I'm suffering from arthritis(RA) for 17 yrs. I have been on prednisone, non steroids and nsaids which have caused some harm to my body.
I have joined this site because I want to eat healthy. My aim is to have very good blood in my body that will help me to have a good immune system, reduce inflammation, have strong bones and rebuild cartilage. I want to go on such a diet that will help me to remove the above medicines such as non steroids and others.
I hope that by taking this step, I will be able to give my life a new meaning.
Thank you.
Written by
Shadna
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A lot of foods cause inflammation, even some that have been peddled as healthier options, such as sunflower margarine. The seeds are healthy, but not when they've been processed into something with a chemical makeup of plastic.
Try to avoid eating processed foods, & incorporate as many natural fresh ingredients as you can in to your meals. I find a low starch/high fat diet helps reduce pain from arthritis. Some people find a ketogenic diet with very low carbohydrate is helpful, or trying a paleo diet that's low in grains. Other people find being gluten or dairy free helps, or avoiding other d=foods that may cause inflammation such as those in the nightshade family: aubergine, potato, & tomato. There's no one size fits all as our genes, lifestyles, & food availability are so different.
I follow an American functional medicine practitioner, who writes a lot about eating for specific health conditions. The articles are all free, & there's several on eating for autoimmune conditions that are excellent. This is just one of many: chriskresser.com/rhr-can-au...
We hear a lot about calcium for bone health, but not so much on the other co-factors that are just as important. Our bodies also need magnesium, boron, & vitamins D & K2, in order to produce good bone mass & prevent osteoporosis. If we don't have these co-facors, calcium can end up in our arteries & cause atherosclerosis, which we don't want. I'm pretty sure Mauritius is much much sunnier than where I live, so you shouldn't have to worry about vitamin D. You might want to look up foods that contain the other nutrients to see whether you are getting enough from the foods that you eat. I eat a lot of nuts & seeds which contain boron, & get K2 from drinking kefir every day, but need to take magnesium & vitamin D supplements. I take the chelated form of magnesium at bedtime, or use a skin spray, & take the natural form of vitamin D3, cholecalciferol.
You may not be able to avoid taking all of your medicines, but you might find you need less. For my osteoarthritis, I find eating well helps me needing to take more, & reduces the number of other issues that I see my poorly friends dealing with. Drinking kefir every day helped me reduce the amount of NSAIDs I needed, & counteracted the effect on my digestion so that I didn't need to use antacids that reduce nutrient absorption. It might take a few years for you to find what works best for you, as changing what we eat is a longterm lifestyle change, & not a quick fix.
I hope you find this information useful. Feel free to ask about anything you don't understand.
Thank you so much. The information you have given is very useful.
I am taking sunflower seeds, nuts, dried fruits and I am going on more green leafy vegetables.
I am thinking of including citron in diet to make the ph more alkaline and hence to reduce the joint problems. Do you have info on this citrus fruit,if it can help?
Thanks, I didn't know about boron and the kefir tip is interesting. I will see if it is available.
Can u give me more info on the low starch/high fat diet?
Leafy greens are good for vitamin K1, but don't forget you need K2 for good bone health. Look up my previous post on this for more info.
I eat citrus fruit every day with my iron supplements for more vitamin C better iron absorption as well as being a good source of folate. I find they have no effect on my joints, though some people think citrus fruits can exacerbate arthritis. Like most foods, it won't be the case for everyone, so you'd have to try it to see how you feel. I know several people who follow alkaline diets, one in particular said it cured an autoimmune disorder. Again, you need to try adding or cutting out different foods to see how you feel & work out what's best for you.
High fat/low carb diets are something you'd also need to experiment with. I eat a lot of fruit as it agrees with my digestion, so have a lot of sugar in my diet, but put weight on if I eat too many starchy foods. I know to eat starchy foods such as rice, potates, pasta, etc, in moderation, & have been experimenting with eating resistant starch which becomes additional fibre.
We've all got different genes & lifestyles, as well as food preferences & health conditions, so what works for me may not necessarily make you feel better, but hope you find something that does!
This functional medicine doctor has a lot of good free dietary advice, & some great articles on eating to reduce autoimmune disorders: chriskresser.com/when-shoul... There are several excellent e-books you can download from his website, if you sign up.
My daughter is 11 and has juvenile arthritis. The first doctor we found was awful and did nothing for my daughter finally we found a great doctor who put my daughter on Enbrel injections. Prior to her starting these injections over a year ago now she could barely walk sometimes she couldn't run she had a limp and could never really do activities or play with the kids. This medication has changed her life and she can do every thing any child her age does without complaint. She even thanked the doctor for changing her life. Maybe ask your doctor about the adult version of enbrel.
Someone on another forum told me about the efficacy of this treatment. I printed a hefty book's worth of information for a very good friend who suffers with psoriatic RA. She's been told she's currently not suitable for the treatment, but I don't know whether this is an epigenetic or cost cutting issue.
Hi Shadna, athritis or inflamed joints etc', I have come across Turmeric ( must have black pepper added ) on many sites, its actually the curcumin in it that is the X factor, I use it because old sports injuries being 67, it helps me, check up on it nothing to lose . and I wish you well ....
I can't eat ginger, so substitute with galanghal or cardammom. There's lots of recipes on't'interweb, but if you use honey as a sweetener, go for raw honey & add it after, never before heating the milk & spices.
Shadna in case you are still looking for solutions I have over a 40 year history of Psoriatic Arthropathy, Osteoarthritis and Rhematoid Arthritis. Two years ago I was in a wheel chair with lots of medication for most of those 40 years including methotrexate. At its worst I was housebound and it would take me 20 minutes to walk from bed to bathroom, a journey that ow takes no more than 20 seconds. Now I am largely pain free, certainly medication free and leading a normal life.
My recovery which mostly took a year follows the adoption of a whole-foods plant based diet with no refined oils. That said simply adopting that kind of diet is not necessarily enough to guarantee recovery. I went through a detailed elimination process by following the Paddison Program which I can heartily recommend. I have found that, as well as determination and patience, a comprehensive elimination process is THE KEY to successfully get arthritis out of your life entirely.
You can see my interview with Clint Paddison Feb 2017 at the moment when my doctor said I could start reducing my medication youtube.com/watch?v=KpJjJW0...
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