Eating Right for Osteoarthritis (OA) of the Knee
Eating certain foods can help keep your knee joints healthy and reduce inflammation, which may slow down the progression of osteoarthritis.
Keeping a moderate weight is very important because extra weight can put more stress on your knees and increase inflammation in the body.
Vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants found in colorful fruits, vegetables, and spices can help protect your joints and reduce osteoarthritis symptoms.
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee happens when cartilage wears away in a joint, and the bone starts to erode. Apart from tissue damage, you'll probably start to experience pain and inflammation.
Some dietary choices can help you take care of your joints.
In this article, find out what you can eat to help boost the health of your knee joints.
How food helps OA
How and what you eat may affect the development of osteoarthritis.
Scientists say that when inflammation occurs, the body produces molecules known as free radicals. Free radicals form in the body in response to toxins and natural processes, including inflammation.
When too many free radicals build up, oxidative stress results. Oxidative stress can contribute to cell and tissue damage throughout the body.
This includes damage to the synovium and cartilage, which play a role in cushioning the knee joint. Oxidative stress can also trigger further inflammation.
Antioxidants are molecules that can help protect the body from free radicals. They're present in the body, and you can also obtain them from plant-based foods.
Researchers don't know exactly how free radicals and oxidative stress affect OA, but some have suggested that consuming antioxidants may help.
Foods to eat
Various nutrients may help boost joint health and reduce inflammation.
The following foods may help delay the onset or progression of osteoarthritis:
fruits and vegetables, which provide antioxidants
low-fat dairy foods, which contain calcium and vitamin D
healthy oils, such as extra virgin olive oil
These foods are a part of an anti-inflammatory diet.
Foods to avoid
Some foods can increase the risk of oxidative stress.
Foods that may have this effect include:
highly processed foods
foods that contain added sugar
unhealthy fats, such as trans fats and saturated fats
red meats
Eating these foods could increase levels of inflammation.
The importance of losing weight
According to guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology and the Arthritis Foundation, maintaining a healthy weight is essential for managing or reducing the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee.
This is because:
Having extra weight puts additional pressure on the knee joint.
Scientists have found a link between obesity and inflammation.
Body fat produces hormones and chemicals that can increase levels of inflammation.
Ways of reducing or managing weight include:
Dine in. Dining in can help you better manage what you eat and how meals are prepared.
Opt for healthy options when dining out. Choose a salad or other light option when you eat out. Also, steer clear of all-you-can-eat and buffet lunches.
Limit your portions. A simple step that can help you limit your portions is using a smaller plate.
Take just one serving. Put enough on your plate the first time so you won't be tempted to take more.
Wait at least 20 minutes before going back for a second helping. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you're no longer hungry.
Avoid the dessert aisle. Instead, stock up your shopping cart with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Color your plate. Fill up half your plate with fresh vegetables of various colors.
Avoid fat- and sugar-heavy processed foods. Opt for fruit-based desserts and make your own salad dressing with lemon juice and olive oil.
Learn more here about the impact of body weight on knee pain.
Vitamin D and calcium
Some scientists have suggested that vitamin D may help prevent or manage osteoarthritis, but the findings have been mixed.
A 2019 review didn't find any evidence that vitamin D can prevent osteoarthritis from progressing but concluded that it may help relieve joint pain in people who have low levels of vitamin D.
Another study found lower levels of osteoarthritis damage in people with high levels of calcium in their blood.
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium. Consuming foods with these nutrients may offer some protection.
You can boost your vitamin D levels through controlled, daily exposure to sunlight, but some vitamin D–rich foods also provide it.
Foods that contain vitamin D, calcium, or both include:
seafood such as wild-caught salmon, cod, sardines, and shrimp
canned fish, such as tuna
fortified milk and other dairy products
eggs
yogurt
green leafy vegetables
Other foods that either contain or are fortified with vitamin D or calcium are:
orange juice
breakfast cereals
tofu
Current guidelines do not recommend taking vitamin D supplements for osteoarthritis, due to the lack of evidence that it can help.
Always discuss any supplements with a doctor before you use them, as some supplements may not be suitable for everyone.
