Berry Juice Recipes That Can Help With The Inflammatory Pain of Joint Injuries.

Sprained an ankle? Dislocated a shoulder? Twisted your wrist? Some of that pain your feeling is caused by inflammation. In addition to pain killers we can drink juices that are loaded with anti-inflammatory antioxidants that can help with the pain. Berries like strawberries, raspberries and especially blueberries and blackberries are are the most antioxidant rich of all fruits and most vegetables. Here is a list of the antioxidants found in berries that can help with the pain of inflammation.

Vitamin C
Besides being an an essential member of the immune system and a potent antioxidant that can protect us from developing heart disease, vitamin C is also a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. There has been many studies conducted upon this vitamin and its effect upon joint pain and reducing inflammation. They have all found vitamin C to be somewhat effective. In high doses of 500mg a day or more, most people have reported a reduction in their painful arthritis symptoms. This anti-inflammatory and pain reducing effect also appeared to be more effective when vitamin C was supplied by real food sources, such as berries, rather than by supplementation. One glass of berry juice consisting of 4 cups of blackberries will provide around 250mg of vitamin C. That gets you halfway to the recommended 500 mg of vitamin C per day for inflammatory pain.

Vitamin C is actually so effective at reducing inflammation that it is a key ingredient for serious athletes and bodybuilders following a workout. Vitamin C reduces inflammation and speeds up the recovery of the muscles. It also helps with the joint pain that can be experienced during intense workouts. Its true, ask the nearest athlete!

Rutin
This is another antioxidant abundant in berries that has anti-inflammatory properties. Although official research so far has only be tested on animals, many people report that rutin helps them with their inflammatory conditions. Studies with rats found that rutin was extremely effective at reducing rat paw swelling following injury. Maximal swelling of the joint was reduced to only two hours after injury compared to 5 hours in the rats given a placebo. (Although I shudder to think what was done to the rats to generate the injury).

Berry Juice Recipes
Making your own homemade berry juice recipes is the best way to provide yourself with an abundance of these anti-inflammatory antioxidants. Drinking the juice fresh is important because the antioxidants begin to die off once the berries have been juiced. Commercial juices are not recommended for this same reason. Commercial juices also go through processing methods that strip even more of the antioxidants out of the product.