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Hi, I am wondering if the above is correlated? When supplementing with olive oil(or other 0-3 containing substance and minimizing 0-6s) within a given period I have noticed that my jonts aren't as "cracked" as otherwise. Is inflammation the cause of cracking/creaking joints??? How does one combat this?

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Olive oil isn't that low in O6 or high in O3. On a paleo diet it can yield a net increase in the O6-O3 ratio. I too have wondered about the nutritional causes of cracking joints (including fingers and toes)... – Dean Sep 28 2011 at 20:07

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No, its generally not, but it might be.

See Joint crepitus — are we failing our patients?

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I believe what you are trying to ask is this: Is it possible that optimizing your nutrition (via increased omega 3-containing foods, et al) is somehow decreasing the apparent cracking of joints that you normally experience?

If that is your question, the answer is: A slam-dunk YES.

Ideally, no joint in a human being is designed to crack or have crepitus of any kind when functioning optimally. Crepitus (in its many forms) cracking or popping of any kind is an expression of sub-optimal tissue/structure health and function. Most people experience some version of this (with or without symptoms) because most people are physiologically-dysfunctional/sick regarding their connective tissue and joint/structural health. It is widely-accepted that diet has a direct correlation with connective tissue health. Optimizing diet most certainly will improve connective tissue health and will usually result in some sort of symptomatic improvement in those with symptoms.

You ask- how do you combat it. Ans= just keep mastering the paleo-type diet and lifestyle to the best of your ability. Good luck.

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 That simply isn't true. My crepitus started on paleo diet. – majkinetor Sep 28 2011 at 23:02
majkinator: your personal experience does not negate any of the above and your personal experience does not make the above untrue or incorrect. I just looked and saw that posted a question re. joint crepitus. When i get a chance I'll chime in on it and see if i can help share some of my clinical experience in this area and possibly shed some more light. – John J. Collins Sep 28 2011 at 23:53
Thats not only my personal experience. During my research I found that people have crepitus for entire life and nothing changes it. Have you seen the document I provided ? I don't say that it couldn't be fixed with correct diet. I say that there is also high probability that it wont be. – majkinetor Sep 29 2011 at 7:27
One obvious problem is Vitamin C deficiency. For instance sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/… But some reports are that it might even be a problem: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.20291/… MSM, HA and Glucosamin may not be effective at all as we don't have an vehicle to deliver them where it matters. The injection is an option but it has its own problem - infection, since s. fluid is sterile and that possibility is nasty. Furthermore if they work, they have to be taken for very long time (at least 6 mo AFAIK) – majkinetor Sep 29 2011 at 7:31
Other then that it might be overmineralisation of the bone. K2 is thought to help in that but it also has to be taken for a year or so and its probable that it wont matter. – majkinetor Sep 29 2011 at 7:32
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Joint "cracking" can result from a negative pressure pulling nitrogen gas temporarily into the joint, such as when knuckles are "cracked." This is not harmful. "Cracking" sounds can also be heard if tendons snap over tissues because of minor adjustments in their gliding paths. This can occur with aging as muscle mass and action change.

If cracking is accompanied by joint pain, there could be underlying abnormalities of the structures of the joint, such as loose cartilage or injured ligaments. Some patients with arthritis (inflammation of joints, usually painful), bursitis, or tendinitis notice "cracking" sounds due to the snapping of irregular, swollen tissues.

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