the production of cytokines and other enzymes that damage bone cartilage. While studies have only proven omega-3s’ positive benefits for rheumatoid arthritis, many experts are recommending the acids for osteoarthritis as well.

4. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

This ubiquitous oil is rich in monounsaturated fat — known also as the “good’ fat — which does wonders for the body by protecting against inflammation. The magic ingredient? Again — antioxidants, this time specifically in a form called polyphenols. An easy way to get more olive oil in your diet is by substituting it for butter or vegetable oil while cooking.

Visit our Guide to Joint Health for more arthritis health and lifestyle tips and remember to continue using Castiva Warming Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion with Capsaicin or Castiva Cooling Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion for fast acting temporary relief from arthritis and joint pain.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, nearly 47.5 million U.S. adults report living with some kind of disability. That’s nearly 15 percent of the total population (and 22 percent of American adults!). Stunning, we know. And which affliction do you think is most common?

You probably guessed it—nearly nine million American adults report living with an arthritis condition, more than any other disability. And the numbers are growing:

A new CDC study shows that 47.5 million US adults (21.8%) reported a disability in 2005, an increase of 3.4 million from 1999. Arthritis or rheumatism continues to be the most common cause of disability, while back or spine problems and heart trouble round out the top three causes.

Among adults reporting a disability, the most commonly identified limitations were difficulty climbing a flight of stairs (21.7 million, 10.0%) and walking 3 city blocks (22.5 million, 10.3%). That means that 1 in 10 adults have trouble walking a distance equal to walking from the parking lot to the back of a large store or through a mall.

The lesson?

You’re not alone. As frightening and frustrating as the pain and loss of independence can be, you’re part of an enormous American community that’s in it together. That means more than eight million people, plus countless more doctors, researchers and care providers are all working together to make life better for arthritis patients.

And the upshot of this is that there’s an enormous amount of attention being paid to your plight, from researching advanced medications to widespread sharing of simple home treatments.

At Castiva, we’re doing what we can to contribute, both with our warming arthritis pain relief lotion with capsaicin and our cooling arthritis pain relief cream, plus the wealth of arthritis information as well as tips for living an active lifestyle with arthritis available on our website to help you live confidently.

We understand the feeling. One of the most difficult aspects of life with arthritis is the loss of control. Something bad is happening in your joints and it’s not your fault. Simple tasks have become more difficult. You can’t live your life the way you want.

Thankfully — with medical advances, treatments like our warming and cooling arthritis relief creams, and simple, common sense everyday activities — there is still so much you CAN manage.

Here are some highlights from our Health and Lifestyle Choices For Arthritis (plus a few more relevant tips we’ve picked up from the arthritis community):

Slim Down/Remember to Eat Properly

If the primary color of your diet is “steak brown,” you might want to add a little color to the plate. Fresh oranges, orange juice and many other fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants and offer more for your joints than that rib eye steak.

Also, did you know that the amount of your vitamin C intake can have effects on arthritis ? Take this diet quiz to see how much there is to learn.

Have a Plan

Limit your sitting time. Sitting loads more forces into the discs of your spine than any other position. Standing all day is not good either. Get up and move around every 45 minutes or so. Stretch and loosen up.

Also, consider reading aides to improve your sitting posture and ease strain on your bones. Be aware of how you are pacing your activities throughout the day, so you won’t be stuck in one position too long. This means driving, working, cleaning, shopping… and even reading.

Cool Swollen Painful Joints

Ice therapy can be great for inflammation, swelling, pain and edema. Don’t run out and waste money on ice packs. You can make them yourself in a one-gallon freezer bag. Put in two parts water and one part rubbing alcohol and toss it in the freezer. Also consider using Castiva Cooling Arthritis Relief Lotion.

Warm Stiff Painful Joints

Warming your joint tissue helps increase blood flow to the affected area and eases joint pain. A hot bath or a good heating pad can do the trick. Also consider using Castiva Warming Arthritis Relief Lotion with capsaicin.

