Essential Vitamins for Arthritis and Depression

Vitamins are Essential in the Fight Against Arthritis and Depression

Where do you find antioxidants?  They are all around us, you are probably eating them without even knowing and they are essential to our good health.  Check out your  local farmer’s market and buy organic wherever you can, or your produce aisle in the grocery store, many of them sell organic as well as regular but check out the price differences  to see if organic fits the budget. 

Fruits and vegetables contain the principle sources of antioxidants.

Examples of antioxidants include:

* Vitamin C     * Vitamin A    * Vitamin E    * Lutein    * Lycopene    * Beta-carotene 

Certain minerals like zinc and selenium are also needed for body function.  They are not antioxidants but they boost the immune system to fight against free radical damage.Antioxidants are also found in nuts, legumes, cold water fish, seafood and red meat.  So, eating a varied diet of fruits, vegetables and the foods just named will increase the amount of antioxidants in your system and help reduce the incidence of disease.  Eating fruits and vegetables in their natural form is far better than drinking juice, you will be more satisfied as the actual fruit and vegetables will take time to digest. Fruit juice however good for you in it’s natural form still brings the benefit of  nutrients found in the foods, but tends to enter the blood stream sooner and can cause a sugar surge which gives the body a quick but short boost of energy, so try and eat in whole form first. Food does more than stave off hunger, natural rich food found here can help us to live longer and help us stay free of disease as we age, and even if we are already dealing with arthritis or any other illness.

 While we are on the subject of nutrition, not only os it essential for our body nut even more so for our mental health when we are fighting an illness, it is easy for us to become depressed and suffer with anxiety, after all many of us have been  dealt a card we never expected to to cope with, and it changes everything as we know it.  Pain also causes us to become irritable, no one can keep chipper when they are in constant pain, getting little sleep and don’t know whether to sit or stand.

 Good nutrition will helps us emotionally, no we won’t feel great all of the time, but what we put into our bodies will help the chemicals react differently and help us keep our mood levels balanced. And heaven knows we need everything we can to help us. So take a trip to the market, stock up on quality foods especially of they are is sale and freeze what you can. If it is a fruit such as strawberries that do not freeze well then buy small to avoid waste, I know I tend to get carried away when I see the beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, buy too much and it spoils before I can eat it all, so that is a tip to be aware of.

If you choose to take vitamins make sure you check with your physician first as not all foods and vitamins work with medication prescribed by your Dr.