Food and diet

[topcat111]

Hi guys, hope you are all doing ok ATM, my question is can certain foods aggravate our RA condition?

Thanks guys!

happy Halloween!,

[Tillytop]

Hello - and Happy Halloween to you too!

I don't think there is a specific answer to your question - as is the case with so much to do with RA unfortunately. So I reckon it's a case of trial and error. I have never found that foods seem to affect my RA, but if you think that foods might be making things worse for you, you could try keeping a food diary, listing everything you eat and "scoring" your RA activity each day. That might give you an indication of anything which is having a detrimental effect. I am trying a gluten free diet at the moment on the recommendation of the rheum nurse (not to help my RA but to see if it eases my ongoing tummy trouble) and the food diary/special diet thing is hard but I am finding easier as the days go by. I wouldn't recommend cutting out whole food groups (eg wheat, gluten, dairy etc) though without getting some proper advice first to make sure it won't do you any harm and that you don't cause other problems by missing out on vital nutrients.

Will be interested to read other people's replies to your question.

Tilly x

[Karen77 in reply to Tillytop]

Tilly,

I would love to know how you did with your GF experiment. I know I feel loads better without gluten.

[Tillytop in reply to Karen77]

Hello Karen,

I'm so glad you do better without gluten. Unfortunately despite sticking rigidly to a completely gluten free diet for a while to see if it would help with my stomach problems, it did little to help. Thanks for asking though and I know for some people, like you, it really makes them feel better generally.

Tillyx

[earthwitch]

Some folks find nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes and anything from that family) can affect RA, but equally, other folk don't.

Some of theOmega fish oils and things like glucosamine have been shown in research to have a positive effect on synovial fluid in joints, so could be worth trying if not too expensive.

A lot of folk find reducing wheat helps with a lot of things. Also getting rid of as much highly processed food as possible from your diet and cooking from scratch (vegetables, meat, whole grains, etc)

[hopalongrider]

Happy Halloween!

I have found that diet has a big effect on my RA. For me, citrus fruit is a killer, especially oranges. Strawberries also cause flare ups.

It is a bit extreme but I have used fasting as it supresses my joint pain. I did a diet a while a go which essentally a fast of green veg, eggs, fish, rice, cottage cheese and lots of water with no fruit, tomatoes, potatoes, meat, bread, pasta or processed anything. It was awful but for the 6 weeks my symptons vanished ( and I shrank).

Good luck finding your triggers and hopefully you can find ways aaround them. x

[oldtimer]

If you have a search through some of the previous posts you'll find quite a lot of discussion about whether foods affect RA.

The jury is still out I think, but do your own research and be careful to only cut out one thing at a time before re-starting it to test if it's a trigger. And a flare up after a particular food may be a co-incidence and needs to be repeated to make sure that is what it is.

And guard against cutting out things so much that you don't have a proper balanced diet.

[megant]

Hi Tomcat

I don't really stick to any diet, I try to carry on as before. My rheumy consultant did tell me though to limit red meat, whether thats true !!!! But it likes everything, we are all different and what works for one, doesn't work for another.

Take care

Alison

x

[Sailaway]

At the RA clinic yesterday a research nurse told me to look up Patrick Holford and the A-Z of nutritional healing. Once on the site you go and look up all the aspects of the disease like autoimmune, inflammation, pain etc and find information about diet to help. I haven't done that yet, and I have no idea whether this is something she promoted independently or if she gave me the info as part of the clinic. Maybe it's what you're looking for? I'm in no position to say if it's good advice or not, but see what you think.

[minka]

MY MATE WHO HAD IT SAID TOMMATOS MADE HIM BAD WITH FLARES

[hamble99b]

salt,

soda based drinks.

[topcat111]

Thank you all for your replies, I'm still looking into it, one thing that keeps cropping up are tomatoes and wheat!! Will delve deeper and see what I can find out! Thank you xxxx

[Karen77 in reply to topcat111]

This is an old post now, so I would be interested to know what you've tried and if you've had any success. I'd also like to point you to thepaleomom.com where she has lots of information on the autoimmune protocol (AIP) and why some foods may be aggravating your condition. Www.phoenixhelix.com has RA and has all but healed herself following the AIP, she also has loads of info and recipes on her site. Best of luck. I feel like this is a lot pf trial and error, but it's worth it if we can feel better, normal or better than normal! Cheers!