Beta carotene
Beta carotene is another powerful antioxidant. You can identify it easily because it gives fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, their bright orange color. Beta carotene is beneficial for your skin, eyes, and hair.
Other excellent sources include:
Omega-3 fatty acids
Some studies have suggested that having a higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids compared with omega 6 fatty acids may help prevent osteoarthritis.
Tips for getting the right balance include:
using omega-3 oils, such as olive oil, for cooking and salad dressings
eating oily fish twice a week
cutting down on red meats and other animal proteins
consuming a quarter cup of nuts or seeds a day
Omega-3s may work to reduce inflammation in your body by limiting the production of cytokines and enzymes that break down cartilage.
Foods that are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are:
salmon, either wild, fresh, or canned
herring
mackerel, but not king mackerel
sardines
anchovies
rainbow trout
Pacific oysters
omega-3-fortified eggs
ground flaxseed and flaxseed oil
walnuts
Omega-6 fatty acids are present in:
meat and poultry
cereals
eggs
nuts and seeds
some vegetable oils
Current guidelines recommend not taking fish oil supplements, as there is not enough evidence that they can help.
Spices
The nutrients in some spices have anti-inflammatory effects, too. Among the most promising are ginger and turmeric.
In one small study, 30 people who took 1 gram of powdered ginger every day for 8 weeks experienced a reduction in knee pain and improvements in mobility and quality of life.
To add ginger to your diet, try the following:
Grate fresh ginger into stir-fries or salad dressings.
Infuse chopped ginger in boiling water to make ginger tea.
Add powdered ginger to high-fiber, low-fat muffins.
Add fresh or powdered ginger to cakes, cookies, curries, and apple dishes.
Turmeric is a mustard-yellow spice from Asia and the main ingredient in yellow curry. It consists mainly of curcumin.
Studies have shown that taking around 1 g of curcumin for 8–12 weeks may help relieve pain and inflammation in osteoarthritis.
You can buy turmeric products and supplements online. Always check first with your doctor to make sure any supplements are safe for you to use.
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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How improving your wellness can boost your career
Is good health truly the path to happiness? For companies around the world, fostering good wellness habits among their employees is becoming increasingly important. On this episode of Financial Freestyle, host Ross Mac speaks with the CEO and co-founder of Wellhub Cesar Carvalho about his company's goal to democratize wellness in the workplace. Cesar discusses how the Covid pandemic shifted his business model, how AI can help improve wellness, and lifestyle tips that will make an impact on your life and career. Listen and subscribe to Financial Freestyle on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Financial Freestyle with Ross Mac on Yahoo Finance is dedicated to promoting economic prosperity for all. Through expert insights, practical advice, and inspiring success stories, we empower you to build and grow wealth. Join us on this transformative journey toward financial freedom and inclusive economic growth. The way you exercise influences how you sleep, how, you know, your mental health is, and how you're gonna eat better as well. And the same way, if you're eating better, you're gonna sleep better and have more energy to exercise and to perform better at work. So, several of our clients had this realization thatWellness is holistic, and they pushed us to go into that direction. Welcome to Financial Freestyle here on Yahoo Finance, and I'm your host, Ross Mack. Now look guys, no matter where you are in your financial journey, you could always learn more and that's why I'm talking to some of the most influential people in uncovering their own pathway to becoming financially successful. And today is no different as I'm interviewing the CEO and co-founder of Whale Hub, Cesar Carvalho. Cesar, my man, my man, my man. Thanks so much for joining us. How are you doing today, brother? I'm doing great, Ross. Thank you for having me. I'm loving the color you got on the microphone, you know, great minds think a it's it's it's a sign that it's starting to get a little warmer outside. But listen, right? Obviously I did a lot of digging into understanding and uncovering who you are, but to our audience, right?Who is Cesar Cavallo? Very good. Hello everyone. I'm a Brazilian living in New York. I've been here for 6 years, and maybe to share a little bit on me, I have always been an active person, an active kid, and when I transitioned into my professional life, I kind of ignored a few important steps uh of a great life. Like II was working so hard, wrestling so hard that I lost connection with my friends, you know, with some of my family members. I lost the connection with my own well-being, and that's what inspired me 13 years ago, to take a break from my MBA and start a company that would help many other people solve the issues I had when I was a the mission is democratizing access to health and wellness to everyone and every company. That's how well Wellhub came to exist, and this is why like I'm so