August 31, 2015

Here is a quick look at some nutritional approaches to rheumatoid arthritis, a severe type of inflammatory arthritis.

There are several dietary patterns that can help with arthritis:

• The first is following an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern: eating food that is high in fiber (vegetables and whole grains) and high in omega 3 fats (fish, beans, walnuts) and using extra virgin olive oil as the main food oil. It’s like an oil change for arthritis. This type of diet may help many types of arthritis and many types of inflammation. One example is the diet we created for our book The Fat Resistance Diet.

• The second is a vegetarian gluten-free diet: no animal foods and no foods containing gluten (wheat, rye and barley).

• The third involves identifying specific foods that trigger joint pain and swelling and eliminating them. These foods cause pain by mechanisms that are either chemical or allergic.