There is no doubt that Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms can greatly affect your everyday life and overall wellbeing including joint pain and swelling, reduced mobility, and physical weakness. Other common symptoms are General tiredness, trouble sleeping, and exhaustion.
Making changes in diet can be really helpful in their rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Avoiding inflammatory foods, such as saturated fat and sugar is one of them. The best food for arthritis also involve avoiding foods that are high in purines.
So, here is the list of food and drink that should be avoided with Rheumatoid Arthritis:
Certain Types of Fats
Just like protein and carbs, our body requires fats to function well. But with Arthritis, certain types of fats should be limited causing more damage to joints and cartilage.
- Omega 6 fatty acids: Certains types of oils such as corn, sunflower, and vegetable oil. Taking these oils in moderation is not harmful.
- Saturated fat: It is one of the unhealthy fats like Meat, butter, and cheese contain this type of fat.
- Trans fats: Fried foods, including french fries, doughnuts, and fried chicken, Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls; trans-fat is harmful to human health because it reduces “good” cholesterol, increases “bad” cholesterol, and raises inflammation levels.
Added or Excess Sugar
Eliminating added or excess sugars has many benefits for the body. Specifically, reducing sugar while you are maintaining a diet according to arthritis is equally important to consume foods good for joints.
In a case study of 217 people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis noted that sugar-sweetened soda and desserts, among 20 foods were the most frequently reported to worsen RA symptoms.
That shows how sugary beverages or foods may significantly increase your risk of arthritis or worsen it.
Purine Rich Foods
Doctors generally advised to go for low purine diet for people suffering from gout which is a painful form of arthritis.
Purines converted into uric acid in body. The high levels of uric acid in blood cause crystals to form and accumulate in and around a joint.
High-Purine Foods Examples: Fish, seafood, and shellfish, including anchovies, sardines, scallops, trout and haddock. Meats, such as bacon, turkey, veal, venison, and organ meats like liver, Alcoholic beverages (all types).
Nightshades Vegetables
Specific group of vegetables that contain solanine compound is called Nightshades. Tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, goji berries are all members of the nightshade family.
There is no specific study which shows that food containing solanine can worsen or set off arthritis pain but the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine indicates that removing them from the diet helps improve symptoms in some people
The Arthritis Foundation advised patients to exclude nightshade vegetables from their diet for couple of weeks to exacerbate symptoms, and eventually reintroduce them one at a time.
It is always advisable that patients must maintain and keep a rheumatoid arthritis diet plan in order to keep track of any reactions they have to a specific food.
High Sodium Foods
Limiting salt or sodium intake is always a good choice. Especially people with arthritis should avoid foods high in sodium include shrimp, canned soup, pizza, certain cheeses, processed meats, and numerous other processed items.
Foods containing high salt promote tissue inflammation and exacerbate autoimmune diseases. Moreover, some researchers have suggested that high sodium intake may be a risk factor for autoimmune diseases like inflammatory arthritis.
Alcoholic beverages
Anyone with knee pain, joint pain or arthritis symptoms must limit or avoid alcohol as it is known to worsen the condition.
A case study of 278 people with inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spinal cord and sacroiliac (SI) joints — tied alcohol intake to increased spinal structural damage
While limited drinking may reduce some risks of developing arthritis, if you already suffer from arthritis or a condition like gout, it may do more harm than good. Enjoying a drink with some regularity might reduce your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a few studies.
Conclusion:
Rheumatoid arthritis can be managed well with a healthy diet and lifestyle. Adding or avoiding certain food and beverages can help in reducing joint inflammation and promoting overall joint function. Other lifestyle factors such as activity level, body weight, and smoking status are also vital to managing arthritis.
Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5563270/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6692958/
https://www.pcrm.org/health-topics/arthritis