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Arthritis: "Plants For Joints" Study
Autoimmune Diseases | Last Active: 9 minutes ago | Replies (5)Comment receiving replies
@searcher1 Thank you for your post - it refers to a study that was done 4 years ago on a small group of people with osteo or rheumatoid arthritis. A quick check on Google Scholar showed a better description of the study here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1063458423008269
This really is NOT a diet plan - it is a complete lifestyle plan - and it is for life, not for 8 weeks. The headlines this month have all tried to make it look like a simple change in diet was the answer, but the study and results confirm what doctors and nutritionists have been telling us for many years - there is no "cheap cure."
The program involved counseling, stress reduction, physical activity and a primarily plant-based diet. Those evaluated after the study adhered to the complete protocol for 16 weeks and showed improvement. There was a review done one year later that showed improvements held to a certain extent among those who stuck to the plan.
So I try, really I do, but completely changing ones diet forever is not as easy as it sounds. We never have had a lot of junk food around, rarely eat fast food, drink very little soda - mostly water. We have always eaten a lot of vegetables and fruits, we eliminated a lot of the inflammatory foods, reduced meat consumption, added more seeds, legumes and grains - but occasionally that pizza or ice cream sundae is just irresistible.
Have you tried diet and lifestyle changes to reduce arthritis symptoms?
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Sue,
Thank you for your comment and your link to Science Direct. I was going to copy/paste that article, but I thought it was rather technical and decided to go with the more recent article.
You asked: "Have you tried diet and lifestyle changes to reduce arthritis symptoms?" Yes, my diet has been vegetarian that included dairy plus some poultry, fish and bone broth. My symmetric psoriatic arthritis symptoms continued with sharp pain in the ankles, shins, wrists, hands and knees through out each day.
In mid-February, I realized I was having too much cheese and I started to avoid dairy. I also found tomatoes to be a trigger and avoided them. I continued to have bone broth (chicken) for the collagen. My pain was less frequent but still there a few times a day.
At the end of February, I read "the writing on the wall" and realized that I had to go strictly plant based for the month of March. It will be a "culinary challenge" but I prefer challenges to having sharp pain. It has only been a couple days, but I do not have the sharp pain, although the hands / wrists were sore yesterday when I was making a vegan alfredo sauce. (My wife gave it a "good".) The internet is great for recipe searches, and I have the "Blue Zone" cookbook.
I will also mention that my diet has gone "black and blue" (and red) with having veggies and fruit with anthocyanins that battle the cytokine storms that create inflammation. I have black beans, red cabbage and blueberries. I went to Whole Foods and grabbed black lentils, red kale, black rice and purple carrots. I am making things like red cabbage and purple carrot coleslaw. It gets extra points for being colorful. 🙂
So now the question is "Can I stick to it?" And the answer is: I hope so. I want an active life, not a life with constant pain that makes activity planning unpredictable. In 2025, I will have a one person study and will write you a year from now with an evaluation. Hope it goes well for you.