excited 13 years after to talk about the the company, talk about myself and about what I like to do. Well, one, big kudos to you, right? Obviously, you and I share a few similarities and passions, right? I'm trying to democratize access to financial information. Obviously you're democratizing access to financial well-being. And obviously, right, you started out maybe more so just kind of in the the workout phase, but then you kind of expanded it more so holistically. What was the driving factor behind that? Well, the it started with our corporate clients, like, we mostly go to market via partnerships with companies offering well help to their employees, right? And those clients were pushing for a more complete in their minds was the right assumption that like wellness is holistic, you know, and how you work out the way you exercise influences how you sleep, how, you know, your mental health is, and how you're gonna eat better as well. And the same way, if you're eating better, you're gonna sleep better and have more energy to exercise and to perform better at work. So several of our clients had this realization thatWellness is holistic, and they pushed us to go into that direction. Once we took the first steps, signed the first pilots, what we saw was a virtual cycle, and users that engaged with more than one type of, you know, vertical of wellness, you know, like, they became way more engaged and got way better results, and they ended up staying with the platform for then it became a natural extension for what we did, and eventually it led to changing the name of the company to EHubb, which stands for being the hub for everything related to Wellness for every single employee. I love it. Well, listen, clearly you're an expert in this field, so we got to dispel a few myths, right? Cause every time you're an entrepreneur, everybody's like, ah, I sleep when I'm dead, right? How many hours of sleep should a person get? Let's just start there. Well, it, it varies from one from from person to person, you know, I normally say that people's wellness journey is like their fingerprint. Everyone has their own, but you know like anyone should target sleeping at least 7 hours every night, you know, and as much as the amount of hours, it's actually important to make sure that that sleep is of a good quality, you there are very few tips that are very impactful to helping people sleep better, and we see that across all our partners on this type of vertical, um, and I'm happy to share with you if it's, you know, if it if it would be helpful here for, for the audience. Well, one, I, I want you to share this with my 4 year old who seems to never want to sleep and always come and wake me up, so I might need to borrow you after this. But no, no, no, we, we could keep going because I am curious, right? Like didn't just drop out of an NBA program, you dropped out of one of the best, right? That being Harvard. Let's actually talk about that, like, what was the turning point to make you say?Now's the time. Now is the time for me to go full time in my business, as opposed to, you know, let me just stand here, probably stick it out for another year and a half or whatever, right? Like, what was the turning point to make you say, let's go. Now is the time. Yeah, it started when, you know, I needed to decide what was gonna invest my summer, uh, uh, in between the first and the 2nd year. And my career prior to the NBA was quite a stable one, you know, like I worked at McKinsey before for 2 years. I did well. McKinsey sponsored my MBA and I had an offer to go back and work for at least 2 more years, doing a similar role as I was doing before. So,That allowed me to like really push for that summer internship to beOne that I would go for defenses, you know, like I would try for a home run. I would try something very different than I was used to. And, you know, I did a workshop during the NBA uh in which I kind of mentalized what was the ideal work environment for me, the one in which I would thrive, the one in which I wouldn't see the time passing by and etc. andThat environment meant I would be working with people I liked, friends that were close to me, and tackling on a challenge that was a difficult one, you know, like and hard to get, andI wanted that summer internship to be something that was exactly, exactly that, you know, so two other friends of mine, uh, got together with me. We all traveled back to Brazil to start our business that I was doing HBS my co-founder, one of my co-founders was working at uh doing his MBA at MIT, and we went all in, uh, with Waldhub. But in the 1st 2 or 3 months, you know, like, it was still the early days, there were no clear signs of I was having so much fun. I was enjoying so much what I was doing, and I was so deeply connected to the mission of getting people to exercise, getting people to be healthy, active, that I said there's no other thing I should be doing for my life. Like, and, uh, Harvard was gracious enough to give me up to 5 years to come back if I wanted to still be working on my business. And, you know, eventually the 5 years passed, I never got back because, you know, like, I'm having the time of my life still. I love it. Well, maybe we'll get them to let you do the, um, you know, the, the commencement speech and then you can get like an honorary or whatever. Not that you need it, right? But