3 Trips Healthy Joint And Muscles

You need healthy joints and muscles to keep moving through life, but few people know what’s actually required to keep the body’s connective tissue vibrant. In this article, I’ll give you three basics for nourishing your muscles and everything that connects them to your skeleton.

A healthy muscle is fluid and pliable like Jello(R). Unhealthy muscles are dried out and stiff like beef jerky. So what does it take to get your tissues supple?

Liquid.
When you’re not fully hydrated, your blood becomes thick and fluid seeps from your muscles to supply your organs. Also, did you know that 60 to 75% of your cartilage, the tissue that facilitates smooth and pain free joint movement, is made of water? The general rule for enough water is two quarts a day. According to Dr. Weil you can also get needed fluids from herbal tea and diluted fruit juice or sports drinks.

Drinking the water is the first step. Getting it into your tissues is the second, which is done through muscular activity. When a muscle contracts, it forces fluid from the surrounding connective tissue. When it relaxes, fresh fluid flows back in. Moving is the second step to hydrating your tissues.

Nutrients.
All cells in your body, including your muscles and nerves, benefit from nutrition. A diet full of vitamins and minerals is essential to staying supple. It’s been found that lack of B Vitamins, especially B-6, play a role in the activation of trigger points. Also, muscle cramps can sometimes be caused by deficiencies of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, or iron.

Movement is also necessary to nourish your tissues, especially your cartilage and intervertebral discs. They have no direct blood flow and depend on the movement of fluid produced by physical activity for nutrients and removal of waste products.

Moderate Activity.
Overworking and overstretching creates injury to your tissues and leaves you with internal scar tissue and/or calcium deposits that surround your muscles with crunchy gunk. It’s better to exercise a bit each day than to do a marathon of activity once or twice a week.

The second article in this series will give more detail about avoiding injury, which is important to reduce your risk of arthritis and other debilitating conditions.

Healthy muscles and joints are created by fluidity, adequate nutrition, and appropriate movement. We are fortunate to have access to all three, so anyone can begin to move more gracefully through life.