Cooking out the Creak: Arthritis and Nutrition

You don't catch arthritis like you catch a cold. But on the other hand, a family history of arthritis doesn't always foretell your arthritic destiny. As continuing research indicates, personal decisions like diet can certainly weigh on a person's own risk of arthritis; said Dorothy J. Pattison, the head author in a study on red meat and RA: "Nongenetic factors, such as aspects of lifestyle, may explain [approximately] 40% of the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)." And for that reason, arthritis researchers have been finding nutrition and dietary manipulation two subjects worth exploring.

For starters, there is the study finding a link between high red meat consumption and a greater risk for RA. The study, published in the December 2004 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, used 25,630 patients aged 45 to 75 from 1993 to 1997. Each patient with arthritis was assigned 2 controls matching in age and sex; all three were given seven-day food diaries. Using dietary analysis software, researchers found patients with arthritis consistently had higher red meat intakes and lower Vitamin C intakes. The study found the arthritis patients at question ate raw fruit less frequently. The arthritis patients also had a higher incidence of smoking, which is believed to be another risk factor for arthritis.

In the study's conclusion, the authors suggest red meat might contain or somehow set off certain inflammatory agents. Of course, they admit the exact link between increased red meat consumption and RA remains unknown. But at the very least, nodding to the higher incidence of smoking among arthritis patients, the authors conclude high red meat intake is another marker--like smoking--for a group of people particularly at risk for arthritis.

With diet impacting the condition of arthritis, it follows that researchers would explore dietary manipulation as a way to combat the condition's onset and worsening. And it has been explored. From elemental, "peptide" diets to vegetarian diets, even to fasting, dietary manipulation comes in many forms. For instance, one study examined the food habits of 81 Danish RA patients. Found to be lacking in Vitamin D, Vitamin E and n-3 fatty acids, the patients were switched over to a specialized diet rich in fish, fruit and antioxidants. Soon after, these patients reported shortened periods of morning stiffness, fewer swollen joints and reduced medicine costs--even while the monitoring doctors' data and X-rays showed no improvements or deteriorations. Because the doctors could not clinically confirm the improvements reported by the patients, this study might only reveal the power of suggestion when it comes to "eating healthy". But then again, a lack of evidence doesn't rule out the power of good nutrition--researchers could find no explicit link between red meat and RA either.

There is a growing body of thought, but no consensus regarding key nutrition for arthritis patients. Still, most of the same rules apply: plenty of fruits and vegetables, few saturated fats, processed sugars and sodium. Alongside medicine and regular exercise, good nutrition is just one part of an effective, multifaceted approach to a pervasive, multifaceted condition. But if nothing else, an emphasis on good nutrition is especially meaningful in the sense of choice and control it can give to those with arthritis. That is something to remember the next time you go grocery shopping.

Article References
D Pattison, D Symmons, M Lunt et al. Dietary risk factors for the development of inflammatory polyarthritis: Evidence for a role of high level of red meat consumption. Arthritis & Rheumatism. Volume 50, Issue 12, 3804 Ð 3812.

P Stolt, C Bengtsson, B Nordmark et al. Quantification of the influence of cigarette smoking on rheumatoid arthritis: results from a population based case-control study, using incident cases. Ann Rheum Dis. 2003 Sep;62(9):835-41.

SE Holst-Jensen, M Pfeiffer-Jensen, M Monsrud et al. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with a peptide diet: a randomized, controlled trial. Scand J Rheumatol. 1998;27(5):329-36.

J Kjeldsen-Kragh, M Haugen, CF Borchgrevink et al. Controlled trial of fasting and one-year vegetarian diet in rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 1991 Oct 12;338(8772):899-902.

G Hansen, L Nielsen, E Kluger et al. Nutritional status of Danish patients with rheumatoid arthritis and effects of diet adjusted in energy intake, fish content and antioxidants. Ugeskr Laeger. 1998 May 18;160(21):3074-8.