The Top 9 Ways to Improve Joint Health

Tell us if this sounds familiar...you’ve been sitting in your favorite chair for an hour or so. You get up and start to walk to the other room, but it seems your body has forgotten how to move. Your muscles are tight and your joints are stiff. It takes a few moans and groans and a couple of steps before you get the hang of it and are walking like a normal person again. Has that ever happened to you?

We’ve all been there. And as much as we don’t want to admit it, the creaks and cracks are all part of getting older. And the person who said you could grow old gracefully was no doubt talking about how you can improve joint health and keep joints healthy, no matter your age.

Joint Health 101

What do bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, skin, hair, and nails all have in common? They’re all made of protein. But not just any protein, they’re mostly comprised of collagen. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body. It helps with strength, structure, and movement.

EXPLORE: The Many Benefits Of Collagen

The good news is that our bodies use vitamin C to produce and absorb our own supplies of collagen. The bad news is our personal collagen production peaks in our early 20s. After that, it declines at a rate of 1-1.5% every year. What does that mean? Well, this is where the movement problems we were talking about earlier come into play. Collagen and joint health go hand-in-hand. Collagen is essential for joint health, joint recovery, and joint support. The importance of joint health can’t be understated, and without collagen, our ligaments, tendons, and muscles start to lose their elasticity, making it harder to move around or even complete basic daily tasks.

So when we talk about how to keep bones healthy, or ways to improve joint health, it all comes back to the many benefits of collagen.

Top 9 Ways To Improve Joint Health

While collagen is essential, it isn’t the only way to improve joint health. The following nine joint health tips are all ways you can keep your body moving freely as you age.

1. Keep Moving

We get it, the longer it’s been since you’ve been active, the harder it is to get going again. Getting into a routine that includes some form of daily movement is essential, not just to help with weight loss and weight management, but to improve joint health and mobility too. Moving your joints on a daily basis keeps the muscles and ligaments limber, and it helps keep the synovial fluid between your joints healthy. So whether you go for a walk, a jog, do some aerobics, swim, take the stairs, or something else, make movement part of your daily routine.

2. Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

The goal here is to keep your body from swelling and putting excess pressure on your joints. Refined carbohydrates, excess sugars, fried foods, and the like can all lead to inflammation. On the other hand, green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, tomatoes, healthy fats like nuts and avocados, and foods high in omega-3 are all known to be anti-inflammatory.

3. Strength Train

Our bodies don’t just lose collagen as we get older, they lose bone density too. Strength training can help with that. When we think of strength training, we picture Olympic weightlifters and muscle-bound guys in tiny tank tops. But strength training is really anything that aims to build muscle. Maybe you can lift heavy, or maybe that means working out with 2 lb weights or even doing bodyweight exercises. Whatever you can do to build muscle, will help keep your joints safe and help prevent bone density loss.

4. Take Your Vitamins

Joint health vitamins are essentially joint supplements that are formulated to improve joint health and strength as a whole. Vitamin D, vitamin C, and collagen, in particular, are all popular joint health supplements. Vitamin D is made by your body when it is exposed to sunlight. It can also be taken as a supplement. It is good for joints because it helps your body absorb calcium, which is needed for strong bones. Vitamin C and collagen work together for healthy joints. Your bones and their surrounding tissues are mostly made up of collagen, and vitamin C helps stimulate your body’s natural collagen production. It also helps your body absorb and use collagen.

5. Maintain a Healthy Weight

Every step you take puts pressure on your hips, knees, ankles, and feet. Gravity multiplies your body weight as you move, and for every extra pound of weight you carry, it adds four or more pounds of pressure on your joints. Maintaining a healthy weight takes that extra pressure off, so you can move more freely.

6. Be Flexible

We spend a lot of time sitting at desks, in chairs, and being generally stationary. This is especially true as we get older. Maybe it’s because we don’t play tag as much, or maybe it’s because no one has made adult recess a thing. (Someone should look into that.) Whatever the reason, this overall decrease in movement as we age leads to a lack of mobility because our muscles remain in a shortened position for long periods of time. We should spend time stretching every day. Whether this means taking a yoga class, or just periodically standing up and moving our bodies, stretching increases blood flow to muscles and helps keep joints limber.

7. Don’t Stretch Before Exercise

This one may sound a little counter-intuitive, especially after we literally JUST said stretching is good for your joints. It’s true, you can improve joint health by stretching daily, you just don’t want to do it right before you exercise. Stretching muscles when they are cold can lead to injury, which can inhibit your joint motion. Instead, opt for a light warmup like a slow walk or jog, and save the stretching for after your exercise.

8. Pain Isn’t Gain

The saying, “no pain, no gain” doesn’t apply to your joints. When your joints are in pain, they’re trying to tell you something. If you experience pain in your joints, consider taking an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen. You may also want to ice the joint to reduce swelling or take a warm bath or shower to relax the muscles. Take it easy, and don’t push your body too aggressively.

9. Rest Up

Your kindergarten teacher and mom were onto something...there’s a lot a little nap or a good night’s sleep can cure. While you sleep, your body is hard at work in recovery and repair mode. Even just taking a break during the day to put your feet up can give your body a little bit of a break so your muscles and joints can recuperate and keep on moving.

Collagen And Your Joint Health

Now the big question is, can joint health collagen help you repair and improve joints? Well, that depends on a few things. A lot of supplements claim to provide benefits, but the vitamins or nutrients they contain are in a form that can’t be absorbed effectively by the body. Joint health supplements like collagen are no different.

In order for collagen to actually improve joint health, it needs to be taken in a particular form. First of all, it should be in the form of collagen peptides—also known as hydrolyzed collagen. Collagen is a protein, and hydrolyzed collagen simply refers to the fact that the protein has been broken down into shorter peptide chains that are easier for the body to absorb.

DISCOVER: Your Collagen Peptide Questions, Answered

Collagen also needs to be taken with vitamin C. This combination of joint health vitamins helps the body manufacture more of its own collagen. Not only that, but it allows for better absorption and use of the additional collagen supplement.

When collagen peptides are taken in the presence of vitamin C, the supplement can assist in joint support and repair through the strengthening of bones, ligaments, and tendons. Like most things with the body, this joint recovery doesn’t happen overnight. However, studies have shown that individuals who consistently took collagen supplements for several months experienced less joint discomfort in time.

Xyngular Complete Collagen Tastes Great, Less Joint Discomfort

Oftentimes collagen supplements are unflavored, leaving you to wonder what to put them in, or how to consume them. We’ve taken that guesswork out of the equation. Xyngular collagen comes in a delicious piña colada flavor. Simply mix one scoop with 8 oz of water and enjoy a treat so creamy and delicious, you might just forget you’re taking an effective collagen supplement. Or, if you are interested in adding it to your coffee, smoothie, or some other beverage, our unflavored collagen is tasteless and so easy to add to your existing health routine.

Like all Xyngular products, Xyngular Complete Collagen™ has been specifically formulated to include the highest quality ingredients to do the most good for your body. The hydrolyzed collagen peptides and collagen-specific digestive enzymes make it easy to digest and absorb, and help provide optimal joint care, in addition to promoting proper digestion and building lean muscle.*

If you’re ready to try Xyngular collagen, contact a local Xyngular distributor, log in to your account, or give us a call today.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.