Turmeric Smoothie Recipe for Arthritis and Painful Joints

This great tasting anti-inflammatory smoothie for arthritis combines potent natural ingredients that can help reduce joint pain and other arthritic symptoms.

It contains nutrients like bromelain from pineapple, curcumin from turmeric, and gingerols from ginger that have been demonstrated in research studies to combat inflammatory conditions throughout your body.

There are quite a few ingredients in this smoothie recipe and you may not be able to get all of them with a visit to your regular supermarket.

My advice would be to make it up with whatever you can get to start with. If you’d like to add more ingredients in future you can do so, perhaps one at a time to see how each improves the recipe’s effectiveness in treating your symptoms.

Ingredients and Why They Are Used for Joint Pain

Turmeric

Bright orange turmeric contains a substance called curcumin which has been shown in scientific research to reduce the pain and stiffness of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Curcumin blocks inflammatory cytokines like COX-2 that are involved in the processes responsible for arthritic pain. It’s a powerful compound with noticeable benefits against a range of illnesses beyond arthritis.

Many people take capsules daily but it’s inexpensive to get high curcumin powder like this and add it to both savory food recipes and drinks. Turmeric has a mild flavor and with all the other  ingredients ahead you won’t notice it beyond the orange tinge of your smoothie.

Another great way to get your daily turmeric, and 8 other potent superfoods for stress relief, pain reduction and better sleep, is with new Organifi Gold reviewed here.

Pineapple

Delicious pineapple is full of vitamin C which is a powerful free radical for reducing inflammation within your body. However, for treating rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of joint pain, its proteolytic enzyme bromelain is even more important.

Concentrated bromelain enzymes have been used successfully to treat osteoarthritis in scientific studies, but you can also get bromelain by blending up fresh pineapple with the core included in your smoothies.

Coconut oil

Extra-virgin coconut oil, with its polyphenols and lauric and capric acid, is often recommended as both an osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

This study found that the polyphenolic fraction of virgin coconut oil specifically protected against the expression of inflammatory genes like COX-2, iNOS, TNF-a and IL-6 that are involved in producing arthritic pain.

Full of important fatty acids that your body needs to function properly, a strong anti-inflammatory and even excellent for weight loss, extra-virgin coconut oil, like this organic one I use, is a superfood worth taking daily, either by the spoonful or in a smoothie recipe like this.

Parsley

Far more than just a garnished, parsley is great in green smoothies and for the purpose of treating arthritic pain it contains valuable nutritional elements.

This dark green herb is high in vitamin K for proper calcium metabolism, antioxidant vitamin C, beta-carotene, quercetin and other flavonoids and anti-inflammatory volatile oils like myristicin.

Organic Carrot

Carrots are used in traditional therapies for painful joints and are believed to assist in healing the ligaments and bringing relief for joint pain.

Chock-full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, carrots are also an excellent alkalizer of your body, helping to reduce acidic conditions that promote inflammation.

Always look for organic carrots where possible as this root vegetable absorbs both good and bad from the ground it’s grown in. Fortunately carrots aren’t usually that much more for organic.

You’ll need a good blender to blend up root vegetables like carrots properly in smoothie recipes, but it’s well worth it if you value your wellness.

I’ve used this powerful bestseller in my kitchen for years and it makes short work of even the hardest ingredients.

Strawberries

These sweet berries are surprisingly good for you and contain potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant anthocyanins. Also rich in vitamin C that combats inflammation from free radicals, strawberries are a great tasting addition to this smoothie for joint pain.

A Harvard School of Public Health study found eating strawberries reduced levels of C-reactive protein in the body. C-reactive protein is a strong marker of inflammation and often spikes during rheumatoid arthritis flare ups.

Unfortunately strawberries are regularly sprayed with pesticides. If you can’t get them organic then make sure you soak them in hot water and a splash of vinegar for a minute. This greatly reduces any chemicals on them.

Ginger

Many arthritis sufferers have experienced improvement in mobility and significant reductions in arthritic pain and inflammation when they have ginger regularly.

A pungent herb with many benefits, the inflammation fighting gingerols in ginger are primarily responsible for this effect.

Fresh ginger is great in this anti-inflammatory smoothie and gives an energizing kick to the flavor.

If you don’t like ginger yet perhaps try it with a smaller piece at the start and slowly increase it over time. Its powerful effects on joint pain makes it well worth adding to your diet wherever you can.

Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie Recipe

• A quarter of a pineapple skinned and chopped. The top and bottom of the pineapple and especially the core are highest in bromelain.
• 1 tablespoon of a good extra virgin coconut oil like this.
• 2 branches of parsley, chopped.
• 1 organic carrot, scrubbed and chopped.
• A handful of strawberries, preferably organic, green tops removed.
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric, go for a high curcumin powder like this one.
• A quarter to half inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped finely.
• Healthy ‘milk’ of your choice. Unsweetened almond or hemp milk is good, as is probiotic kefir or real unflavored and bio-live yogurt. Coconut water or a mixture of half coconut milk in half water is an excellent option. Avoid soy milk and feedlot cow’s milk where possible.
• Optional – Add even more inflammation fighting polyphenols with a teaspoon of this potent Vital Reds powder.

Method

1. Chop off the green tops of the strawberries. If not organic then soak the strawberries, parsley and celery in hot water with a splash of apple cider vinegar for a minute. Drain and add the strawberries to the blender. Chop up the parsley stalks and throw them into the blender jug along with the heads.
2. Scrub the carrot under hot water. Chop it up to a size your blender can handle and throw it into the blender jug.  A couple of inches is fine for a powerful blender like this one I use daily. Much smaller is needed for weaker blenders.
3. Skin and chop up the pineapple into chunks your blades can handle. If you’re chopping the whole pineapple, use the top and bottom pieces and keep the rest for eating. If you don’t eat the core of the pineapple normally you can keep them in a container in the fridge to use specifically for this inflammation smoothie recipe.
4. Add the coconut oil, turmeric and ginger and pour whatever ‘milk’ you’ve decided to use until it reaches half way up your blender jug. Hold down the lid and blend on high until the consistency looks finely mixed.

The combination of the strawberry pink, parsley green and carrot and turmeric orange does turn this smoothie an interesting color. It tastes great though and is great for your body, not just for arthritis but also against a whole host of other problems involving inflammation.

Arthritis Smoothie Treatment and Timing

Some people notice a reduction in arthritic symptoms soon after taking the individual superfoods in this recipe, like coconut oil or ginger, or using turmeric or high strength bromelain capsules like these.

By combining them in this way into an easily digestible and assimilated drink the beneficial effects will be even more pronounced.

The best time to make and drink this smoothie for painful joints would be at least an hour before you usually experience your worst arthritis symptoms. So if this is in the morning then try it for breakfast.

If the afternoon is when joint pain usually comes on then have it for lunch. Or if evenings are when it’s usually at its worst then try it before dinner. As an added bonus you’ll probably feel like eating less as well.

I’d appreciate any comments, questions or especially results if you blend up this smoothie for arthritis and inflammation yourself. It tastes so good it may well be something you look forward to making.