Over a million adults living in the United States have rheumatoid arthritis, RA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. RA can reduce physical activity, impair quality of life and contribute to depression. If you have RA, speak to your doctor about treatment options appropriate for you. Additionally, consider trying a special diet for rheumatoid arthritis.
Elimination Diet
Some people are sensitive to certain foods in their diet. Eating these "trigger foods" can contribute to RA pain -- a condition known as food hypersensitivity -- Johns Hopkins University reports. Discovering the trigger food can be a challenge. This is the reason Johns Hopkins recommends an elimination diet. During your time on this diet, you cut out foods that are common triggers for symptoms. These include dairy, nuts, processed foods and meat. If your symptoms improve after eliminating that food from your diet, it may be responsible for making your RA pain worse. You must continually abstain from that food to see improvements over the long term. Once you start eating the food again, the pain will likely come back.
Vegan Diet
Followers of a vegan diet do not eat food that contains ingredients derived from an animal. This includes obvious foods like meat and eggs but also includes foods like baked goods, certain breads and dairy products. St. Helena Hospital's Dr. John McDougall, MD, reported that switching to a vegan diet that is also low in fat may help improve your RA symptoms. In a study published in the July 2004 edition of "The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine," McDougall prescribed a low-fat, vegan diet to a group of 24 adults with RA. Symptoms of RA significantly decreased after four weeks on the diet.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is modeled after the typical eating patterns of populations living in European countries like France, Greece and Italy. It tends to contain generous amounts of healthy fats in the form of extra virgin olive oil and fatty fish. The Mediterranean diet limits processed foods, fast food and red meat. L Skoldstam of Kalmar County Hospital found that the Mediterranean diet was an effective RA treatment. In a study published in the March 2003 "Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases," Skoldstam reports that a group of RA patients that switched to a Mediterranean diet boosted self-reported vitality and pain levels.
References
- CDC: Arthritis Statistics
- Johns Hopkins: Nutrition & Rheumatoid Arthritis
- "The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine": Effects of a Very Low-Fat, Vegan Diet in Subjects with Rheumatoid Arthritis
- "Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases": An experimental study of a Mediterranean diet intervention for patients with rheumatoid arthritis
