Arthritis
Links between food and arthritis have been recorded in the medical literature as far back as 1917. Dr John Mansfield, a British doctor specialising in allergy and nutrition, states that:
"Most forms of arthritis are environmentally and nutritionally induced." (4)
The form of arthritis that has been studied most closely in respect of food intolerance is rheumatoid arthritis but other forms have also responded to dietary changes. The aim of this article is to give a very brief introduction to some of the ways in which food intolerance has been implicated in arthritis.
Various forms of elimination diets have been tried to treat rheumatoid arthritis with, not surprisingly, varying degrees of success. For example:
Darlington (1) treated 70 patients with rheumatoid arthritis by identifying and eliminating symptom-provoking foods. Of these 70 patients, 19 per cent remained well and did not require any medications during follow-up periods ranging from 1.5 to 5 years. The foods that most commonly caused symptoms were: corn (56%), wheat (54%), bacon/pork (39%), oranges (39%), milk, oats (37% each), rye (34%), egg, beef, coffee (32% each), malt (27%), cheese, grapefruit (24% each), tomato (22%), peanuts, cane sugar (20% each), and butter, lamb, lemon, and soy (17% each).
Kjeldsen-Kragh et al (2) had 27 patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergo a partial fast, followed by individual food challenges. Foods which provoked symptoms were avoided, as were animal foods, refined sugar, citrus fruits, preservatives, coffee, tea, alcohol, salt, and strong spices. A control group of 26 patients ate an ordinary diet. After four weeks, the diet group showed a significant improvement in the number of tender joints, Ritchie's articular index, number of swollen joints, pain score, duration of morning stiffness, grip strength, sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein. In the control group, only pain score improved significantly. The benefits in the diet group were still present after one year.
I remain convinced of the view that YOU ARE UNIQUE and if food is implicated in an arthritic condition then the individual needs to find out what it is within their own diet that is not right for them. No of the shelf diet will wholly work for everyone. Lyn's story (3) of how her RA joint pain was relived on a diet avoiding aspartame illustrates this well.
Leaving rheumatoid arthritis aside, gouty arthritis has been linked a diet too high in Purines, and arthritic and joint pain, more generally, has been linked with a diet too high in Solanine. Details on both these food chemicals can be found in the Library or in Change Your Diet and Change Your Life.
REFERENCES
(1) Darlington LG. Dietary therapy for arthritis. Rheum Dis Clin North
Am 1991;7:273-285.
(2) Kjeldsen-Kragh J, Haugen M, Borchgrevink CF, et al. Controlled trial
of fasting and one-year vegetarian diet in rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet
1991;338:899-902.
(3) Lyn's story
(4) Mansfield J. Arthritis, Allergy, Nutrition and the Environment.
Thorsons 1995.