Reader Question on Nuraflex for Joint Pain Relief

MyAchingKnees.com received this question: "My friend was telling me she heard about an all natural product for chronic joint pain and osteo-arthritis called Nura-Flex. Have you heard about it and what do you think?"

No, I have not heard of Nuraflex, but did some research. This is one of many Off the Shelf (meaning non prescription) products that advertise to stop arthritis and joint pain. This particular product advertises 7 "Amazing Ingredients",.. ....Hyaluronic Acid, Nanomeds Collagen II, Devil's Craw Root Extract, Bromelain, Bosweilla Serrata Extract, Glucosamine and the last "Amazing Ingredient" is Chondroitin. "Amazing" is their terminology - not mine....and yes, I'm being sarcastic. I just have no faith in food grade, off the shelf products.

Nowhere on the website do I see a U.S. Pharmacopoeia certification or a guarantee for potency, purity and dissolution. The website advertises clinical trials, but does not elaborate.

I say let the buyer beware. If you are taking Joint Pain or Arthritis prescription drugs like Celebrex, Prednisone, Lyrica, Mobic or Prednisone then I would think this Nuraflex would have less side effects, but beware the products that 1- have no guarantee or are not manufactured to Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices.

For Information on the Products I recommend, click here, to contact me.

Oxidative Stress and Inflammation - Health Nugget from Doctor Ray Strand

Another Health Nugget from a subscription I have to Dr Ray Strand's Bionutrition Newsletters and Health Nuggets. Doctor Strand is one of this Country's foremost Doctor's practicing Nutritional Medicine. His book, "What Doctor's Don't Know About Nutritional Medicine May be Killing You" is an absolute must have for anyone serious about a healthy lifestyle or simply understanding how nutrition, both bad and good, affect your body and therefore your health. This Health Nugget talks about Inflammation. Although not in this Health Nugget, Doctor Strand is the authority that convinced me to get on a pharmaceutical grade Omega 3 Fatty Acid to reduce the ratio of Omega 6's to Omega's 3 and therefore help combat inflammation. The Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Glucosamine (Procosa II) have absolutely been a God send to my knees and even my back pain. If you would like to sign up for Doctor Strand's newsletters and Health Nuggets, visit his site here.

Oxidative stress and inflammation is an underlying factor in the development of numerous age-related diseases. In clinical trials, vitamin D has been shown to suppress what is referred to as pro-inflammatory cytokines. This offers additional protection against conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, pre-diabetes, heart failure, stroke, and heart disease.

It has become evident that those individuals who live in higher latitudes contract multiple sclerosis at much higher rates than those living where they get sunshine throughout the year. Scientists have identified specific vitamin D receptors in the white matter of the brain. The reduction in inflammation, which is the result of adequate vitamin D, may play a role in protecting you against developing multiple sclerosis

Aggravating factors

There are many things that can aggravate (make worse) joint pain, among them:

Sports particularly high impact sports. Simple running or jogging can place as much as three times the person’s weight onto the leg and its joints (ankle, knee and hip). The push off from the ground also places great stress on the joints

Running downhill or on uneven ground also increases these risk factors. Basketball, Football, Tennis, Baseball, Soccer and other sports all require lateral movements which stress the joints and the soft connective tissue.

Overuse from even non-impact repetitive activities such as stationary cycling can aggravate the joints and increase degeneration of the soft connective tissues. Take a lesson from body builders and weightlifters who work out a particular body part then give that body part 2 to 3 days of rest before stressing it again. Speaking of weight lifting, lack of muscular strength and flexibility is also an aggravating factor for joint injury and degeneration.

Overweight. If running can cause three times the weight of the person to be absorbed by the joints, imagine what being 20 lbs overweight adds,…..imagine 60 lbs overweight – you get the idea.

I think you will also be surprised to know that most people have one leg actually short than the other. This is a mechanical or structural factor. I know from chiropractic visits that one of my leg’s is 3/8ths of an inch shorter than the other. This obviously causes back stress, muscular stress and doesn’t do my joints any good.

Age, with the resulting degeneration from decades of use (and abuse) is a large aggravating factor especially when combined with any of the aforementioned factors.

Lack of proper nutrition is a huge factor as well. Your body needs nutrients in order to all bodily functions to operate efficiently, effectively and repair damages that occur.

About all you can do is to understand these factors and try to mitigate them as you live your life. In the near future we will talk about things you can do to not only minimize knee and joint pain but to possibly slow the degeneration process as well.