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One of the main ways to avoid hip pain in the first place is by maintaining
a healthy weight and living an active lifestyle. Below are some tips to
help maintain good health.
Overall good health
The
key to keeping a hip problem at bay is to stay relatively active and to
eat right. The US Government notes that 56% of Americans are overweight.
Scientifically speaking, our hips form and develop in mass and strength
in proportion to the amount of weight our body was designed to hold. So,
if you are a small woman, your hips are meant to hold a smaller amount
of weight than if you are a six-foot tall man. Although the body is very
adaptable and can learn to hold different weights, a point can be reached
where the body is simply not comfortable supporting the excess weight.
Let's talk BMI, or body mass index. BMI is the number you come up with
when you divide how much you weigh in kilograms by how tall you are in
centimeters squared. The number you come up with is your BMI. A BMI between
18.5 and 25 is considered in the normal range. A BMI above 25 is considered
overweight and a BMI of 30 or more is classified as obesity. To find your
BMI, there are several calculators on the Internet including the BMI recommendations
from the Surgeon General.
Diet
Losing
weight can provide instant relief for the hips. Although we are constantly
inundated with new diet fads, remember that logically, the way to lose
weight is to consume fewer calories than we burn and the way to maintain
weight is to burn approximately the same number of calories that we
burn.
Although
in reality, this method can be harder to follow than it is to understand,
once we build healthy habits, this lifestyle will become easier and easier
to maintain. Some diets help you to do this. Others are shams. Be cautious.
Anything that seems to good to be true, probably is.
If you have arthritis, there are pain aggravators that should be avoided.
For instance, paprika, pepper, tobacco, cayenne, eggplant and large amounts
of potatoes and tomatoes can antagonize your arthritis because these foods
have alkaloids that prevent the repair of collagen and cartilage. Aspartame
(found in diet sodas and artificial sweeteners) can also worsen arthritis
since in causes inflammation in the joints when regularly consumed.
In study after study, it seems almost innumerable health benefits can
be accumulated from eating a diet rich in fiber and complex carbohydrates
found in vegetables, whole wheat and fruits. Once again, hips also benefit
from this diet.
Exercise
It
is also important to incorporate exercise into your routine if you have
hip pain. Although it may seem like a Catch-22 (you can not exercise
because your hip hurts, your hip hurts more because you can not exercise)
strengthening the leg muscles can be crucial in alleviating hip pain.
The
more support the muscles can offer, the less stress and therefore less
pain. Please refer to our online exercise library, which will show you
several hip strengthening exercises.
Also, if your hip hurts and you want to start up an exercise routine,
why not try a stationary bike or swimming? While running or stair climbing
can be taxing to the hips, the stationary bike and swimming are both excellent
cardiovascular activities that only minimally put pressure on the hips.
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