I Do Yoga!

Many "Do Yoga" as if it were a cure-all, but no fitness practice is a cure-all. However, all of the numerous forms of Yoga bring mental focus, flexibility, balance, and stress relief.
What it does and doesn't do:

• Yoga benefits the cardiovascular system and autonomic nervous system by inducing the relaxation response; however, a higher rate of sustained activity is needed for maximum benefit.
• Yoga builds strength and endurance by pitting body weight against muscle; however, weight training is generally more effective.
• Yoga promotes weight loss; however, even Power Yoga burns only about 237 calories in 50 minutes, about as much as power walking
• Yoga effectively promotes flexibility for full range of motion for everyday function
• Yoga effectively promotes muscle balance, to aid everyday function and to provide structural stabilization and integration
• Yoga can be incorporated into effective rehab and sport conditioning programs
• Yoga effectively reduces the stress response
• Yoga complements other programs, making them more effective, improving overall results.

Conclusions:

1. Select the Yoga form that emphasizes your critical fitness needs, as assessed by a certified professional (e.g. MD, physiotherapist, personal trainer)
2. Include Yoga as an important part of your fitness program - the benefits to daily function are highly desirable
3. Add a cardio component of significant, sustained activity
4. Add a strength component through resistance work
5. Select a certified Registered Yoga Trainer who can:
• Offer several Yoga approaches
• Incorporate yoga into your daily activities
• Adapt Yoga movements to your needs
• Motivate you to pursue your fitness goals

Dealing with arthritis

Q - Any diet suggestions that have worked for you dealing with your arthritis, fibromyalgia, or gout?

A - Good question: At one point, I investigated the work of a Tibetan medicine practitioner who used particular herbal mixtures along with nutritional suggestions that "cooled" or "heated" the body. There may be something to those nutritional principles. I don't know how much research has been done to confirm their effectiveness. It worked to warm the temperature of my hands and feet, and reduced arthritic type feelings.

Naturopaths and homeopaths also deal with foods that cool or heat, for overall health, and particularly for alleviating the effects of arthritis. Arthritis and fibromyalgia appear related symptomatically and may respond to diet alone, but more likely need a multi-disciplinary approach.

Seems to me that supporting a healthy immune system would help arthritis. Diet-wise that requires reducing processed foods, eating less difficult to digest meats, avoiding saturated fats, generally increasing quality vegetarian intake, probably adding more "body heating" foods to one's diet.

More info on these foods is found through Google. In my opinion, ensuring adequate hydration (unchlorinated) would be essential for maintaining adequate lubrication between joints.
Increasingly, I'm hearing increasing body alkilinity to alleviate/ prevent arthritis. This involves reducing meat consumption, and drinking hot lemon drinks.

Of course, diet enters the picture in terms of weight loss that benefits the arthritic who now has less pressure on the joints from carrying less body weight.

Gout, I don't know. Sometimes related to diabetes and insulin conditions. Might require a different approach.

Not my area of strength - yet. Just working on hearsay at this point.