Top 10 Foods That Cause Arthritis Pain

Your joints will feel much better if you stay away from the highly-inflammatory 10 Worst Foods For Arthritis. That’s because these pain-provoking foods contain excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids. Too many omega-6s in your diet tend to cause inflammation, while omega-3s calm it down. When omega-6 foods are out of balance with omega-3s, the body churns out hormone-like substances called eicosanoids, which are highly inflammatory. To minimize arthritis pain and stiffness, choose foods rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3s, while limiting your intake of these foods containing a lot of omega-6s

1. Sugary carbohydrates, including cookies, candies, sodas and fruit drinks

2. All fast foods, especially deep-fried
3. Refined wheat products (white bread, cakes, pasta)
4. Refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils (corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola)
5. Tub margarines and mayonnaise
6. Most commercial salad dressings and dips
7. Granola bars and most energy bars
8. Processed snacks, including chips and crackers
9. Microwave popcorn with butter “flavoring”
10. Veggie burgers and other fake soy-based “foods”

Top 10 Foods That Cause Arthritis Pain

Vending machine food causes arthritis pain

If you have arthritis, avoid all vending machine food options. The best arthritis snacks should be “real” food, as fresh as possible. Because arthritis healing foods ares so hard to find outside your own kitchen, grocery store and a few good restaurants, make it a habit to carry your snacks with you–to work, on airplanes, and to the gym–so your hunger won’t force you to eat whatever’s handy. Those handy snacks are usually the ones that make your joints flare up. Stay away from sodas, fruit drinks and anything with sugar in it because they trigger inflammation and make you crave more sugary foods a short time later. Likewise, steer clear of granola bars and energy bars, which are just candy masquerading as a pseudo-health food. Other pain-activating foods and snacks include yogurt-covered nuts or raisins, banana chips and so-called “natural” potato chips. Even innocent-looking pretzels act just like sugar when they hit your bloodstream because they’re made with refined white flour. Pop your money in the machine and all you’re feeding is more pain in your joints.

Treat Your Arthritis “Gingerly”

The ability of ginger to quell inflammatory compounds in the body makes it a natural for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or osteoarthritis (OA). A study at the University of Miami Medical School, reported in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, found that ginger is as effective as conventional pain-relievers for people with arthritis. Researchers examined 250 people with OA, all with moderate-to-severe pain. Over the course of six weeks, part of the group took 255 milligrams of ginger extract twice daily, with the others taking a placebo. Fully two-thirds of the ginger-takers reported significant pain relief.

[Read about the study at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11710709 ]

Ginger improves both RA and OA

Researchers in Denmark found that eating ginger regularly reduces swelling and relieves pain in people with both RA and OA. They also reported that it improved patients’ mobility. All these benefits occurred without the stomach-wrenching side effects that anti-inflammatory drugs can produce.

Bromelain: Pineapple’s Painkiller

Bromelain, an enzyme found in the stem of pineapple, works like heavy-duty anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical drugs, but without the side effects. It possesses incredibly potent inflammation-fighting powers. Researchers from The University of Maryland Medical Center report that bromelain may help cut the pain of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and is as effective as NSAIDs like ibuprofen for osteoarthritis (OA) pain. http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/bromelain-000289.htm

1. How it works

When bromelain reaches your bloodstream, its proteolytic enzymes consume the protein gunk that causes inflammation, while simultaneously driving down your body’s production of joint-inflaming chemicals. While fresh pineapple has more active enzymes than supplements, sometimes it’s impractical or impossible to have a fresh pineapple on hand or to eat one every day. In these cases, supplements are a good substitute for pain relief. Take from 500 mg to 2,000 mg daily, between meals. You’ll likely feel an improvement in just a few weeks.

Caution: Be sure to take bromelain supplements on an empty stomach; otherwise, the enzymes will be busy digesting your meal instead of the inflammation-causing gunk.

