Anti-inflammatory Supplements

 

Several people have asked what anti-inflammatory supplements I’m taking for my arthritis, so here’s a rundown on the ones I take that I think are most effective. A word of caution though; all the anti-inflammatories here also have blood thinning properties, so if you are already on a prescription blood-thinner, you might want to discuss using these with your doctor. I take a lot of supplements and I had to go off any blood-thinners and anti-inflammatories before my PRP procedure, and I was shocked to discover that I was taking SIX different blood thinning supplements! No wonder when I do a “stick” for a glucose test, it’s still bleeding five minutes later, LOL!

I’ve spent hours on line trying to figure out which supplements are most effective and best for the money. I can tell you that buying most supplements at Walmart, CVS or Walgreens is a waste of money. Supplements are one of those things where you pretty much get what you pay for. It’s difficult to figure out the actual cost per serving when all the brands have different strengths and different number of pills per serving.; when researching on Amazon you have to click on every one of the products to get that information.  A good research tool is the website https://examine.com.  They use science-based studies, give the references and don’t sell or take advertisements for any supplements

Omega 3 Fish Oil: I use Arazo Nutrition Omega 3 Fish Oil  Research has shown that you need to take at least 2700 mg per day in order to be effective. Many of the studies use dosages of 3000-4000 mg per day. These capsules are large but go down easy, and no fishy burps if you take them with a meal! The recommended daily dose on the bottle is 3 capsules (4800 mg Omega 3) but I just take two, for 3200 mg.   $.34 per day.

Curcumin: I use ProHealth Optimized Curcumin 1000 mg  Wow, there’s a lot of different opinions on this one, but Curcumin is great stuff! Probably the best thing I take. This is the most confusing supplement I’ve researched. Apparently curcumin from just plain turmeric root is very poorly absorbed. You must get one with either Bioperine,  “Longvida” process turmeric root, one that uses 95% Standardized curcuminoids, or theracurmin (teeny tiny particle size 100x smaller than the others, so it’s readily absorbed)  The one I take is Longvida and pretty pricey but I get 1000 mg in just one pill. $1 per day.  I’m thinking of trying this one next time: Bioclinic Naturals Theracurmin 2X . It is not as strong but is supposed to be 27x more bioavailable than the other kinds. It would cost $.83 per day.

Cat’s Claw: I use Source Naturals Cats Claw Defense Complex 1000 mg Cats Claw is an immune system booster but it also helps with arthritis pain. This stuff REALLY helped with the pain in my fingers when I lived in the humid NC climate. I could tell a big difference if I didn’t take it for a couple days in a row!  One per day, $.12

Hope this helps.  When I had to go off these supplements for 10 days, I noticed a definite difference in my pain levels in fingers, neck and knees.

I’ve been trying to walk about a mile a day. Thanks to Dr. Matt (and maybe the supplements), I’m able to do this without knee pain!!  Two months ago this would have been impossible. I have a little track that’s about 500′ long, and it take two minutes for each lap, so I have to go round and round 15 times. It’s pretty boring, but it’s difficult to walk on the deep cinders in the road, plus I don’t want to have to go past the neighbor’s house in case she’s outside and I get trapped into talking to her. I’ve had to get it done before noon, when the kidney pain starts up. I must say though, the pain is GONE since I took the herb Chanca Piedra for three days! (It’s also called “stone crusher herb”) My Dr. Matt told me about it…..he’s brilliant!  I love that he uses both holistic and traditional Western medicine.

It’s warm today, around 75° and very sunny (and windy, that goes without saying these days) so I’m wearing shorts. And my knee braces. I realized while walking today that my lily-white legs are going to get a very strange tan this summer…..with a weird 11″ white spot above & below my knees, where the brace goes!

I have a little bit of house news; I’ve contacted a roofer who’s going to come out and give me an estimate on doing the roof! If it’s a decent quote, he said he could do it one day next week….woo \-hoooo!!! It would be so nice to get a little more progress on the house!