let's actually kind of go back into those early stages because I think, you know,The audience that are listening to this, I think they could truly, you know, understand how to take an idea from a concept to actually executing because I, I look at good companies as like, you know, 10% good idea, 90% execution. And so when you, let's talk about those early stages and how you started to convince those gyms, those studios, and those corporations to actually partner with you. For sure. It, it started with gym, studios and wellness apps, right? How to get them to sign to an idea to a vision, and we didn't have much at the beginning. We just had this dream that every single employee should have access to this, you know. Uh, so there was actually a lot of work put on the design of the value proposition for those, uh, wellness partners to join in the first place, you know, one of them was that it needed to be free for they needed to share our success if we were successful, and they couldn't be penalized if we were not, right? So we designed the incentive schemes to make it a no brainer for them to join the platform. Like, they would get paid every time someone used them, and they would never invest a dime in being part of the then once we had enough critical mass, a network of partners that was decent for a given city, several neighborhoods, we had a business case of pitching to small and medium companies who they had employees in those areas, you that was when we started making those connections, and we started spinning the flywheel that led to the business growth. And the flywheel is getting partners to be on the network, having an amazing offering, an amazing plan for employees of companies, then getting the company to invest on a program like this for the employees, getting people to sign up and to use the then the more partners we have, the easier it was to get more companies to sign up, and the more companies we had, the easier it got to get more employees to sign up and therefore more volume, more payments to our very early in the journey, we saw that, you know, once we sign a given company of a given industry, let's say we signed a bank in that specific city, it was 10 times easier to sign the other bank of the same industry than to sign a new company in a completely different industry. The reason being that they normally one another to compare, like, what, what, what are the benefits that are offered to the employees? What are things the employees are liking and, you know, there, it was often that employees would shift from one company to the other, and then they would push to get that benefit also in the next company. And that has fueled our growth. First, in the same city, then in all cities in a given country, and now we're in 12 countries still signing new clients in every single one of them. That's remarkable.I think, I mean, when you look at this, like in order to get to critical mass, I love how you say you started out giving it for free. It's only upside at this point and there's an opportunity also to make money and as the network did, um, you know, more people got on, more partners got on, more clients got on. So that's remarkable. Question, right? How would you say the pandemicshifted kind of your overall business, right? Like, obviously, you know, from a mental health standpoint, the world was kind of going crazy, right? Shut down, work from home. But then on top of that, right, there was an emergence of people saying, All right, I'm working from home, let me work out more, right? You saw people with Pelotons, etc. But just in all, like kind of what was that during the pandemic as well as post pandemic shift when it comes to overall wellness. Yeah, in, in general, the pandemic accelerated a lot of secular trends that we were already seeing in the workplace, in consumer habits, and etc. you know, and um a lot of that got maybe accelerated 2 or 3 years. And even though gyms and studios were closed for most of the time there, the need for a wellness service was higher than companies. They were all sending their employees home. Everyone was disengaged, everyone struggling for mental health and etc. and they couldn't be close to people they loved and etc. So that made our mission even more important to our clients and our corporate clients challenged us a lot to evolve the, the, the product and to make sure we are being close to every single one of their employees. So a few things happened, you know. One,In terms of our network of gyms, studios, etc. there was a push to expand beyond the large metropolitan areas. So we needed to expand to all the suburban areas, rural areas, and that led to a lot of new partners joining our network and a lot of people using those partners. It was not only about the business areas, Manhattan, Midtown, etc. the loop in Chicago anymore. It was about all the other areas. Our product became way more then it was about also getting into nutrition, sleep, mindfulness, therapy, all verticals that were really important at that time, and we made sure to include to the uh to the clients as well. That's remarkable. Guys, we're gonna take a quick, quick break, but when we come back, we're gonna talk to Cesar Carvalho and actually help you understand how he built a unicorn right, welcome back to Financial Freestyle. And listen, guys, we have more with Cesar Carvalho, CEO and