Five Supplements That Actually Work Vs Arthritis

In partnership with

In A Rush?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Arthritis, in its various forms, can be a real pain in multiple ways; from the inflammation itself, to the grating of bone on bone when cartilage is damaged.

  • Today’s main feature looks at a rheumatologist’s recommendations of which supplements are well-evidenced as tackling each part of that.

• We know that 10almonds readers like being presented with well-sourced information, with the ability to follow-up on it if desired.

  • Today’s sponsor 1440 has a similar view, different field: they specialize in presenting the news as neutrally as they can!

• Today’s featured book is about cooking for longevity and increasing healthspan with good application of science!

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

A Word To The Wise

Watch and Learn

How To Survive A Heart Attack When You're Alone

Dr. Alan Mandel emphasizes the importance of staying calm and following these steps to improve survival chances:

Prefer text? The above video will take you to a 10almonds page with a text-overview, as well as the video!

Tuesday’s Expert Insights

Five Supplements That Actually Work Vs Arthritis

This is Dr. Diana Girnita, a double board-certified physician (internal medicine & rheumatology) who, in addition to her MD, also has a PhD in immunology—bearing in mind that rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition.

Her mission is to help people with any form of arthritis (rheumatoid or otherwise) and those with many non-arthritic autoimmune conditions (ranging from tendonitis to lupus) to live better.

Today, we’ll be looking at her recommendations of 5 supplements that actually help alleviate arthritis:

Collagen

Collagen famously supports skin, nails, bones, and joint cartilage; Dr. Girnita advises that it’s particularly beneficial for osteoarthritis.

Specifically, she recommends either collagen peptides or hydrolyzed collagen, as they are most absorbable. However, collagen can also be sourced from foods like bone broth, fish with skin and bones, and gelatin-based foods.

If you’re vegetarian/vegan, then it becomes important to simply consume the ingredients for collagen, because like most animals, we can synthesize it ourselves provided we get the necessary nutrients. For more on that, see:

We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

Glucosamine & chondroitin

Technically two things, but almost always sold/taken together. Naturally found in joint cartilage, it can slow cartilage breakdown and reduce pain in osteoarthritis.

Studies show pain relief, especially in moderate-to-severe cases; best taken long-term. Additionally, it’s a better option than NSAIDs for patients with heart or gastrointestinal issues.

10almonds tip: something that’s tricker to find as a supplement than glucosamine and chondroitin, but you might want to check it out:

Cucumber Extract Beats Glucosamine & Chondroitin… At 1/135th Of The Dose?!

Omega-3 fatty acids

Dr. Girnita recommends this one because unlike the above recommendations that mainly help reduce/reverse the joint damage itself, omega-3 reduces inflammation, pain, and stiffness, and can decrease or eliminate the need for NSAIDs in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

She recommends 2-4g EPA/DHA daily; ideally taken with a meal for better absorption.

She also recommends to look for mercury-free options—algae-derived are usually better than fish-derived, but check for certification either way! See also:

What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us

Boswellia serrata (frankincense)

Popularly enjoyed as an incense but also available in supplement form, it contains boswellic acid, which reduces inflammation and cartilage damage.

Dr. Girnita recommends 100 mg daily, but advises that it may interact with some antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, and NSAIDs—so speak with your pharmacist/doctor if unsure.

We also wrote about this one here:

Science-Based Alternative Pain Relief

Curcumin (turmeric)

Well-known for its potent anti-inflammatory properties, it’s comparable to NSAIDs in pain relief for most common forms of arthritis.

Dr. Girnita recommends 1–1.5g of curcumin daily, ideally combined with black pepper for better absorption:

Why Curcumin (Turmeric) Is Worth Its Weight In Gold

Lastly…

Dr. Girnita advises to not blindly trust supplements, but rather, to test them for 2–3 months while keeping a journal of your symptoms. If it improves things for you, keep it up, if not, discontinue. Humans can be complicated and not everything will work exactly the same way for everyone!

For more on dealing with chronic pain specifically, by the way, check out:

Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)

Take care!

Our Sponsors Make This Publication Possible

Looking for unbiased, fact-based news? Join 1440 today.

Upgrade your news intake with 1440! Dive into a daily newsletter trusted by millions for its comprehensive, 5-minute snapshot of the world's happenings. We navigate through over 100 sources to bring you fact-based news on politics, business, and culture—minus the bias and absolutely free.

Subscribe to 1440 today.

Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

This Or That?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday we asked you to choose between mango and papaya—we picked the mango (click here to read about why), as did 43% of you!

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

Bonus (Sponsored) Recommendation

If you want that minimal-bias news that we mentioned, by the way, now’s the perfect time to opt-in here before you forget!

One-Minute Book Review

Cooking for Longevity: A Registered Dietitian's Guide for Boosting Healthspan – by Nisha Melvani

Before it gets to the recipes, this book kicks off with a lot of science (much more than is usual for even healthy-eating recipe books), demystifying more nutrients than most people think of on a daily basis, what they do and where to get them, and even how to enhance nutrient absorption.

As well as an up-front ingredients list, we additionally get not just meal planning advice in the usual sense of the word, but also advice on timing various aspects of nutrition in order to enjoy the best metabolic benefits.

The recipes themselves are varied and good. It’s rare to find a recipe book that doesn’t include some redundant recipes, and this one’s no exception, but it’s better to have too much information than too little, so it’s perhaps no bad thing that all potentially necessary bases are covered.

In terms of how well it delivers on the title’s promised “cooking for longevity” and the subtitle’s promised “boosting healthspan”, the science is good; very consistent with what we write here at 10almonds, and well-referenced too.

Bottom line: if you’d like recipes to help you live longer and more healthily, then this book has exactly that.

Click here to check out Cooking For Longevity, and cook for longevity!

Penny For Your Thoughts?

Wishing you a the best of health today and every day,

The 10almonds Team