Move Better & Support Your Joints
Joint comfort, stiffness, flexibility, balance, bones and moving with confidence.
General information, not medical advice. Each goal page shows what helps, what to avoid, the evidence and the safety points.
Goals in this category
10 goals
Improve Joint Comfort
Aching knees, hips, hands and other joints are common, and the best-supported ways to ease them are regular movement, a comfortable body weight and a few simple self-car…
Manage Joint Stiffness
Joints that feel stiff first thing in the morning, or after sitting for a while, are very common, and for many people they loosen up with gentle movement and some warmth…
Improve Your Flexibility
Flexibility is how far your joints and muscles can comfortably move, and it can be improved at most ages with a few minutes of regular stretching, yoga or strength work.…
Maintain Your Range of Motion
Joints stay easier to move when they are moved, so the aim of this goal is to keep every major joint going through its comfortable range as the years pass. It is about k…
Walk More Comfortably
This goal is about making everyday walking easier and less painful, so you can keep going for longer and enjoy getting around. It brings together what we found on buildi…
Improve Your Balance
Steady balance comes from a team effort between your legs, eyes, inner ears and brain, and the part you can train most directly is how your body handles standing on one …
Build Stronger Bones
Bones are living tissue that can be kept as strong as possible with regular weight-bearing and strength exercise, enough calcium and vitamin D from food, and by avoiding…
Support Your Back During Everyday Activities
Most back aches are linked to ordinary life (carrying, bending, sitting, gardening, housework) and most settle on their own, so the aim is to keep moving confidently and…
Improve Your Posture & Movement Habits
Good posture is less about holding one perfect position and more about changing position often, moving through the day and building the strength to do it comfortably. Th…
Feel More Confident Moving
It is common to feel wary of moving after pain, an injury, surgery or a fall, and that worry can quietly shrink what you do each day. This page covers what studies and h…
Foods, herbs, vitamins and supplements studied for this category
Strongest evidence first. Most evidence is low, so read each page's studies and safety points.
- Willow Bark Herbs
Low back pain (flare-ups)
Safety first: Aspirin allergy or salicylate-sensitive asthma: do not use - Calcium Mineral
Bone mineral density (bone strength measure)
Safety first: Kidney stones: calcium plus vitamin D pills raised stone reports in a large trial - Ginger Herbs
Period pain (primary dysmenorrhea)
Safety first: Ginger as food and at supplement doses looks well tolerated in studies - Caffeine supplements Nootropic
Added to pain relievers for short-term pain
Safety first: Pure or highly concentrated caffeine powder and liquid can kill - Collagen Peptides Collagen supplement
Osteoarthritis pain and function
Safety first: Fish-derived collagen can cause severe allergic reactions in people with fish allergy - Boswellia Herbs
Knee osteoarthritis: pain, stiffness and function
Safety first: In trials, side effects were mostly mild stomach and gut complaints - Devil's Claw Herbs
Pain and stiffness in knee and hip osteoarthritis
Safety first: Stomach and gut upset is the most common problem, and active ulcers are a firm reason not to use it - Chicken Collagen (Type II) and Eggshell Membrane Collagen supplement
Knee osteoarthritis symptoms: chicken type II collagen (UC-II)
Safety first: Egg or chicken allergy: eggshell membrane and chicken cartilage come from eggs and chickens