co-founder of Whale Hub. Killing the wellness space. And so I actually got to ask you, right, Cesar, what's the secret sauce, right? Because obviously you have other people that are trying to do what you're doing. Some people do it OK, some people don't do it good at all. But what's your secret sauce in keeping you guys obviously successful and growing? No, for sure, you know, like the secret sauce here is helping people change behavior at scale, because if you're a company with more than 1000 employees, you know, a solution that works for one employee will never be the perfect one for the other, etc. you know, and while most benefits in our space have 34, 5% of the employees using it every single month, we get to rates on average close to 20%.And in the most engaged clients, close to 40%. And to me, it is about having the right product for every single employee, you know, and in wellness.I, I, I normally say it's like the movies industry. Every 1 or 2 years there's a blockbuster, and everyone goes after it. When I started the company, Pilates was the thing, then CrossFit became the thing, Cycling, Peloton was the thing, and now Pico Pico Ball and racket sports are on the rise. A year from today, another 2 years, you know, like, it's gonna be a different uh benefit is we as a platform have all of them available for our employees, you know, and it costs less, you know, they have flexibility to try a number of things and they can navigate all these trends without having to cancel nor commit to long term memberships, which eventually leads to them, employees losing money uh across the board. having the right product for everyone, for less and more options is what gets people engaged and what in turn helps companies dramatically change the behaviors of their employees at I'mprobably the only person that didn't get the memo when it comes to the shift, and my wife is still mad at me because, you know, a few times a week I'm still playing basketball and it's to the point where it's like if I get injured, it's like I can't even tell my wife because it's literally a, I told you so. Stop doing that. You're too old to be playing basketball, but it's, I don't know. I I I got to figure it out. But listen, Cesar, I'm talk about how AI, right, is shifting one, the overall personalized wellness right, how are you guys utilizing it and kind of what do you think in the next coming years how AI will, you know, evenGet even bigger inthis space. Yeah, and I think we will be very, very big in this space. And the main reason for me is that if you look at what's luxury in wellness today, luxury is having a wellness coach, you know, to like draft workout schedule, you know, like a nutrition plan and etc. Luxury is having a personal trainer to exercise with you, to specifically customize and those one on one services are super expensive, you know, like people can get access to that, but that's a small fraction of the population. And AI will play a key role in democratizing access to all those services, to all that personalization, to every for a very low cost. And like that's where we're investing time and attention, and like we're now uh using AI to simulate what is the work that all these different people, a nutritionist, a wellness coach, a personal trainer, would have, and they're currently doing that work, and we're using our trainers and etc. to, toTo train the AI, but we're making that available to every single employee. We're now finishing our pilot on that. We have a few users and all of our employees, but it's something we're looking forward to rolling out soon to every single member and every single subscriber. And I think that's just the beginning of the will be many more things that are gonna be developed by AI and with uh products with AI that will dramatically lower the cost of everything related to wellness, especially if it's digitally delivered via, you know, calls or via video conferences and etc. What would you say, right, as a CEO of a fast growing company, what are some of your non-negotiable health regimens, right?You know, like, how do you maintain and stay healthy? Look, I'll share in what's right for me, and then I'll comment on like a perspective. I wish everyone could take on this on this matter, but the, you know, what works really well for me is putting physical activity first, because once I start my day,And I get into all the meetings, all the responsibilities that will be left behind. So I try to put that first. So every time I wake up, when I'm at home, you know, I have an hour to exercise, I would use one of our partner apps or I go to a gym or studio nearby, and I get my workout done, you know. Once that is checked, I consider the second most important thing to be close to myFamily, when I'm at home, I prepare breakfast to my kids. I take them to school, and it's my time with them, and they can count on me being there for those two things, no matter what, right? So no negotiable for me. I have no meetings between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., which are the 45 minutes I need to get them ready to go to school, to talk to them and be ready to start my work. Once that's done,Work and then I'm, I focused completely on on my work and I tend to have a pause midday, normally 30 to have lunch or after I already had lunch, to meditate, and I stop, it's the time to reground myself