1. Consider Your Cartilage
Arthritis is a condition in which cartilage in the joints deteriorates. Dehydration can make this deterioration or thinning occur faster that normal. This is because cartilage is mostly water. Eating too much salt can cause dehydration because your body will absorb the water in order to battle the sodium retention. This, in turn, takes water away from the other systems of your body. Eating a low salt or low sodium diet will help your body to stay hydrated, which will aid in keeping your cartilage as healthy as possible. In addition to eating a low salt diet, you should drink plenty of water.
2. Ease the Pain
Eating a diet that is low in salt can help you to avoid excess water retention. Your body needs water to function properly and to keep your joints healthy. Water retention occurs when your body has too much sodium or salt. This excess salt makes your body hold on to the water you consume. Water retention can aggravate arthritis pain because this can cause the joints to swell. When you suffer from arthritis, any swelling in your joints means that your bones will put more pressure on the cartilage that cushions them. If you have osteoarthritis, your bones will grind when you have water retention in your joints because you have no cartilage left to cushion them. Eating a low salt diet will help you to stay hydrated, which will help to ease the pain that is associated with arthritis.
3. Stop the Stiffness
When you are suffering from arthritis, your joints may become very stiff. This stiffness will make moving difficult or impossible. Eating a low salt diet will help to alleviate this stiffness. Excess sodium in the body can cause the joints and muscles to stop working properly. The salt causing the body to retain water causes some of this. In addition, when your body has too much salt, it may not absorb other nutrients. When you have a nutrient deficiency, your entire body is affected, your joints included. Certain deficiencies can cause your joints to become stiff.
4. Manage Your Medicines
Your diet can affect certain medicines used to manage arthritis symptoms. Corticosteroids, for example, can make your body retain sodium. Sometimes, too much salt retained by your body can cause some medicines to be less effective. If your medications aren't managing your arthritis and you haven't started eating a low salt diet, you should ask your doctor if salt retention is the reason why your medicine isn't working properly.
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