Read the full video transcript below
Today's topic
Hello, and welcome to my weekly video blog. And today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I'm going to be talking about the best remedies and supplements for joint pain and joint health.
So this is Week 2 of our joint month, and this is all about things that you can take that may be of benefit for your joints. Now, you don't have to take all of these, we don't want everybody going round rattling and taking lots and lots of different tablets.
But these, by themselves, some of them will work very well by themselves, others work better in combinations with some of the other remedies. So, I'll just sort of go through the list with you.
Magnesium & Calcium
Really, the most important mineral for the joints is magnesium. Now, a lot of people think it's calcium, and yes, that is very, very important, but if you are low in magnesium, calcium often finds it difficult to get to the bones.
So if you imagine that magnesium is the bus or the taxi that takes calcium to the bones, so you need plenty of magnesium. And those of you that have been watching for a while will know that one of the main problems with the menopause itself and falling oestrogen is that your magnesium levels tend to fall at the same time, so you either have problems absorbing it, or you have problems getting it from your food, or you're not taking it enough, or you're too stressed.
So, taking a magnesium supplement to help to support joint health as well as all of these other things is a really good idea. People often say to me, "Should I take it with calcium?" And you can do. There's no reason why you can't take them together rather than taking them separately. It just depends on the individual and what particular product you decide to buy.
All I would say here is that try and get good quality calcium and magnesium. I tend to recommend if you're taking a tablet, it will be something like magnesium and calcium citrate. You can now get powdered calcium and magnesium. And that's great. If you really hate popping pills, then you can just dissolve these in water and drink them, which is a good way of taking it, especially if you have some sort of stomach problems as well, or you tend to get a little bit of indigestion from tablets.
The amount that you want to take, if you've got a good diet, you don't need to go overboard here. I would say, normally, 250 milligrams of magnesium to 500 milligrams of calcium, and just make sure that you have plenty of calcium and magnesium-rich foods in your diet. If you're taking Menopause Support, this is our remedy which can help with sort of balancing and gently increasing oestrogen.
There's a little bit of magnesium in there, but it's fine for you to take the extra supplement along with the Menopause Support. You're not going to overdose on that amount of magnesium.
Magnesium as well, we tend to have a bowel tolerance for it, so if you take too much, it can sometimes give you loose bowels. So it's a good idea if you haven't taken magnesium before, is to start on a low dose and just slowly work your way up to the recommended dose.
A.Vogel Menopause Support | For Perimenopause, Menopause & Postmenopause Symptoms
So that's magnesium, that's calcium which, obviously, we need for the bones to keep the bones nice, and strong, and healthy, so either separately or together is absolutely fine, it just depends on what you prefer.
Omega-3
Fish oils are really good for the joints. They oil the joints. So if you find that your joints are creaky, if you tend to, if you're really stiff first thing in the morning, then a fish oil or Omega-3 is a really good supplement to take. You're looking probably about 1500 milligrams a day, but again, it will depend on which product you buy, so you just go by their recommendation. For those of you that are vegetarian and vegan, you can take a flaxseed oil supplement instead.
It's maybe not quite as good as the fish oils, but it will work perfectly well for the majority of people. And again, you would take roughly the same amount of the flaxseed as you would the fish oils.
Glucosamine
If you are just beginning to get slightly achy joints or you think to yourself, "You know what, I am going to protect my joints through the menopause," then you could look at a supplement called glucosamine sulfate.
This one takes a little while to work. A lot of people find that maybe it takes about three months before they start to feel any benefit. The one thing with this remedy, if your joints are already sore, if you're already having regular trouble with the joints, this remedy isn't really going to help so much.
This is more of a preventative measure. What the glucosamine does is it just helps to support, and strengthen, and stabilise your joints. So, a lovely one if you want to do some preventative work, or if you know maybe your mum, or your gran, or your aunt is going through the menopause all complained of joint aches, then very often, the symptoms can be hereditary.
So, again, this is something you could take as a nice preventative over the years. There's no time limit with any of these particular remedies.
Devil’s Claw
If your joints are already sore, if they're achy, if they're inflamed, then you can look at the herb, Devil's Claw. We do this in a tablet and a tincture. Tincture is going to work the quickest.
It's going to be absorbed a lot better especially if you have any digestive problems. Devil's claw tends to work quickly. A lot of people find the benefits start within a week, if not sooner. It can be taken for as long as you wish. There's no particular time limit with this one. If you've got sporadic pain, if it just comes on every now and again.
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Made from extracts of cultivated, organically grown Devil’s Claw root. These tablets can be used to relieve joint pain, muscular pain and backache. The can also be used in conjunction with other medicine. You can also get our Devil’s Claw in a tincture. |
Arnica
Some people find that certain situations will trigger the joint pain. We have our Arnica Gel. So this is a lovely gel which is used traditionally for joint aches and pains, muscle aches and pains, and this one does tend to work quickly, so you can use this on any achy bits that maybe have just popped up overnight or have suddenly appeared.
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Containing extracts of fresh Arnica flowers, our Atrogel Arnica Gel can help relieve stiff, sore joints and muscles, as well as inflammation causes from strains, sprains and pains. This easy-to-apply, non-greasy gel can be used up to 4 times a day. |
Nettle
The last one is another one that you can take either for specific symptoms or you can take as a lovely preventative, and that is the nettle. Nettle is great if you've got the kind of gouty joints, if you tend to get a lot of inflammation, if you tend to get sharp pains in the joints, or if you get that, a really kind of grinding feeling in the joints, very often, this is caused by a buildup of uric acid, and nettle is wonderful for clearing the joints.
So you can use this as a quick treatment, or it can be taken on a daily basis. If you're going to use it as a preventative, then I would go with the tea, maybe one to two cups of nettle tea a day should be fine. Nettle is also good for itchy skin. It's also good for heat rash, so it's a lovely one that can work on quite a few different symptoms in the menopause.
So it's a good one to have on a daily basis right the way through the menopause. You can get lots of lovely benefits from it.
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Organically cultivated and produced using freshly harvested herbs, Stinging Nettle, also known as Urtica, has been used traditionally as a therapeutic herb for a myriad of health complaints, including gout and rheumatic and arthritic conditions, as well as itchy skin. And yes, if you want to continue with our Menopause Support which is going to help, generally, as I mentioned before, to keep your oestrogen levels nice and balanced. |
Do I need a multivit as well in the menopause?
Now, some people say to me, "Do I need a multivit as well in the menopause?" I would say, you know, if you've got a good diet, there's probably no need, but if you've got a lot of stress, if you've got a busy life, if you find that you're maybe missing meals or you're not eating as well as what you think you should, then I would probably add a basic multivit in.
The main problem with multivits - If you're looking for calcium and magnesium in a multivit - you tend not to get very high amounts of them, so they're better taken separately.
Calcium and/or magnesium together and a separate multivit, if you want to do that. But as I said at the beginning, please don't think that you have to take all of these, just go by what you think you need at the moment. Try them for a month. See how you get on, and if necessary, change onto something else if you find that it's not really helping.
What I will be talking about next week:
So I hope this has been really helpful, and next week, I'm going to be talking about the best foods you can eat for your joint health.
So I'll see you next week for another edition of A.Vogel Talks Menopause.
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