and prepare for the second half, you know, the rest of the matter what I'm doing when I'm traveling. At 7:30 p.m. I always put a pause on my calendar to reconnect with my wife and kids. I call them every time, 7:30 p.m. Eastern. It doesn't matter where I am. I might be on the west coast, in Europe or in Asia. I will wake up and give them a call and they expect it. They have that predictable commitment from me as well. Uh, the last part is making sure I connect with my dad at least 4 times a to see how he's doing, etc. We live in different countries, uh, but I think I'm closer to him now than I was when we were in like in the, in the same state, and just living in two different the comment I have, you know, like for everyone is that, you know,To get most of it right, you don't need to be waking up at 3 a.m., 40 a.m., 5 a.m. You don't need to be doing infrared saunas, cold plunges, and going to all the different locations. I think the basics are what you need to get right for an 80% for receiving 80% of the value or the benefit. And the basics to me are, you know, 120 minutes of physical activity a week, twice a week, you sleeping well, 7 hours, trying to eat know, andTaking some time to reflect and nurture good relationships and healthy relationships with your loved ones, you know. If people get those things right and they're so basic, so simple, you know, you already cover 80% of the wellness need, and then you can invest time on everything else that's gonna make your life more productive and yourself happier. That's powerful. This was a remarkable, remarkable episode. I just want to give a big special thanks to Cesar Cavallio, who just really helped open my eyes when it comes to this whole wellness journey. A few things that I didn't know and probably things that I need to incorporate in my own kind of daily routine. But look guys, that's it for this episode. Make sure you like, subscribe, comment, share it with a relative, a neighbor, somebody who used to bully you in kindergarten. I don't care, but just share it with once again, we're coming out every Friday. Make sure you like, subscribe, and until next week, have a good one. This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services. Related Videos What United's New Profit Forecast Signals for Airlines Waller Explains Why Fed Should Cut Rates Now MikMak sees Potential for Advertising Clients on Netflix Retail sales rebound, jobless claims: Consumer health check-in Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pfizer (PFE) and Bristol Myers (BMY) Launch Direct-to-Patient Eliquis Program
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Gizmodo
10 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
Man Wearing Chain Necklace in Critical Condition After Getting Sucked Into MRI Machine
A 61-year-old man in Westbury, New York, is in critical condition after he was sucked into an MRI machine, according to reports from several news outlets. The man was wearing a chain necklace, and authorities suggest the man mistakenly walked into a room during a scan for someone else at Nassau Open MRI on Wednesday. The necklace was described as a 'large metallic chain,' according to a statement posted online by the Nassau County Police Department. 'According to Detectives, officers responded to a 911 call for an aided at the Nassau Open MRI located at 1570 Old Country Road. Upon arrival, officers were informed that a male, 61, entered an unauthorized Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) room while the scan was in progress,' the police said in a statement. 'The male victim was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck causing him to be drawn into the machine which resulted in a medical episode. The Nassau County Police Department responded to assist the aided where he was transported to a local area hospital. He is listed in critical condition. The investigation is ongoing,' the police statement from Thursday continued. The man hasn't been identified, and his current condition hasn't been released. Fox 5 New York reports patients who showed up for appointments on Thursday were turned away. The local camera crew also captured video of the big signs at Nassau Open MRI that read 'MRI Do Not Enter' and 'Posted no trespassing, keep out.' The news channel also spoke with a representative at nearby Northwell Health System who explained the rigorous protocols followed to ensure that unwanted visitors don't just wander into an MRI scan. Anyone who undergoes an MRI is questioned repeatedly about any metal that may be on their person, along with anything metal that might be implanted in their bodies. There have been horror stories over the years involving MRI machines, including a recent incident where a woman didn't disclose that she was wearing a butt plug. There was also the woman who got shot in the butt by her own gun back in 2023 after failing to disclose she had a firearm during her MRI. The power of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine is no joke. There are some that can even pick up a tank. So it makes sense that anything metal coming in close proximity to the magnet powering the MRI has the potential to cause a lot of damage. Nassau Open MRI didn't respond to an email with questions on Friday, but it seems to have posted new content to its Facebook page since the incident without addressing what happened.