According to the Mayo Clinic and WebMD, proper and regular exercise can help:

• Strengthen the muscles around your joints, and increase joint flexibility
• Build and preserve bone strength
• Leave you with more energy during the day, while making it easier to sleep at night
• Help you lose weight, which makes it easier on your joints.
• Maintain joint movement
• Help keep bone and cartilage tissue healthy

With that in mind, let’s explore some easy ways for you to reduce arthritic pain and improve your overall health through exercise (remember that exercise only helps — don’t substitute workouts for your regular arthritis treatment program).

Workouts for arthritis relief can best be broken down into four categories:

• Range-of-motion exercises like dance help keep your joints moving normally and without stiffness. It just takes simple exercises like raising your arms over your head and rolling your shoulders forward and backward — all designed to move your joints through their normal range of movement. Try to do these daily.
• Strengthening exercises like light weight training and swimming help keep or increase muscle strength. Strong muscles simply protect your affected joints. Try these kinds of workouts every other day, but don’t be afraid to take some time off if the exercises lead to any extra pain or swelling.
• Aerobic/endurance exercises like bike riding, walking and swimming can help you improve cardiovascular fitness, control your weight (important to relieving stress from your already beleaguered joints), give you more energy to get through the day, and improve your overall functionality. Studies have even shown that aerobic exercise can reduce joint inflammation. Try aerobic workouts for 20 to 30 minutes, three times a week.

Check out our Guide to Joint Health for more information and remember to continue using Castiva Warming Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion with Capsaicin or Castiva Cooling Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion for fast acting temporary relief from arthritis and joint pain.

Winter is coming—think you can feel it in your bones? You might not be crazy.

For many arthritis patients, cold weather can, in theory, lead to increased pain, joint stiffness, and other symptoms. Whether via the cooling weather itself, or the oft-coinciding drop in barometric pressure that can swell inflamed arthritic joints and stretch the inflamed joint lining and capsules, almost 93 percent of arthritis patients report fluctuations in pain levels alongside seasonal weather changes.

According to a study done at Johns Hopkins University of 151 people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, patients in all three groups dealt with increased pain on low temperature days. Additionally, rheumatoid arthritis patients reported increased pain alongside high humidity and high pressure; osteoarthritis patients blamed high humidity; and fibromyalgia blamed high pressure.

Time to consider a career in meteorology then, right?

Unfortunately, another Hopkins study of elderly patients in Florida matched arthritis pain levels with daily temperature, barometric pressure and precipitation for two years, and found almost no significant association between weather factors and arthritic pain.

Conflicting science like this can be maddening, especially to people for whom the symptoms — especially pain — are all too immune to debate.

Thankfully, the meteorologists at Accuweather.com launched an arthritis index, making it easy for patients to monitor factors like temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation and humidity that many people believe directly influence their symptoms. (Also check out The Weather Channel’s section on weather-influenced pain).

The best idea is to use tools like Accuweather’s to track weather factors, and then figure out what most effects you. Then consider our warming arthritis pain relief cream with capsaicin or cooling arthritis pain relief cream for times when pain increases, and preventative methods like regular stretching and exercise when pain decreases again.

Check out our joint health guide for more information.

It’s spread around by birds, used to control riots, has caused the disqualification of Olympic animals, and has been known to have similar effects when consumed in food as skydiving.

What exactly, then, is this magical ingredient that Castiva has turned into a warming arthritis relief cream?

As you might know, capsaicin is the active ingredient in chili peppers that can be used as a warming agent on human skin. Today, through Castiva, capsaicin is combined with a castor oil base to form a safe, effective cream that provides muscle and joint relief for arthritis patients. Castiva’s unique technology allows the capsaicin cream to get deep down into the skin, providing real, fast-acting relief from arthritis pain.

It’s entirely safe, all-natural and effective. But that doesn’t mean it’s without a strange and interesting history. Its uses in history have included arthritis pain relief and more. Here’s a little bit more to the story:

