6 Tips To Make Healthy Food Even Better

If you’ve been eating healthfully, you choose whole foods, not processed; you pick produce in many colors; and you get most vitamins and minerals from food instead of supplements. But what if you could make good food choices even better for you?

- Camille Noe Pagan

You can. Simple steps can maximize foods’ nutrients or make them more “bioavailable” – that is, easier for your body to absorb. That can increase your intake of nutrients that may help arthritis, says registered dietitian Christen Cupples Cooper, director of Pace University’s nutrition and dietetics program, in New York.

Although nutrients won’t cure arthritis, “A nutrient-rich diet may help ease arthritis symptoms, especially if you maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle,” she says. For example, vitamin C plays a role in tissue repair and healing, and vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and may decrease inflammation.

Here are six ways to get more nutrients from your food.