When it comes to optimal health, you may not realize how powerful your food choices can be.
Sure, we all know vegetables and fiber are good for us but it can go way beyond that. There are a variety of minor food adjustments you can make to enhance your quality of life, particularly if you suffer with arthritis or other joint pain. Changing your eating mindset beyond the everyday advertising and cultural programming you’ve been exposed to since birth, could be the best decision you’ve ever made.
Recognizing these 7 foods that inflame arthritis is an excellent start towards less pain and more mobility.
Crappy Sugar, Too much Food
There’s a reason people on dietary choices such as the Keto diet or intermittent fasting look and feel so much better. They aren’t eating as much sugar or carbs! Avoiding refined sugar including carbs can significantly decrease joint pain, particularly if it is associated with arthritis.
Medical News Today reported on an archival 2014 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which “followed 186,900 women who participated in two long-term studies. Researchers found that women who consumed more than one sugar-sweetened soda per day had a 63% increase in their risk of developing [] rheumatoid arthritis.”
Avoid crappy sugar found in soda, candy, pastries, white flour and so much more. Replace with less gorging of any food you can find and choose complex sugars and carbs such as fruits, legumes, whole grains and vegetables instead.
Also eat less food, breaking the breakfast, lunch, dinner rule, (which is more of a programming than a rule) can also relieve arthritis symptoms. Intermittent fasting has been linked to less arthritis pain.
Very Well Health reported that,
“Research also has shown that intermittent fasting has a positive impact on the activity of psoriatic arthritis as measured by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). Intermittent fasting is also associated with an improvement in the disease activity scores, enthesitis (inflammation of the entheses) and dactylitis (painful swelling of the fingers and toes).2
Studies have further indicated that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), another inflammatory form of arthritis, who engaged in fasting had a rapid immune response with reduced inflammation.”
Avoiding processed sugars and eating less food could help reduce arthritis pain. A significant difference should present within twenty-one days.
Don’t Pour Salt On Your Wound
If you ever eat a high sodium meal (like Chinese food) right before bedtime, you may notice some difficulty moving when you wake. Most people will brush off morning joint pain as part of arthritis and aging, few will attribute it to salt.
A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) found that high salt intake affected inflammation in teens causing joint pain and other inflammatory symptoms. The very symptoms so many adults attribute to arthritis and age. For those already suffering with arthritis, avoiding salt may be a real pain reducer.
The study found that,
“The average sodium intake was 3280 mg/day. Ninety-seven percent of our adolescents exceeded the American Heart Association recommendation for sodium intake…High sodium intake is positively associated with adiposity [body fat] and inflammation…”
Corn Caution (Omega-6)
The fatty acid, omega-6, is a substrate (molecule on which an enzyme acts) of inflammatory cytokines (proteins that signal cells). It is found in many foods, particularly corn. In small amounts omega-6 can be tolerated but if consumed in large amounts arthritis could flare up. Therefore it is no surprise that so many people, young and old, suffer with some form of arthritis, corn and corn oil is practically in everything we eat.
A study published in the Subcellular Biochemistry book series reported,
“Many human diseases have been linked to inflammation, which is mediated by a number of chemical molecules including lipid mediators and cytokines. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids) are the precursors of the lipid mediators and play an important role in regulation of inflammation.”
Avoid consuming too much corn or corn oil. The study recommends more omega-3 fatty acids, found in foods such as fatty fish, flaxseed oil, and walnuts. Omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to decreasing joint pain.
The study states,
“Omega-3 fatty acids dampen inflammation through multiple pathways.”
Avoid 4 Nightshades
Sometimes avoiding certain vegetables, known as nightshades, which have been associated with joint inflammation.
According to the Arthritis Foundation,
“Many people with inflammatory types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) do report a worsening of symptoms such as joint pain and swelling after consuming nightshades. Known in agricultural circles as Solanaceae, nightshades are a botanical family of plants that share certain characteristics. There are around 2,500 species of nightshades (most of which are inedible). Some, namely potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes and pepper, are staples in the American diet.”
To determine if nightshades may be increasing your arthritis pain, do not eat tge following for twenty-one days:
These 7 foods that inflame arthritis are an easy way to take your health into your own hands. Don’t immediately rely on prescription or OTC (over the counter) medications for arthritis. Committing to healthier, medicinal eating could get you naturally pain-free in about three weeks. Take the challenge, for yourself and those that care about you.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3934330/#__ffn_sectitle
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-8831-5_5
https://www.verywellhealth.com/psoriatic-arthritis-fasting-5198768
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