• The capsaicin compound was first isolated in crystalline form by a scientist in 1816, and a team produced it synthetically in 1930. Years later, Castiva engineered a way to use capsaicin to relieve arthritis pain and discomfort. (combined the two substances and, well, you know by now that result. -this sounds like we are using crystalline and synthetic capsaicin so suggest we delete and hammer on out benefit message)
• The seeds of Capsicum plants like chili pepper are predominantly dispersed by birds, which just happen to be immune to the “spicy” irritant that effects human skin.
• As you know, capsaicin is often used to spice up foods. But the “spice” doesn’t stop there — the substance has been known to produce euphoric effects in people. Some attribute this to an increase in endorphins brought on by the “pain” of the spiciness (okay—not quite as extreme as those produced by jumping out of an airplane.)
• Capsaicin is the primary active ingredient in pepper spray, which has been the primary active ingredient in busting up post-Super Bowl riots for years. This same irritant is what promotes the positive benefits of Castiva – in the same way if you get that pepper in your eye it irritates, when applied as part of the Castiva formula it works to provide temporary relief from arthritis pain.
• Four horses competing in jumping events tested positive for the substance during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Capsaicin is banned in equestrian sports because of some of the very same qualities that make it effective in arthritis relief.

At Castiva, our topical arthritis pain relief lotion provides an unprecedented level of arthritis pain relief, leading to return to the quality of life you deserve.

But the first step to living comfortably with arthritis is understanding what exactly has happened in your body, and what to expect in the future. So here are some of the basic elements of three of the most common types of arthritis:

Osteoarthritis

You’re probably familiar with this type. As the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis happens when the cartilage at the end of your bones wears away over time. The result is a painful condition where bones rub against each other, causing friction and swelling.

You can feel it in any joint, although you’re most likely to be affected in high-use joints like your hands, or weight-bearing joints like your knees and hips. Since osteoarthritis usually happens as a gradual process over time—and therefore disproportionately affects elderly patients—it’s also sometimes called “degenerative joint disease.”

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This form can affect joints anywhere on the body, but is also most commonly found in the hands, wrists and knees. Instead of a physical and measurable reduction in cartilage, the problem happens within the immune system. The body mistakenly attacks itself, resulting in swelling in the joint lining.

That inflammation can spread to tissues in surrounding parts of the body, and will often damage cartilage and bone over time. Rheumatoid arthritis can even damage other, non-bone areas of the body in extreme cases, causing painful damage to parts like the eyes and skin.

Gout

Goutic arthritis happens most often in the big toes, knees or wrists. Basically, the body simply stops eliminating uric acid—a natural substance in the bloodstream normally discharged through urine. When this process fails, the excess substance forms pin-like crystals on cartilage attached to many joints. The result is swelling and severe pain, and gout patients sometimes even become afflicted with uric kidney stones.

Gout has often been common among affluent societies, where high-purine content wines like champagne and port, and foods like lobster and crab, are more likely to be consumed. As such, gout has also been known throughout history as “Rich Man’s Disease” or “The Disease of Kings”

And more…

Unfortunately, arthritis can happen in several different forms—all featuring some painful combination swelling, stiffness, joint inflammation and tenderness. Learn more about all types of arthritis—and all about achieving arthritis pain relief through Castiva—at our arthritis resources page.

This September, Castiva observes Healthy Aging Month by providing the top 5 tips on the safest, most effective ways to relieve the symptoms of arthritis.

With arthritis becoming one of the most prevalent chronic health problems and the nation’s leading cause of disability among Americans over age 15, it’s clear Americans need help with the management and prevention of pain that comes from this debilitating disease. Symptoms of arthritis include pain, loss of movement and pain with movement in and around joints and arthritis limits everyday activities such as walking, dressing and bathing for more than 7 million Americans.

Dr. Kenneth Hudspeth, M.D., a Board Certified Family Practice physician currently practicing at the Executive Wellness Center of the Heart Hospital of Austin, has pulled together the below top five arthritis tips that are easy, safe and effective ways to manage arthritis pain relief:

• Exercise Regularly: Through moderate exercise, you can improve your overall health and fitness, as well as your arthritis symptoms.
• Consider Massage: Massage brings warmth and relaxation to the painful area.
• Try Over The Counter: Products like Castiva Cooling Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion and Castiva Warming Arthritis Pain Relief Lotion with capsaicin provide sufferers with temporary relief from minor muscle and joint related aches and pains associated with arthritis. Additionally, ibuprofen or aspirin help reduce swelling and alleviate arthritis causing pain.
• Get Enough Sleep: Sleep restores your energy so that you can better manage pain. It also rests your joints to reduce pain and swelling.
• Practice Relaxation: Relaxation can give you a sense of control and well-being that makes it easier to manage pain.