RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

About Rheumatoid Arthritis

There are two main types of arthritis: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  Osteoarthritis rarely develops before the age of forty, but it affects most people after the age of sixty.  The severity of  symptoms range from so mild that you don’t know you’ve got it, to so severe that the smallest movement is agony.  The most common reason is wear and tear of the cartilage that covers the end of the bones. 

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition, where cartilage and tissues in and around the joints are damaged or destroyed.  Rheumatoid arthritis creates stiffness, swelling, fatigue, anaemia, weight loss, fever and, often, crippling pain.  It frequently occurs in people under forty years of age, including young children.

Nutrition Facts & Diet Advice for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Consider the following nutrition guidelines:

• Eat plenty of sulphur containing foods, such as garlic and onion, and eggs.  Sulphur is needed for the repair and rebuilding of bone, cartilage and connective tissue, and aids in the absorption of calcium. 

• Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables, and vegetables of every colour, non-acidic fresh fruit. 

• Eat whole grains (except wheat) such as spelt, kamut, millet and brown rice.

• Eat oily fish, such as mackerel, herring, sardine, pilchard (avoid the tomato sauce in the tins of fish). 

• Eat fresh (not dried or tinned) pineapple when available as the enzyme Bromelain found in pineapple will help reduce inflammation. 

• Take a tablespoon of linseeds with a couple of glasses of room temperature water every day.

• Apple cider vinegar is very good for people with arthritis. 

• Reduce saturated fat from animals in your diet and avoid fried foods. 

• Avoid all milk and other dairy produce.  You may be alright with goats or sheeps yoghurt. 

• Avoid red meat.

• Avoid the nightshade family of vegetables (peppers, aubergine or eggplant, tomatoes and white potatoes – also tobacco).  The solanine found in these foods can cause pain in the muscles to susceptible people. 

• Avoid table salt (sodium chloride) but include the natural sodium found in foods such as celery – this is needed to keep calcium in solution and not sit on top of your joints. 

• Get your iron from food, but ensure your multimineral supplements does not contain extra iron (unless your Doctor tells you you’re anaemic) – there is some evidence iron may be involved in pain, swelling and joint destruction.  You do need some iron though, so eat broccoli, blackstrap molasses, beetroot, peas and, if you are Blood Type O, a little lean organic red meat if this appears to suit you.

• Check for food allergies and intolerances with a nutritional consultant or allergy specialist, and, especially if you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, have a test done via a nutritionist to check whether you have a ‘leaky gut’ – you almost certainly have!

• NSAIDs, among other things, cause ‘leaky gut’.  This can be healed with the help of a nutrition consultant.  

• Also have a hair mineral analysis via a nutrition consultant.   

• Get tested for chlamydia organism which has been linked to some cases of arthritis. 

• Check silicone breast implants.  

• If you are overweight, lose the excess.  See weight management.

Health Supplements for Rheumatoid Arthritis