This is from the Sports Injury Newsletter Issue 42. What do you think?
Nourishment for ageing joints
Regular PP contributor Andrew Hamilton is even more upbeat in his detailed account of nutritional strategies to protect the joints from age-related degeneration.
As time goes by, he explains, joints tend to become less flexible, full-range movement more difficult and pain and stiffness ever more apparent. It is these mechanical limitations, more than anything else, that can scupper the best-laid plans of even the most determined veteran athletes.
Nutrients of particular importance for older athletes and should be well supplied in their diets are:
• Vitamin C for collagen formation;
• Omega-3 oils (from nuts, seeds, oily fish and wheat germ) for anti-inflammatory effects;
• Sulphur-containing amino acids (from some vegetables, meat, poultry, fish and dairy products) for joint cartilage health;
• Bioflavinoids (from all fruit and vegetables, and buckwheat) for anti-inflammatory effects and improved local circulation;
• Antioxidants (selenium and vitamin E) for protection against the damaging ‘free radicals’ that proliferate in the body with age;
•· Zinc and copper for a range of protective benefits.
Additionally, Hamilton recommends the following supplements:
• Glucosamine sulphate for reducing pain and stiffness, increasing mobility and offsetting the joint space narrowing that typically occurs in degenerative conditions;
• Chondroitin sulphate , which appears to promote cartilage water retention and elasticity;
•· S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), which plays similar roles to those of glucosamine and may also work as a ‘natural’ antidepressant.
In summary, ‘despite the fact that older athletes are more vulnerable to chronic joint pain and stiffness, you are not powerless to act. While it is obviously vital to get your training right and to incorporate any other rehab/injury prevention techniques deemed necessary…there is also a place for nutrition’.
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