30+ things doctors wish you knew about arthritis

Dr Blum notes that these foods can irritate and even damage the gut for some people, triggering body-wide inflammation. “In people with arthritis, the gut is damaged, so eating foods we know are hard on the gut can make things worse,” she says. Her suggestion: Cut these foods out completely for three to four weeks, then gradually reintroduce them to see whether your symptoms worsen when you have them.

Losing body fat – and belly fat in particular – is one of the best ways you can reduce arthritis symptoms, says Dr Blum. “Belly fat is particularly dangerous because it releases inflammatory chemicals into the body that can contribute to osteoarthritis,” she says. And of course, there’s the fact that when you lose weight, it lessens the load on joints. The impact of that is important: In a study of 640 overweight and obese people, those who lost just five per cent of their body weight over two years had lower rates of cartilage degeneration compared with stable-weight participants.

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You may think of arthritis as being all in your joints, but like many other conditions, there’s a big connection with your gut and the billions of bacteria that live there. “When the gut microbiome is imbalanced, it can influence inflammation,” says Dr Blum. Which is why fibre is your friend. Fibre is a prebiotic, which means it feeds good tummy bugs while also pulling inflammatory toxins out of the gut, says Dr Blum. Need more proof? People who ate 22 to 28 grams of fibre per day had a 30 to 61 per cent lower risk for OA-related knee pain, according to a recent study.

Your goal: 3 grams omega 3s (EPA and DHA) daily, along with 400-500 mg of omega 6 (GLA). These fatty acids are powerful anti-inflammatory fats that have been found to reduce pain and improve physical function in RA, says Dr Blum. She recommends eating fish as part of a healthy diet but says to make sure you get enough of these nutrients, a supplement is a good idea.

Exercise can help stabilise joints and keep down cortisol levels, says Dr Blum. Just 45 minutes a week of walking or other easy exercise helped people with OA reduce pain and improve joint function in knees, hips and ankles by 80 per cent. “If it’s too painful, do physical therapy to get started,” suggests Dr Blum.

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Meditation, mindfulness, and their cousins can help dial down stress (remember: stress influences the gut microbiome and inflammation), and help stabilise creaky joints, notes Dr Blum. A review of 21 complementary therapies found that acupuncture, massage, yoga and tai chi were most effective in easing OA and RA pain.

Next, learn 10 ways to sneak meditation into your daily life.

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Source: RD.com