19. Weight loss plays an important role
Losing body fat—and belly fat in particular—is one of the best ways you can reduce arthritis symptoms, says Dr. Blum. “Belly fat is particularly dangerous because it releases inflammatory chemicals into the body that can contribute to osteoarthritis,” she says.
And, as you know, there’s the fact that when you lose extra weight, it lessens the load on joints. The impact of that is important: In a study of 640 overweight and obese people, those who lost just 5 percent of their body weight over two years had lower rates of cartilage degeneration compared with stable-weight participants.
