Want to boost your immune system, protect your cells from free radical damage and make your joint pain disappear with one simple nutrient?

Then there is one cheap mineral you should absolutely be taking every day. You can get it in every health food store and it’s included in most multi-vitamins.

But to cure arthritis, you need to take it in slightly bigger doses.

Think zinc! This superhero essential mineral participates in more than 300 reactions throughout your body. In the anti-arthritis category, zinc plays first-string for a number of important functions.

Inflammation and Immune System Management

Zinc helps prevent autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis by inhibiting the immune system from attacking joint structures, thereby stopping these conditions in their earliest stages.

Studies have shown that women with higher zinc levels are less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.

Zinc levels have been found to be as much as 40% lower in RA patients than their healthy cohorts. Zinc deficiency can arise, in part, from exposure to toxic metals such as arsenic, cadmium and lead, which prevent zinc from being absorbed.

Medical treatment for RA helps illustrate the role of zinc in this disease. Scientists have found that when RA patients take corticosteroids to reduce inflammation their zinc levels decrease. This indicates that the steroid drugs are triggering their bodies to use all available zinc to control the inflammation. Likewise, zinc supplementation in patients with moderate RA has been shown to reduce the number of swollen and painful joints.

Inflammation and immunity go hand-in-hand. Chronic zinc deficiency impairs the body’s normal immune response, resulting in increased production of pro-inflammatory molecules and chronic, low-level inflammation. Over time, this can erode joints and make you more susceptible to developing an autoimmune condition.

Certain types of autoimmune arthritis arise can arise following a bacterial or viral infection. If you become exposed to a particularly bad infection, having adequate zinc levels can ensure a healthy immune and anti-inflammatory response and help prevent the infection from sparking an autoimmune condition later on.

Other Effects

Your zinc levels can affect non-autoimmune forms of arthritis, as well. Osteoporosis patients who suffer hip fractures have been found to have an average of 24% less zinc in their bones compared to patients with hip osteoarthritis without bone loss.

Researchers have also found that genetic differences in the way certain people regulate the transport of zinc throughout the body can predispose them to more aggressive forms of osteoarthritis.

Getting to the Source

Zinc is present in a wide array of foods but most only contain moderate levels of this important mineral. Eating a varied diet is the best way to make sure that you reach your daily allotment of 11 grams of zinc per day.

Beef, with 4.1 mg in a 4 oz. serving, provides the most zinc of just about any food. Spinach contains 1.37 mg per cup, while asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, and crimini mushrooms all hover around 1 mg per serving.

Supplement Warning

If you choose to take zinc by itself in supplement form it is important to keep in mind that your body maintains all minerals in a state of balance – so consuming too much of one can offset the levels of the others.

To be safe, use a multi-mineral that supplies zinc along with all the nutrient minerals in their proper proportions.

But taking zinc is only one piece in the puzzle to cure arthritis. To completely rid yourself of arthritis, you must follow the step-by-step strategy found here…