How to Get the Most from JointStart Products
How to Get the Most from JointStart Products
Painful joints can range in severity from mild to debilitating. One of the primary ways to combat painful joints is to take a high quality joint supplement like JOINTSTART™, which combines the proven forces of MSM and Glucosamine with a special blend of anti-inflammatory compounds. JOINTSTART helps to rebuild cartilage and connective tissues, as well as to reduce joint pain. But we recognize that supplements alone may not totally reverse your symptoms. This is why I suggest those using these products also adopt certain dietary controls to help further control inflammatory and arthritic conditions.
Nightshades
It’s well known that members of the nightshade family (i.e. chili peppers, bell peppers, potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes) can aggravate arthritic conditions in susceptible people. It is the presence of a toxic compound called solanine in these plants, which can be poisonous to both animals and humans, that causes an adverse response. Solanine is part of the defense mechanism of these plants, and discourages animals from eating them as well as serving to repel insects.
According to one expert (Lona Sandon, PhD, associate professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas), if you want to test out whether or not you are sensitive to nightshades, avoid eating them for two weeks, and then slowly introduce them back into the diet. “Allow about three days between each one. If these foods seem to increase your symptoms, avoid them and substitute other sources of key nutrients.” (Source)
There are, in fact, researchers who believe that the diagnosis of arthritis may be incorrect when applied to people who are just suffering from joint pain and inflammation due to their consumption of the nightshade foods. These researchers have found that if such people (roughly one third of those diagnosed with arthritis) avoid all nightshades for up to six months, they will find their symptoms to resolve. (Source)
So, it might be wise to reduce or eliminate these foods from your diet if you have arthritis, but this approach may only be necessary for certain people.
The Blood Type Diet
According to the book “Eat Right For Your Type”, by Dr. Peter D’Adamo, the nightshades are only a particular problem for those people with blood types A and B, and they will not be an issue for the other blood types. (Aside from helping with arthritic conditions, giving up nightshades can especially help to relieve symptoms of cystitis, lupus and psoriasis, in those two blood types.)
As a nutritional consultant I have over the years repeatedly seen a positive response from clients who follow the Blood Type Diet, popularized by Dr. D’Adamo in his aforementioned book. The areas that have produced the most positive feedback have been arthritis, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory conditions, blood sugar regulation, and weight loss. (For autoimmune diseases it is also necessary to reverse leaky gut syndrome, detailed in my blog, How 3 Nutrients Can Heal Most Diseases.)
Lectins
The key factor to the blood type diet is the concept of “lectins”. These are a form of protein that functions as a type of glue, a way for organisms in nature to attach themselves to other organisms. These lectins are found in cells, bacteria, microbes, and food, and if they are incompatible with your blood type antigen, then they will settle in different organs and body systems. There they draw other cells to that region and clump the cells together, where the body perceives them as foreign invaders and attacks them. This clumping can trigger irritable bowel syndrome if they settle in the intestines, cirrhosis if they settle in the liver, or arthritis if they settle in the joints.
Most lectins from food don’t make it very far into the body, but about 5% of the lectins that we eat get into the bloodstream, where they react with blood cells. This only becomes a problem if your blood type is reactive to that particular lectin. Thus, a food containing a certain lectin can be beneficial for one blood type, but dangerous for another.
The scientific community generally has little use for the blood type theory, but must admit two things: lectins show up under a microscope, and certain blood types get more of certain diseases than other blood types. (Example: “A recent study co authored by Canadian Blood Services’ chief scientist, Dr. Dana Devine, shows that people with blood groups A or AB are more likely to have a severe COVID infection than people with blood groups B or O.” Source)
These facts, combined with years of feedback from Naturopaths, and individuals who have used this diet effectively for a number of ailments, suggests that science will eventually take a closer look at it.
There are studies done with rabbits, where lectins derived from lentils are injected into the knee joint cavity, resulting in the development of arthritis showing all the properties of rheumatoid arthritis. Now, the medical response is usually that we don’t inject food, and the digestive process will break up any mildly toxic compounds. However, if we have a leaky gut, which is extremely common these days, those offensive lectins can enter the bloodstream through the gut wall before being fully broken apart by the digestive system.
In order to cut to the chase, I will at this point simply state that, for our purposes, detrimental lectins create an inflammatory response in the body. Since inflammatory mechanisms are now linked to most major diseases (colitis, psoriasis, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, etc) the benefits of excluding certain offending foods from our diets are broad indeed.
At this point, one really needs to find out their blood type, procure a copy of Dr. Adamo’s book, and read the section on your blood type, paying specific attention to when “lectins” are mentioned. These foods then should be mostly eliminated from your diet and only consumed on rare or special occasions.
(Finding out your blood type is not covered by the free Canadian Medical Services unless you require surgery, but if you donate blood you can find out for free. There are also cheap tests you can buy online and do at home.)
