Diet in Arthritis

 


Diet is an important part in treatment and prevention of every disease especially the diseases that last life long .A healthy diet in arthritis helps in both decreasing  the inflammation and accelerating the healing process. 
The weight is as important in arthritis as the nutrition and medication. The weight bearing joints like knees, ankle and hip are most severely affected in obese patients especially after the age of 40 leading to osteoarthritis and patients who have preexisting inflammatory arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis are worst hit by this disease if they are obese, the reason is simple the normal carrying capacity of knee joints is about 70 kg and with each kg increase in weight after 70kg increases this disease severity proportionally. Here is some advice regarding foods that can help in reducing the inflammation in Rheumatoid arthritis. 
FRUITS
Fruits are rich in antioxidants that decrease the amount of free radicals in body which play important role in any inflammation so is true for rheumatoid arthritis ,in addition fruits add fiber bulk to diet which help in consuming less calories and maintaining weight. Fruits like grapes, berries are rich sources of flavonoids which reduce inflammation and severity of arthritis. Vitamin C,E and selenium present in fresh fruits acts as antioxidants and reduce inflammation. 

OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS:.The rich sources of omega 3 fatty acids are fish,walnuts,flaxseed and cod liver oil .They act as antioxidants ,in addition to reducing the inflammation they are important in preventing the heart disease in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis.
 
Protien:.Protiens are the building blocks of our body and patients with inflammatory arthritis have high catabolic state which leads to destruction of Proteins due to high inflammatory load and reduction in muscle mass with weak joints .A diet rich in protein including kidney beans,Soy,egg white,whole grains have been seen to improve muscle mass and joint strength. 

Dairy products :.Dairy products are rich in calcium and proteins ,calcium is an important  for bones and its deficiency leads to bone diseases Arthritis patients have high tendency to develop osteoporosis due high activity of bone destroying cells called osteoclasts a diet rich in calcium that provides 1 to 1.5g calcium is helpful in preventing this disease.
   These are the basic diet modifications that should be followed by any arthritis patient .

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