Healthy eating for hurting joints

When engaged in an all-fronts campaign against rheumatoid arthritis (RA), any lifestyle changes that might help are welcome. While there is no “arthritis diet,” eating healthy is an important step. It can help stave off the cardiovascular complications that often accompany RA and give you stamina for the long haul. And in recent years, research has suggested that certain foods may rival medications for taming inflammation and relieving pain, at least in mild to moderate arthritis.

Everyone’s familiar with inflammation—the painful, swollen redness that appears around infections and wounds. Usually, inflammation is a good thing. It means that your immune system has sent out emergency cells to fight off germs and repair damaged tissue. But in people with RA, the immune system has run amuck, attacking—and damaging—the joints.

The food fire brigade
A well-rounded, healthful diet is a good start to fighting inflammation, but some foods have a special talent for it. They contain chemicals that restrain proteins—in particular, prostaglandins and immune system messengers called cytokines—that the body uses to ratchet up the inflammatory process. Here are some of the helpful substances and foods that research is pointing to:

1. Beneficial fats. These are the omega-3 fatty acids, and they’re great at holding back cytokines. The best sources of omega-3s are coldwater fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, and cod. “There are a lot of epidemiological data that show that people who live in northern climates with a lot of fish and seal oil in their diets have a lower risk for inflammatory disease,” says Tihamer Orban, MD, principal investigator in a Harvard University study looking at the anti-inflammatory effects of omega-3s. Their impact is so powerful that Dr. Orban suspects they may even hold a clue to preventing type 1 diabetes, a disease that results from a powerful autoimmune response—just as RA does. Have at least two 3½-ounce servings of fish a week or about a tablespoon of supplemental fish oil a day.

2. Flaxseed oil. This is another good source of omega-3s. Two tablespoons a day, added to foods, should be enough to help. Raw flaxseeds aren’t the way to go since they are indigestible—unless they’ve been finely milled.

3. Milk. Goat and cow milk contain conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), which inhibit pro-inflammatory prostaglandins. Researchers recommend several servings of low-fat or nonfat dairy products each day.

4. Olive oil. Olive oil is a monounsaturated (healthful) fat that contains oleocanthal. Like CLA, this chemical blocks prostaglandins, which in turn lessens pain. About 3½ tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil has the same effect on pain and inflammation as a 200-milligram tablet of ibuprofen.

5. Fiber. One indicator of inflammation in the body is the blood level of a substance called C-reactive protein (CRP). Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina recently showed that a diet high in fiber—more than 27 grams a day—can significantly lower CRP, which could mean less inflammation in the joints.

6. Ginger. The active substance in this spice is called gingerol. It stops inflammation by inhibiting the body’s production of both prostaglandins and cytokines. Ginger is also widely used as a remedy for nausea.

7. Turmeric. This tasty member of the ginger family has been used in India’s cuisine as well as in its traditional medicine for thousands of years. The active ingredients work by checking a pro-inflammatory protein called NF-kappaB. One study at the University of Arizona suggested that turmeric extract might prevent the onset of rheumatoid arthritis.

8. Cherries. Although experts disagree about whether cherries can relieve arthritis pain, researchers from Michigan State University found that anthocyanins, the chemicals that give cherries their deep red color, may be more effective than aspirin at fighting inflammation. Scientists do generally agree that cherries can relieve the pain of one variety of arthritis: gout.

9. Pomegranates. A study at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine showed that an extract of this sweet, ruby-red fruit might slow the progression of osteoarthritis, which has an inflammatory component, by inhibiting a cytokine called interleukin-1b. The benefits of eating the fruit itself haven’t yet been studied.

10. Tea. A study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that women who drink three or more cups of regular (black or green) tea daily reduce their risk for developing RA by 60%.

Although the scientific evidence suggests that individually these foods have only a moderate effect, a healthy diet that favors them may enable some people, in consultation with their doctor, to reduce their medication or go off it altogether. And eating these often-delicious foods certainly beats taking pills.