There are multiple facets to becoming more flexible, moving well and increasing range of motion. As well as doing work to strengthen the body and stretch it out, we also need to put the right stuff in there to make the machine operate at max performance – we need to eat right for flexibility. Below we have listed some good, nutritious eats to help you on your road to becoming more flexible…

PROTEIN

Protein is rich in amino acids which, in turn, are the building blocks of healthy muscle. Do yourselves a favor folks and be sure you’re eating enough protein everyday as it can help your health enormously. It is beneficial for flexibility to have the right body composition: as we all know, being overweight (having too much body fat) will impeded flexibility and free movement. Eating enough protein will help keep hunger pangs at bay and can help weight loss. The more muscle you have, the easier it is to burn fat. So how much protein should you eat per day? There are many different theories depending on your goals, but for the regular person of a healthy weight and not weightlifting as a sport or doing a lot of physical exercise, the following is a rough guideline: 0.36 to 0.6 grams per pound. This is 56-91 grams per day for the average male and 46-75 grams per day for the average female. See the following link for a detailed discussion on how much protein is right for you. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-per-day. So which foods constitute healthy protein? Try organic eggs, organic meat, fish and seafood, milk, cheese and yogurt. Greek yogurt contains twice the amount of protein as regular! For vegetarians, hummus, peanut butter, beans, quinoa, chia seeds, buckwheat, pumpkin seeds and soy are all great sources. You can get protein from protein powders, shakes and protein bars, but beware of additives. As with all foods, the purer, the better.

LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLES

We all know that eating vegetables is great for health and wellbeing but if flexibility is your goal try chomping on more of the leafy green kinds, such as spinach, kale, seaweed, chard, watercress and collard greens. Why is this? Simply because these types have a high-water content and the ability to purge the acids that may make us inflexible from our bodies.

OILY FISH

Eat oily fish to up your intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids like omega-3s! Why eat these fats then? These are the essential fatty acids that the body needs for brain function and cell growth. In addition, they can reduce inflammation which can often contribute to inflexibility, lower blood pressure and keep your heart healthy. So, which fish class as “oily fish”? Eat any of these to boost flexibility: anchovies, sardines, herring, kippers, tuna, salmon, mackerel, eel, trout, silver warehou, mullet, trevally, sand whiting and snapper. Loads to choose from friends, so get cookin’!

GINGER

Ginger is good for flexibility because it stimulates the blood flow and reduces inflammation. How can you take in ginger? Try fine-grating it into stir-fried vegetables (green leafy ones are cool as we said above), drink ginger tea or it is delicious and nutritious in fresh juices. Try apple, pear, cucumber and a thumb-sized chunk of ginger through a juicer.

Also folks, you guessed it, drink plenty of water to keep the body hydrated. Water keeps muscles flexible, lessens post-exercise soreness and keeps joints lubricated via synovial fluid. How much water? Drink half your body weight in fluid ounces is a rough guideline.