Best food to eat when you have arthritis

ARTHRITIS - FOODS THAT RELIEVE JOINT PAIN

Here's a traditional Chinese treatment for arthritis.  Add 100 dead snakes to 5 liters of red wine and some herbs. Let mellow for three months. Drink the wine three times a day for 6 to 12 weeks.

Admittedly, this concoction is a bit on  the  strange side,  but until recently, most doctors felt  that any food -related remedy for  arthritis  was  only slightly  less bizarre than  this  unappetizing brew.

While there  isn't a  specific food  that will help  relieve  arthritis in  all people, doctors  today recognize  that what  you eat—or,  in  some cases, don't eat—can help ease discomfort and  even slow the  progression of the  disease.

JOINTS OUT OF JOINT

Arthritis, which causes pain, stiffness, and swelling in and around the joints, isn't just one disease, but many. The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is caused by wear and tear on cartilage, the shock –absorbing material between the joints.  When cartilage wears away, bone grinds against bone, causing pain and stiffness in the fingers, knees, feet, hips, and back

A more serious form of the disease is rheumatoid arthritis. It occurs when the immune system, instead of protecting the body, begins attacking it. These attacks cause swelling of the membrane that lines the joints, which eventually eats away at the joints' cartilage. It is the form of arthritis most affected by diet.

NUTRITIONAL TRIGGERS

Since there's some  evidence that  rheumatoid  arthritis  is triggered by  a faulty immune system, and the immune  system  is affected by what we eat, it makes sense that for some people, diet can make  a  difference in how they feel.

"Diet is critical in the treatment of this form of arthritis," says Joel Fuhrman, M.D., a specialist in nutritional medicine at the Amwell Health Center in Belle Mead, New Jersey. "In populations that consume natural diets of mostly unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and grains, autoimmune diseases are almost nonexistent. You don't see much crippling rheumatoid arthritis in rural China, for example, because the people there eat differently than we do."

More is involved than just getting more fruits, vegetables, and grains. Some people are sensitive to certain foods—like wheat, dairy foods, corn, citrus fruits, tomatoes, and eggs—that can switch on the body's inflammatory response. For the most part, food sensitivities are rarely involved in arthritis flare-ups, says David Pisetsky, MD, Ph.D., co -director of the Duke University Arthritis Center in Durham, North Carolina, and medical adviser to the Arthritis Foundation.

Since there are so many things that can exacerbate the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, knowing which foods, if any, to avoid can be difficult. Dr. Pisetsky recommends starting a food diary so that you can keep track of what you were eating around the time a flare-up occurred. If you discover a pattern—for example, you remember eating tomatoes shortly before an attack—you'll have an idea of what to avoid in the future. Once you've identified a possible culprit, stop eating that food (or foods) for at least five days, he says. Then try the food again and see if your symptoms return.

VEGETARIAN RELIEF

Since the proteins found in meats may occasionally play a role in causing arthritis pain, it makes sense that following a vegetarian diet would help relieve it. Research bears this out.

In a study at Norway's University of Oslo, 27 people with rheumatoid arthritis followed a vegetarian diet for one year. (After the fins three to five months. they could eat dairy products if they wished-) They alto avoided gluten (a protein found in wheat), refined sugar, salt, alcohol and caffeine. After a month, their joints were less swollen and tender, and they had less morning stiffness and a stronger grip than people who followed their usual diets.

THE FAT CONNECTION

These days it's difficult to think of an illness that isn't made worse by a diet high in saturated fats. Arthritis, it appears, is no exception.

In one study, 23 people with rheumatoid arthritis were put on a very low Fat (10 percent of calories from fat) diet for 12 weeks. They also walked 30 minutes a day and followed a stress -reduction regimen. People in this group experienced a 20 to 40 percent reduction in Joint tenderness and swelling; many of them were able to cut back on arthritis medications. People in a second group who didn't follow the diet showed no such improvement.

"We think that the diet caused most of the improvements in joint swelling and tenderness," says study leader Edwin H. Krick, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Loma Linda University in California.

A diet low in saturated fats reduces the body's production of prostaglandins, hormone like substances that contribute to inflammation, says Dr. Krick In addition, a low -fat diet may hinder communications sent by the immune system, thereby interrupting the body's inflammatory response. "Interrupting those chemicals can help the Joints get better," he says. "One way to accomplish that is by consuming a low -fat or largely vegetarian diet."

Some doctors recommend limiting dietary fat to no more than 25 percent of total calories, with no more than 7 percent of these calories coming from saturated fats. "There's a very simple way to reduce your intake of sat u rated fats just don't add them to food," says Dr. Pisersky. "When you have a sandwich, for example, use low -fat mayonnaise instead of the real thing.

Replacing butter, sour cream, and cheese with their lower -fat or fat –free counterparts can also lower your intake of saturated fats. Even if you don't cut them out of your diet completely, just cutting back can make a difference.

FISH FOR RELIEF

Even though it's generally a good idea to cut back on fats, there is one type of fat that you may want to include in an anti -arthritis diet. The omega -3 fatty acids, found primarily in cold -water fish like mackerel, trout, and salmon, reduce the body's production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes, both substances that contribute to inflammation.

In one study, researchers at Albany Medical College in New York had 37 people with arthritis consume high doses of fish oil. After six months, these people reported having fewer tender joints, less morning stiffness, and better grip strength than those who consumed less or no fish oil.

Although scientific studies often require the use of supplements, you can get similar benefits by eating the fish, according to a study at the University of Washington in Seattle. Researchers found that women who ate one or more servings of baked or broiled fish a week were less likely to get rheumatoid arthritis than women who didn't eat fish.

To get the healing benefits from fish, you need to eat it two or three times a week, says Joanne Curran-Celenrano, R.D. PhD., associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Fish rich in omega -3's include salmon, bluefin tuna, rainbow trout, halibut, and pollack. Canned fish such as mackerel, herring, sardines, and tuna are also high in omega -3's.

HELP FOR WEAR AND TEAR

For years, doctors didn't suspect that there could possibly be a link between diet and osteoarthritis. After all, they reasoned, this condition is a "natural" re suit of wear and tear on the joints. What could diet possibly do?

According to a preliminary study, however, what you eat can make a difference. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine studied the eating habits of people with osteoarthritis of the knee. They found that those getting the most vitamin C—more than 200 milligrams a day—were three times less likely to have the disease get worse than those who got the least vitamin C (less than 120 milligrams a day).

The researchers aren't sure why vitamin C seemed to make such a difference, says study leader Timothy McAlindon, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the medical school. Since vitamin C is an antioxidant, it may protect the joints from the damaging effects of free radicals, unstable molecules that can cause joint inflammation. "Vitamin C may also help generate collagen, which enhances the body's ability to repair damage to the cartilage," he says.

Dr. McAlindon recommends that people get at least 120 milligrams of vitamin C a day in their diets, twice the Daily Value. "That's the amount in a couple of oranges," he says. Other fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C include cantaloupe, broccoli, strawberries, peppers, and cranberry juice.

It's not only what you cat that can affect osteoarthritis but also how much you weigh.

"There's good evidence that people who are overweight are at increased risk for developing osteoarthritis in weight -bearing joints like the knee," says Dr. Pisetsky. Research also suggests that overweight people are at higher risk for developing osteoarthritis in non -weight -bearing joints, such as those in the hands.

"Losing weight leads to less pain and improved mobility," he says.

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