Arthritis Diet Myths

Last week, as part of National Arthritis Week, Arthritis Research UK set out to bust some of the myths around arthritis and I joined in with a feature in the Richmond and Twickenham Times. It was a really great campaign as there is still a huge amount of misunderstanding about arthritis. Even some of the doctors I see get confused between osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Like me, I'm sure you find people say some pretty odd things to you out of confusion about the condition and even your nearest and dearest may struggle to understand it some times. My least favourite myths are the ones about diet though - over the last 10 years people have suggested that I could cure the arthritis by eating gin-soaked raisins, avoiding nightshade vegetables, cutting out wheat and dairy, only eating organic, fasting and consuming emu oil (yes, really!). I don't object to the idea that making healthy changes to your diet might help with some symptoms, I don't even object to the idea that for some people certain foods may exacerbate the condition but I really get annoyed when people suggest that you can simply cure arthritis with diet. Bluntly, it would be great if you could but you can't. Drinking emu oil can't grease your joints and no amount of carrots will cure crepitus. It's a serious medical condition and no whacky diet is going to kick it to the curb. To lay some of those myths to rest I've been digging about to find out what the scientific verdict is on them:

Avoiding nightshade vegetables - no clinical evidence for this myth. Some individuals may find a particular food makes them better or worse but vegetables from the nighshade family are packed full of anti-inflammatory anti-oxidants, phytochemicals and vitamins so cutting them out of your diet means you are missing out on their nutritional benefits.

Gin-soaked raisins, cider-vinegar etc - no evidence from any clinical trials. I'm afraid this one is all anecdote. Not going to do you any harm if you like eating your raisins with gin but it's probably only the alcohol relieving the pain!

Cutting out wheat - I've posted more extensively about this here. In a nutshell, probably not but it depends on what type of arthritis you have.

No starch/London diet/AS diet - one study has been conducted using this diet which did show positive results but it was with only a few patients and the benefits of cutting out starch haven't been found by other researchers. It's a very restrictive diet so definitely not one to try without discussing it with a dietician or doctor first.

Vegan diet - there is some evidence in favour of this for reducing symptoms in inflammatory arthritis based on a series of trials done by a Scandinavian research group. However, no-one else has replicated their results and a Cochrane Review suggested that patients on the diet actually were risking malnutrition in the long term as they weren't well-equipped to ensure they were eating a balance diet. It could be that the weight loss the patients on the vegan diet experienced actually helped reduce inflammation or possibly the diet itself. A vegan diet can be very healthy if its well-balanced so there is no reason to avoid one because of arthritis but probably no reason to choose to go vegan just for your arthritis either.

Diet does have a role in managing arthritis. Being a healthy weight and eating a balanced diet can help reduce some symptoms and improve your overall health. You can find my run down of how to have a healthy arthritis diet here.

Let me know your least favourite diet myths or whether you are actually a secret fan of gin-soaked raisins and emu oil salad dressings!

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