Osteoarthritis and Mineral Deficiency

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Manganese

It can be found naturally in some foods such as whole grains, tea, seeds, leafy green veggies, and nuts. It is essential to support some body functions.

Supplements containing manganese are available. In general, they are effective to help treat manganese deficiency. They are also possible to help treat some conditions such as PMS (premenstrual syndrome), anemia, and osteoporosis.

Sometime manganese can be found in supplements containing glucosamine and chondroitin (one of alternative treatment options for osteoarthritis (OA)).

Unfortunately, there is still insufficient evidence to confirm the effectiveness of manganese for OA. Even the role of glucosamine and chondroitin for OA is also still debatable. While some studies showed that glucosamine and chondroitin may help for OA, others found nothing.

In addition – as mentioned before, your body doesn’t need manganese in large amounts. For adult, it is recommended to consume this mineral not more than 11 mg per day. If you take it higher than what your body needs, it may become counterproductive.

Selenium

Selenium deficiency is pretty common in some countries such as in the U.S and UK. Some foods rich in selenium are nuts, sunflower seeds, whole grains, and fish (especially such as tuna and herring).

The deficiency of selenium may have an effect in making arthritis to progress more quickly. With unclearly reason, too low selenium level in the bloodstream may increase the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). But once you have RA, taking supplements containing selenium may not be helpful enough!

Again, stay on the recommended daily allowance when you want to take selenium supplement! Taking high doses of selenium may be counterproductive and harmful.

Iron

There may be no direct link between iron and OA. But people with OA are at greater chance of having iron deficiency because:

  1. The side effect of taking some medicines to treat OA such as NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).
  2. Anemia (a common condition linked to iron deficiency) is also quite common in people with OA.

Good sources for this mineral include red meat, dark green veggies (such as kale and spinach), oily fish (such as sardines), haricot beans, and lentils. If you concern about iron deficiency, don’t forget to get plenty of vitamin C to help your boy absorb your dietary iron optimally!

Calcium

Your dietary calcium is so helpful for osteoporosis (a condition that weakens the strength of the bones), but not for osteoarthritis.

However, getting plenty of calcium is also important if you have OA. This can help keep the ends of bones in your joint strong and protect them from further damage.

The problem in OA is the damaged cartilage – not the damaged bones. But over time, a joint with poor cartilage may also damage the ends of bones in that joint. And if you don’t get plenty of calcium, this can make the problem worse.

In fact, OA is more common in women after menopause. In this phase, they are also at high risk of osteoporosis. It’s recommended to get at least 1,000 mg of calcium per day, with added vitamin D – particularly true if you are now older than 60.

Citations /references:

  1. http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/students/body-minerals/minerals.htm
  2. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/182.html
  3. http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/arthritis-and-daily-life/diet-and-arthritis/vitamins-and-minerals.aspx
  4. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/selenium

Last accessed on September 2014

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