Good Bugs Fight Arthritis

The beneficial bacteria in yogurt, especially lactobacillus acidophilus, has been proven to dramatically lower inflammation, a big plus for people with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). But stress, a poor diet, and toxins like alcohol and tobacco will deplete your intestinal flora, and a round of antibiotics will wipe it out entirely. That is when you want to add an acidophilus supplement.

Probiotic supplements counter antibiotic destruction

No one will argue that a round of antibiotics is necessary for bacterial infections such as sinus infections, bronchitis or an infected flesh wound. But antibiotics are so thorough in their destruction of germs that they also wipe out your supply of good bacteria living in the intestines, which also fight the bad bacteria, especially those that might come along in a tainted food source.

Turmeric Spices Up Arthritis Pain Relief

If you’re unfamiliar with Indian food, perhaps this will change your mind. Turmeric, the spice which gives curry its yellow-orange color, packs a powerful anti-inflammatory punch, making it an important supplement in The Arthritis Healing Diet.

Turmeric, a relative of ginger, has been used by Indian Ayurvedic healers for centuries to relieve arthritis pain. Turmeric’s active ingredient is curcumin, which has been extensively studied for its anti-inflammatory effects.

Shake on some arthritis relief

The best way to incorporate the arthritis-healing benefits of turmeric and other curry spices such as ginger is to include curry-based dishes into your menus, either by learning to cook them at home or visiting your local Indian restaurant.

You can also sprinkle turmeric on almost any food every day to get its anti-inflammatory effects. Shake it into your scrambled eggs in the morning–or onto steamed veggies with a little olive oil at suppertime. It also goes well on pizza. Almost any food can benefit from its spicy kick, while it helps to reduce the painful symptoms of arthritis.

Arthritis & Nutrition

A study in the World Journal of Gastroenterology found that the probiotics in yogurt trigger a decrease in C-reactive protein (CRP), a blood marker for inflammation that can go sky high in people with arthritis. Even more compelling, researchers noted that the bacteria strains Lactobacillus and Propionibacterium exert an especially strong effect on CRP. This means that certain beneficial bacteria have “strain-specific” anti-inflammatory abilities, so look for yogurt that contains these two when shopping. The same study found that yogurt’s beneficial bacteria caused a reduction in the body’s production of cytokines, body chemicals which turn on the inflammation response in joints.
The beneficial bacteria in yogurt, especially lactobacillus acidophilus, has been proven to dramatically lower inflammation, a big plus for people with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Stress, a poor diet, and toxins like alcohol and tobacco will deplete your intestinal flora, and a round of antibiotics will wipe it out entirely. That is when you want to add an acidophilus supplement.
For more scientific studies on probiotics go to: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go/pubmed
Yogurt contains more absorbable calcium than an equal amount of milk. Calcium is an essential mineral for bone and cartilage health. Just one cup of plain non-fat yogurt provides 414 mg of calcium, which is 25% more than the same amount of non-fat milk. On top of that, the milk sugar in yogurt greatly improves calcium absorption. Eating yogurt regularly is good for everyone and vital if one has arthritis.
More calcium also makes weight loss easier, giving relief to over-stressed joints. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that eating a diet high in calcium boosts the burn-rate of body fat. Women from 18 to 30 years old with normal weights were put on either a high-calcium or a low-calcium meal plan for a full year. The high-calcium women took in 1000 mg to 1400 mg per day from food sources, while the low-calcium group got less than 800 mg daily. The high-calcium group burned fat at 20 times the rate of the low-calcium group! This is a testament to calcium’s fat-burning power and its importance for people with arthritis.
When shopping, read yogurt labels carefully. Look for organic yogurt with labels marked “live active cultures.” Some of the most beneficial bacteria to look for include L. bulgaricus, B. bifidus, L. casei, and L. reuteria. If you find plain yogurt to be too sour for your taste, just add a little fresh fruit, cinnamon and ground flaxseed for a sweet, healthful and delicious meal or snack any time of day. Avoid yogurt containing sugar, artificial sweeteners, artificial coloring, candy and cookie pieces or fruit that aren’t good for your joints. These bear little resemblance to real yogurt. Most also have been pasteurized, which kills the live bacteria making them ineffective against arthritis.