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what foods can trigger arthritis and what foods can help ?

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Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Posted 1/3/2011 4:49 AM (GMT 0)
 

    Hi Everyone, HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

    Wondering what foods help arthritis and what foods to stay away from.

I know there are spices and seasonings that help. If anyone has a list or knows how to find one can you let me know?

Thanks so much :-)

donna

Posted 1/4/2011 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hello, Donna,

Research indicates now that the omega 3 acids are very helpful for
arthritic pain; they have many other effective uses in the system.

I would suggest that taking the Omega 3 acids (and maybe a little of
the Omega 6 acids) rather than using the fatty acids in butter, fried foods, etc., might give you some relief.

Try going online to acid-forming foods.com and check which foods you often eat and try to cut back on them. Then go to alkaline reacting foods.com and try to incorporate more of those in your diet. Some have recommended trying to keep a more alkaline diet is much better for the system.

In addition, I would recommend using distilled water and avoiding water from the home faucet for two reasons: chlorine is usually added to water in processing plants to purify the water. Distilled water removes unused minerals from the body and helps. I use Smart Water which has electrolytes added. It's a real perker-upper and is good for the system, as is purified water, too.

It's a process of finding and changing your diet for the best possible
remedy for arthritic pain, in addition to medicines prescribed by your
physician.

It's Genetic
Posted 1/5/2011 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

My sister swears that certain foods make her arthritis worse, but honestly I have never noticed a pattern between what I eat and how active my arthritis is - my best guess is that it's idiosympathetic (yes I know this isn't a real world), and is likely different for each individual. A common complaint is that spicy food makes it worse, which may be the case in some people - but I eat a _lot_ of spicy food and have never noticed a difference!

I've heard that Vit D supplements have helped other people, and I started taking Vit D supplements as of yesterday to see if it does help, so fingers crossed it will cause an improvement. (If not I'm grateful for the placebo!)

P.S.

The word I was looking for was idiosyncratic, which IS a real world! I swear my IQ has dropped 30 points or so since my body decided it was in its interests to develop fibromyalgia..
Posted 1/5/2011 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
I am another who sees no food-arthritis connection at all.

I take 2000 IU of vitamin D daily. I may have experienced a slight improvement in how I feel....but not sure as my RA is fickle. I could say that right now and tonight I could be all stiffened up and hobbling from my chair and say to myself...why did you say that?

Posted 2/2/2011 1:11 PM (GMT 0)
smilewinkgrin  have definitely noticed that a diet high in carbohydrates and salf definitely make my RA WORSE!!  I did a whole month in Boot Camp and was put on high fiber, protein and lots of dark green veges and fruit and started to notice a HUGE decrease in swelling and pain (despite all the intense exercise).  Within about a week I was feeling fantastic!!!  I cut out all sugars, breads and ate in moderation an ocassional BAD food.  Overall lost 30 lbs and felt sooo much better.   Hope this helps!!!!
Posted 2/2/2011 1:15 PM (GMT 0)

Hi again Donna,

idea  forgot to mention, drink plenty of water!!!!  Drink about 1/2 your body weight in OZ.  For example.  If you weigh 180 lbs, then drink about 90 oz. of water.  It really worked for me.  Helps to flush toxins and helps to decrease inflammation.

Posted 2/12/2011 11:00 AM (GMT 0)
I have actually seen information on a Medline (medical health report and investigtion database) which was doing research on the effects of starch on arthritis pain (trying to see if there was a correlation between an increase in starch consumption resulting in an increase in arthritis symptoms and pain level increases).

I am not saying that starch does or does not have any affect on pain levels, all I'm saying is that I happened upon a study once that was looking at that particular dietary component.

