Arthritis is still a relatively mysterious condition, no matter which one of the over 100 types you happen to have. Although what you eat and drink is a major factor in every aspect of your health, going on an arthritis diet is not a guarantee that you can help manage your pain and stiffness. You also need to do plenty of other things to lead a productive and less painful life.

Fruits And Vegetable Benefits

Eating more fruits and vegetables and cutting back on meats and fatty foods is one of the main aspects of a rheumatoid arthritis diet. This not only will help reduce any excess weight that can aggravate your arthritis, but it may also help reduce inflammation. There have been studies done that suggest chemicals in fruits and vegetables help the body fight inflammation.

One of these studies was done by the University of Manchester in England which looked at the effect of an arthritis diet on arthritis sufferers. This was a long study lasting from 1993 – 2001 and involved over 25,000 human guinea pigs, some with and some without arthritis. An arthritis diet rich in certain caretonoids (such as beta-cryptoxanthin) not only helped reduce inflammation, but seemed to help people not develop arthritis in the first place.

No-Nos

When you are on an arthritis diet, you are encouraged to drink more water and teas and less coffee, sodas or alcoholic beverages. Although you may think that alcohol can numb the pain, it's actually one of the worst things you can drink. It not only dehydrates you, robbing your joints of needed fluid, but it also makes you fat.

You also need to stop smoking, as smoking messes up your body's digestive process and makes your body's circulation slow down. The last thing your joints need is lack of circulation. You need to talk to your doctor about helping to quit long-term habits of smoking and drinking.

Flexibility

An arthritis diet is actually quite flexible. If you have diabetes and are encouraged to go on a diabetes or low glycemic index diet, you don’t have to change a thing for an arthritis diet. It's the same thing! Even if you aren’t keen on cutting out all of the comfort foods in your life, you don’t have to, but you do have to cut down on your portion sizes. Having a limited access to these comfort foods can actually make them taste better, especially if you eat them slowly to savor them.