How to Go Grocery Shopping When You Have Osteoarthritis
When you have arthritis of the foot, knee or hip, it’s a bit difficult to go grocery shopping. All the walking through the store can be enough to start a big problem with pain and inflammation that lasts for days. But don't worry - there are some tips for osteoarthritis that will make grocery shopping a simpler event.
One of the first things to know is that if you are going to a big superstore, you might ask for a motorized chair – or bring your own. If neither of these options is available to you, then by all means, ask someone to go for you. If you can make a very clear list of what you want, it’s possible to make it quite easy for your hired help or friends to help you with the shopping.
Another option is to ask if the grocery store can select your items, reserve them for you and then you can simply pick them up. Unfortunately many big grocery chain stores won’t do this for you, but if you live in a smaller town, the management might be more understanding and more human about helping you. (After all, they are the ones that benefit from your business.)
Let’s say you don’t get any help at all and still have to do it yourself. Before you go to the store, take your anti-inflammatory nutrients and herbs. This preventative action could help out a lot and prevent the inflammation from occurring in the first place. The worst thing to happen is always that you get home and you’re so tired and hurt so much that all you can do is put the groceries away – and then have to go to bed. But with the anti-inflammatory herbs, such as cat’s claw, your trip to the grocery store could be your best yet. (Two capsules, each 500 mg are enough.)
When you do get to the store, your goal will be to prevent any unnecessary steps. Thus, make a list and don’t leave a section of the store unless you know you have everything you need. Since you know the layout of the store, carefully plan out your sequence of departments:
- produce department
- dairy
- nuts section
- frozen food department
- cereals
- meats department
- eggs
- oils
- breads and crackers (if you eat these)
When you have arthritis, your best foods are from the produce and meats/eggs/dairy sections of the store, so make these your first places visited. This way you’ll have most of the room in the cart already taken up with the most important food, plus if you get tired, you’ll at least be insured that you have all the basics.
After you do get back home, take your anti-inflammatory herbs once again so that if any inflammation developed with all the extra activity at the store, it may be neutralized.
You might also try some cold packs on your feet or on your knee if you’re noticing some pain.
Your big goal is to determine a way to make grocery store shopping fun. And you can do it!