Wishing you all well, better days, and the ability to live life to the fullest for as much of and as long as possible!
Posted 2/13/2011 3:28 AM (GMT 0)
The above is good list, so far a re-cap Omega-3, vitamin D, plenty of water and I want to
add that tart cherry juice is also supposed to help, but it hurt my stomach...so as with
anything start on something slowly to see if it helps and go from there, if you
make a big diet change you could upset your whole insides and get upset stomach and diarreha
so do any changes slowly....
well wishes to you....
Posted 2/15/2011 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
I was told all berries are good fo RA, they are suppose to be natual anti inflammatories and my rheumy swears by fish oil supplements. I also swear by lots of water but personally I haven't noticed any difference with diet, I tried the no deadly nightshade one for a couple of months and noticed nothing.
I find it so anti social being on a diet and hard work when you have kids and work and have to cook two meals. But best of luck to you, golitho
Posted 2/17/2011 11:25 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,
My name is Robert.
Around 20 years ago i got strucked by arthritis.
I got cured within 7 days.
Any kind of food can be the cause of arthritis.
Or i will put it the other way around. The chemicals which are inside your food are the cause.
I cured already two people by the book from dr. Giraud Campbell. Name of the book "Arthritis".
Cure arthritis in a natural way.
Of course if you tell the people they can't eat ANYTHING out of a box, glass, can or anything that's been made in a factory, most of them say: ohhh if i can't smoke, or drink, or eating pizza, or..... than for me this is useless.
Try to eat EVERYTHING FRESH. As much as possible without CHEMICALS.
Because the chemicals (colors, anti-oxidants, ....) are the devils.
So you can eat fish, meat, vegeteables, honey, butter... etc.
But nothing that is made in a FACTORY.
Then on top of it you have to take some vitamines for your bones.
Beeryest, molasses and fishoil (omaga3).
Half warm glass of milk with 1 eatspoon of beeryest and 1 eatspoon of molasses 3 times a day (not the omega 3 read the flyer of the medication).
Quote from dr. Campbell: the chemicals which your body can't manage has to be stored someplace. It will be stored on your joints they get inflammated and yes you have arthrtitis.
I wish you a lot of succes. Rob.
Posted 2/18/2011 6:55 AM (GMT 0)
I think talking to people who have RA about some bogus "cure" for RA that isn't going to work for everyone is insensitive and mean.
Regulating different parts of diet works because many people are mildly sensitive to many items in a standard diet. When you eat it, it provokes the immune system. When the immune system is provoked it also attacks the joints. Eliminate the part of the diet (or environment) that the person is sensitive to and the immune system is not so provoked and is less likely to aggravate the joints, or at least that cause is eliminated.
The thought that "night shades" provoke RA is that they are a common allergy, so a greater population is mildly sensitive, but would not notice unless they have an auto-immune condition like RA. Gluten, dairy, eggs, legumes are all common allergens and could be looked at. To provoke the immune system a person does not need to have a true allergy, just a sensitivity. There is no test for sensitivity, you can only tell by eliminating it completely from the diet in all it's forms, then reintroduce it with caution.
For me, it was a gluten sensitivity. By eliminating gluten completely from my diet I was able to decrease my inflammation and pain dramatically. Before my diet change I was on heavy pain medications nearly all the time, now it has decreased to about a third of the time. When I accidentally eat something with gluten I can tell the difference in pain and with GI symptoms, and the pain continues for 8-10 days before I get back to "normal". I did not even think to check for a gluten sensitivity until I was trying to control my RA.
When you see anything that offers a "cure" for a chronic condition look for the science in it. Everything that glitters is not gold. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE for someone to hand me a "get out of jail free" card, but don't be tricked. People have been looking at the science of RA since well before 1895. I found a scientific paper on it with that date. People weren't eating a whole lot of processed foods at that time, and it was already a common, widespread, old condition by that date. If that is the case, then processed foods cannot be the cause.
Please, tell us about the "this worked for me" things. Tell us about the new science and the old tricks that are working for today's RA- but don't tell me about "snake-oil" cures because you will only be causing more pain than we already have to go through.
Thank you. I'll get off the soap box now.
Posted 4/20/2011 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

 

I haven't noticed that certain foods make my joints worse or better but what I have noticed is that eating a healthy diet that includes lots of fruit and vegetables, whole grains and foods that contain complex carbs makes me feel better overall.  Along with that I've found that daily excercise makes me feel better too; sometimes I'm in so much pain that I can only walk a short distance but when I feel good I do yoga and I swim laps both of which I love. 

 

Just wanted to clarify something Robert said in his post and I quote "Try to eat EVERYTHING FRESH. As much as possible without CHEMICALS.
Because the chemicals (colors, anti-oxidants, ....) are the devils."  

 

Robert I totally agree with this advice with one exception.  Anti-oxidants are not a man-made chemical and are not bad for you.  On the contrary, anti-oxidants are a naturally occuring very good for you naturally occurring chemical.  Anti-oxidants are a very important cancer fighter and can be found in many foods that are very good for you, example Broccoli is very high in anti-oxidants.  You want to eat as many foods that are high in anti-oxidants as you can because they do not make joints worse - in fact there is some evidence that they may have anti-inflammatory properties.  I hope you don't mind me making this comment - I do not mean to offend.  

 

Another point I'd like to make is that a diet that is completely devoid of carbohydrates is not a good diet to be on because our bodies need "sugar" to run; it is the fuel our brains need to think and our physical body needs to operate.  However,not all "sugars" are created equally; those that are naturally occurring in fruits and whole grains and beans/legumrd are sources of good sugars while those from processed foods and refined sugars are not good for our bodies.  Basically the difference is that the sugars found naturally in food takes longer to break down and are therefore released more slowly into a person's blood stream.  This prevents spikes in a person's blood sugar as well as spikes in insulin.  When a person eats processed foods and foods that are high in sugar without fiber or protein in them, the sugars are released quickly into the blood stream causing blood sugar and insulin peaks.  It's like all the work of digesting the carbohydrate is done for you before you eat what ever high sugar food it is.  Insulin peaks and high insulin levels found in insulin resistance can have an inflammatory effect in the body and goodness knows we don't need any help in that area!  So don't get rid of all sugars, just those that are in processed foods and those often found in large amounts in foods that are processed to be low fat.  If the sugar you are eating also contains fiber and protein it will be digested and released slowly so these are the sugars you want to have to feed your body's need for fuel.  This would be good advice for all people not just those of us with already diagnosed inflammatory arthritis. 

Cheers



 
Posted 4/20/2011 11:35 PM (GMT 0)
Just a quick additional note:

I too agree that it's frustrating when people present "cures" that really aren't cures but, perhaps at best, are things that have helped decrease symptoms. When I hear things about psuedo-cures from other people who have arthritis I feel badly that they are as yet uninformed enough to differentiate real from fake. What I got from what Robert said is that he has found a way to make his disease go into a remission which is great. I think that rather than get mad at him it might help him more if we educate him about the difference between a remission and a cure and about how this disease is so different in each one of us that no one thing works for everyone so there are no cures.

I think also there might be a language issue too; don't forget that this forum is open to anyone in the world and so not everyone's first language is English.

Finally I'd like to say to Robert that no food causes arthritis. RA is an autoimmune disorder that is a defect in a gene which is causing a person's immune system to attack your joints. Some people find that certain foods exacerbate their symptoms but that shouldn't be confused with having caused the disease. Think of it this way; if a certain food or foods caused RA everyone in the world who at that food would get RA and we know this isn't the case. Also, if there were a magic cure out there wouldn't you think that everyone's doctors would be getting their patients to try it?

Ok now I promise to shut up.
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