When Suffering From Rheumatoid Arthritis, a Good Diet is Essential

No one knows for sure what causes rheumatoid arthritis and many theories and discussions have taken place surrounding the subject. One thing that all practitioners agree on however is that the disease is chronic in nature in which joints experience inflammation and as a result, a patient can experience a great deal of pain and stiffness. They also agree that there is no known cure for it.

A Good Diet Can Prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis

At the time rheumatoid arthritis enters an advanced phase, joints can develop deformities and people suffering form it may lose their mobility whilst also experiencing problems in other organs of the body. Although the majority of sufferers are over 60, the disease can affect anyone and with no known cure in place, it is widely believed that prevention rather than reaction is the best way to fight it. A healthy diet that contains nutritious ingredients and vitamins should help you prevent the onset of this disease.

As with any diet, you should make sure that there is a combination of each type of food that can be eaten including small, medium and large and that a diet goes hand-in-hand with good exercise. Physical exercise need not be heavy going at the gym, but something of low impact such as swimming, gardening or even washing the car. A good diet for rheumatoid arthritis would include legumes, fruit, bread, cereals, skimmed milk and vegetables and oils with low saturated fats.

A diet that is made up of a lot of fish oil as well as being as vegetarian as possible will help a patient suffering from this disease. Sugar should be consumed in moderation and red meat (with fat cut off) should also be taken. You should take though the rheumatoid arthritis and diet you are on does not contain too much red meat that will aggravate the inflammation of joints so it is best if you want to include this in your diet that you do so in small quantities.

A good rheumatoid arthritis diet should also contain important minerals for the body such as calcium and iron with vitamins C and B. Keeping excess weight off your body through low-impact exercising is also a good way to relieve pain by reducing stress on your affected joints. There is a risk that rheumatoid arthritis can turn anemic and bones can lose their density and the best way to battle this is through a good diet and regular exercise. Failure to eat well and exercise properly may also increase the chances of you developing fevers and other symptoms that will affect how well a body can cope with stiffness and pain.