Glucosamine
Many people use glucosamine and/or chrondroitin as a natural treatment for arthritic conditions, and often with great success. Yet, it turns out that these substances may be effective because of lectin-blocking actions. It has been shown that glucosamine binds very effectively to wheat germ lectins (wheat being a particularly aggravating food for those with type O blood). (Source)
So, it is very possible that glucosamine and chrondroitin work by sacrificing themselves, reacting with lectins thereby neutralizing the lectins and preventing them from reacting with the inflamed tissue. Thus the benefits of glucosamine and chrondroitin supplementation may be due to mimicking the effects of a low lectin diet.
Another potential cause of arthritic symptoms is uric acid crystals, which deposit in the joints resulting in pain and inflammation (commonly known as gout). Red meat is one of the main sources of excessive uric acid in the body, and according to the Blood Type Diet, certain blood types (A and AB) do not digest meat well and should consume less of it than other blood types (O and B).
Certain other foods can also contribute to increased uric acid levels. These include foods high in purines such as shellfish, organ meats, rich fatty foods (cream, sauces), alcohol, yeast, herring, sardines, anchovies, and high levels of niacin (over 100 mg a day). If you are eating high amounts of these foods you may want to stop for a while, and see if your symptoms improve.
A particular type of sugar, fructose, has also recently been linked to increasing uric acid levels and causing gout. Fructose is found naturally occurring in fruit and honey, but is most abundant in man-made sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup, and in white sugar which is made up of glucose and fuctose. When fructose is broken down in the body, purines are released and when these are broken down, uric acid is produced. This all occurs within minutes of consuming fructose. These uric acid crystals cause the pain of gout but can also contribute to general arthritic pain. Therefore, when controlling arthritic symptoms, one clearly needs to avoid the purine containing foods, especially refined sugars. (Source)
Essential Fatty Acids
Omega 3 essential fatty acids increase the production of prostaglandins, which help to reduce inflammation, and thus pain. However, omega 6 fatty acids (mostly from seed oils: corn, safflower, sesame, soy, and sunflower oils), contribute greatly to inflammation in the body and should be mostly avoided.
Omega 3’s can be added to the diet in the form of flaxseed oil, fish oil, or krill oil capsules (if you want to use flax oil capsules, remember that it takes 14 capsules to equal one tablespoon of flax oil.) Because fish and krill oils are pre-formed omega 3s (containing DHA and EPA) they are essentially more complete, and therefore many times stronger than flax oil.
Krill oil is more powerful than fish oil because the phospholipid structure of the omega 3s found in krill oil makes them easier to absorb than the triglyceride form found in fish, and allows easier entrance into the cells of the body. Krill oil is considered to be at least five times more effective than a similar amount of regular fish oil, and also offers 40 times more antioxidant protection than common fish oils because it contains the antioxidants astaxanthin and canthaxanthin. This is why you can take less krill oil (only three small caps per day is the therapeutic dose), and get the same beneficial effects as derived from a large amount of fish oils.
Antioxidants
Since antioxidants are well proven to have anti-inflammatory properties it makes sense to ensure we have a good supply of them from both supplements and the diet. The important nutritive antioxidants are beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium
Beyond the nutritive antioxidants there is further benefit to be gained from those found in herbs, berries, and superfoods. For example, grape seed extract and pycnogenol (pine bark extract) are also powerful free radical inhibitors because they contain proanthocyanidins (PCOs), which increase intracellular levels of vitamin C, scavenge free radicals, and inhibit the destruction of collagen. PCOs also prevent the release of compounds in the body that promote inflammation and allergies.
Vitamin C aside from being an antioxidant, is also required by the body for collagen production, which maintains healthy tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Copper and silica also contribute to collagen production.
Manganese increases the antioxidant SuperOxide Dismutase (SOD) levels in the body, which protects cells from damage and inflammation. (SOD injections are routinely used in Europe as a treatment for inflammatory conditions including arthritis.)
Here, I would suggest that one consider adding our NutriPods to their arthritic regimen, since it contains all the basic nutritive antioxidants in higher amounts than ordinary multivitamin products can provide, and includes copper, manganese, silica, and boron (in the gender-specific formulations), and sources of the trace minerals. As well, NutriPods include bioflavonoids and grape seed extract, to further fill out the antioxidant profile, along with fish oil, essentially covering most of the bases we have been discussing.
Those with severe arthritis might be advised to also use our Bamboo Silica product, as I had one client who claimed to have reversed her arthritic symptoms with this supplement alone. Bamboo extract is the richest known source of silica, containing over 70% organic silica, and is ten times more potent than horsetail silica. Silica helps in maintaining the integrity and health of the skin, ligaments, tendons, and bones
Conclusion
The JointStart family of supplements helps reduce pain from joint degeneration and arthritis. JointStart Supreme is the newest member of the JointStart family and contains NEM (Natural Eggshell Membrane) and Hyaluronic acid (which provides natural joint lubrication). The Supreme product is for those with severe joint pain. For those with rheumatoid arthritis, JointStart Premium is a better choice, while JointStart Original focuses more on rebuilding connective tissue in conditions where the pain is less severe.
Thus a dramatic program for treating severe arthritis would be to use a JointStart product, NutriKrill, Bamboo Silica, and NutriPods. If you should choose to give this program a try, please let us know what results you obtain, so that we can share your experience with our readers.