Beta-carotene

Tell your doctor about your medical history and joint injuries. She'll want to know where it hurts, if it tingles, or gets better when you rest. She'll examine the joint and might bend it to see if that makes the pain worse. Tell her about changes in your work or exercise routines, which could be a cause. This is usually enough to know if it's tendinitis, but in some cases you may need blood tests or imaging tests like X-rays or MRIs.

Tendinitis can happen to anyone, but it's more likely if you have arthritis, gout, diabetes, or kidney disease. Your chances also go up if you take drugs like fluoroquinolone antibiotics and cholesterol-lowering statins. Poor posture can put you at risk. Older people are more likely to get it because your tendons get less stretchy and easier to tear as you age, especially after 40.

Repeated motions in activities like carpentry or landscaping, and sports like tennis, golf, skiing, and baseball, are common culprits. But it can also happen quickly from a sudden strain, or if you do something new, especially over your head, like painting the ceiling. Long-term tendinitis also might be due in part to age or diseases like arthritis that wear down your tendons and other tissues.

You typically have pain around a joint, especially if you continue to use it a lot in hobbies, sports, or on the job. It may feel weak, look swollen and red, and feel warm to the touch. In rare cases when infection causes tendinitis, you also could have a rash, fever, or unusual discharge. Other symptoms depend on where the inflamed tendon is.

Your tendons are cords that attach muscle to bone. If you put too much weight on them or lift something suddenly, it can cause tiny tears that lead to swelling, pain, and make it hard to move. You might also get tendinitis if you do the same motion over and over at work or when you play sports.

It's hard to get too many antioxidants from the food you eat. That isn't the case, however, for those in supplement form. Too much beta-carotene may raise your lung cancer risk if you smoke. Too much vitamin E could make you more likely to get prostate cancer or have a stroke. These products can also change the way certain medicines work. Tell your doctor about any you take to make sure they don't get in the way of your medication.

Nope. Long-term studies on tens of thousands of people show that antioxidants in pill form don't lower your odds of bad health. People who took them got heart disease, cancer, and cataracts at the same rate as those who didn't. One exception is age-related macular degeneration. Antioxidant supplements slowed progress a little for some people in late stages of this eye disease.

Omega-3s help protect against heart disease, stroke, arthritis, cataracts, and cancer. Omega-6s help improve eczema, psoriasis, and osteoporosis. Your body can't make these essential fatty acids, which help stop inflammation. And most Americans get far more omega 6 in their diet and far less omega 3 than they need. Eating less omega 6 and more omega 3 is a recommended goal for many. Just keep in mind that a balanced ratio is four parts omega-6 to 1 part omega 3. There are supplements, but it's better when these fatty acids come from food.

Scientists know about more than 4,000 of these antioxidants found in fruits and veggies. Every plant contains a different flavonoid combination. They may help protect against heart disease, cancer, arthritis, aging, cataracts, memory loss, stroke, inflammation, and infection.

Found in soil and water, this mineral helps your thyroid work. Research suggests it can help protect against cancer, especially of the lung, colon, and prostate. It's easy to get too much if you take it as a supplement. That can lead to digestive problems, hair and nail loss, and even cirrhosis of the liver.