• Recent data at a radiology conference sheds light on how diet can impact our muscles and joints.
• The new findings show that a diet high in ultra processed foods is correlated with more fatty infiltration in the quadriceps muscles.
• We know that with more fatty infiltration means weakness and a greater risk of developing knee arthritis (OA).
• Bottom line: While the study does not look at the cause and effect of Ultra-processed foods and OA, it does shed some light on possible mechanisms and how our diet can impact our muscle quality, and ultimately our joint health. 

Here is the press release summarizing the findings and our full video transcript below:

If you like what you see here, check out our board-approved continuing education courses. We cover topics like:

- Nutrition interventions for chronic diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases)

- Advanced nutritional strategies to support physical therapy for patients with metabolic disorders

- Case studies demo...

Many physical therapists and orthos know the standard supplement for arthritis for years has been glucosamine. But what if you combined other supplements together: could you get a bigger impact and would it be safe? A new study is out that looks at combining supplements and their effects on PT specific measures like pain, ROM, and function. Check out the video with the transcript below and research article here: 

If you like what you see here then know there is more in our 3 board-approved continuing education courses on Nutrition specific for Physical Therapists. Enroll today in our new bundled course offering and save 20%, a value of $60!

Download Your Copy of the Free E-Book:

Learn about the Top 5 Functional Foods to Fight Inflammation and Pain in Physical Therapy. 

Transcript:

Here is a recent article that was published by Mineretti et al in the open access journal called Cureus. This article was a small randomized trial looking at a chondro-protective supplements. So, for a...

The world of hormones is complex and also full of shady pseudoscience, as well as influencers. What's real, what's fake, what should PTs know about. Listen to our video here and sign up for our courses today! Transcript below:

Hey y'all, it's Dr. Wells here again from St. Augustine Beach. Another gorgeous day here. I want to talk today about hormones and influencers.

There seems to be more trends going around on TikTok and Instagram about your hormones and how they should be balanced, particularly for women, to some degree in men, but let's kind of go into some of the myths. I think it's definitely a trend or a fad. The first kind of myth is this notion of like renal or insufficiency or cortisol burnout.

Yes, while people are stressed, people can have sustained or higher levels of cortisol, but there's no current literature showing that by being stressed, you're going to be in a state where you're burning your adrenals out. In some of those rare cases where there's adrenal failure a...

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, PT, DPT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, CNPT, Cert-DN

In prior blog posts we have talked about turmeric and its amazing benefits for arthritis. As Modern Doctors of Physical Therapy, we know that combining nutrition interventions with our manual therapy, exercise, and dry needling can make an even bigger impact than simply traditional therapy alone. Well, there’s good news about spices: a large meta analysis of meta analyses has shown that turmeric can help our clients with osteoarthritis and osteopenia. This meta analysis is significant as it is the first to our team’s knowledge looking at turmeric for those with osteopenia. 

A New Study

This mega meta-analysis pooled data from 11 previously published meta-analyses on the effects of curcumin on OA. The analysis showed that curcumin supplementation significantly decreased the following physical therapy and arthritis scores compared to placebo:

• Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain
• Western Ontario and McMaster Universities ...

Could Ahiflower Replace Fish and Flax?

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, PT, DPT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, CNPT, Cert-DN

In the realm of nutritional supplements, Ahiflower oil has been gaining recognition for its impressive profile of health-promoting properties. Extracted from the seeds of the Buglossoides arvensis plant, Ahiflower oil is rapidly becoming a popular choice for those seeking an omega-rich alternative to traditional fish oil. Some people are making the claim that Ahiflower could replace fish-based Omega 3s but the plant is still new to the scene. A recent PubMed article outlines some of these factors, but let's briefly dive into the potential health benefits that may make Ahiflower oil a noteworthy addition to your wellness routine.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reinvented

Ahiflower oil distinguishes itself by its omega-3 fatty acid content, particularly boasting a unique combination of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), stearidonic acid (SDA), and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). This trifecta of fatty aci...

Collagen Supplementation for Joint Pain and Arthritis: Does it Really Work?

By Dr. Sean M.Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN

Recently I was presenting at the annual conference of Athletic Trainers' Association of Florida (ATAF) and I was overwhelmed by one consistent question: why didn't you talk about collagen supplementation?

My talk was specifically on orthopedics for older adults and naturally I focused on osteoarthritis (OA) and how important exercise and diet are for that condition. I did touch on some supplementation, but I left off collagen because my last examination of this supplement, using one of my favorite websites Examine.com, yielded mediocre results. However the participants at the sports medicine conference piqued my interest and convinced me that perhaps I had missed something -- almost every single one of these participants had some form of joint pain or stiffness and felt significantly better after taking collagen daily. So, back to the li...

Best Practices for Hip and Knee OA Includes Dietary Interventions

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, CNPT, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, Cert-DN

A few months back a major article was published regarding osteoarthritis treatment guidelines from 6 major professional organizations. Physical therapists (PTs), athletic trainers (ATs), occupational therapists (OTs), and Physicians use these professional guidelines to help direct our care. As many of us know, OA  can lead to great loss of function, increased pain, and higher expenses. As such, having the most current and best evidence is vitally important to helping our patients move better, have less pain, and reduce costs.

For years the mainstay treatment in physical therapy has been exercise and manual therapy. Obviously these treatments depend on the specific joint, as many DPTs often use aquatic therapy to help with hip osteoarthritis. Lately the utilization of dry needling has helped patients with knee OA. The use of other therapies like n...

By Dr. Sean M. Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN

There's always a blog or hot article on your newsfeed talking about a "miracle" nutrient or special vitamin. While many of these articles are complete clickbait or mere fluff to get you to buy their supplements, this article has some science and experience behind it. Now that we have that settled, I want to explore the one nutrient that I think has the biggest impact on clients with arthritis: fiber. 

Arthritis comes in several forms but the 2 most common types are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We as physical therapists (PTs) often help clients with both of these diseases. From exercises, manual therapy, modalities, dry needling, and education -- our roles as PTs is to help our clients move better and reduce their pain. So, how does all this physical therapy talk for OA and RA fit in with fiber? 

Fiber is uniquely a plant-based product that is essentially indigestible to human guts. Fiber c...

Last week, I slammed the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports PT (JOSPT) for not including nutrition in their CPGs regarding concussions. This week, I want to laud them for including a great meta-analysis on knee, hip, and spine osteoarthritis (OA) in relation to weight loss in this month's journal.

As physical therapists (PTs), we know that musculoskeletal disorders like knee, hip, and back OA account for a huge portion of healthcare spending. We also know that OA of these joints greatly impacts quality of life, function, and ultimately long-term disability. Physical therapists do their best to offer cutting-edge treatment like exercise and patient education.

Current research shows that people with arthritis can greatly reduce their pain, improve their movement, and restore their strength with physical therapy. Often the best treatments are active exercises, education, activity progression, and manual therapy to initially help to reduce pain. Dry needling has been shown to have moderate...