Foods That Cause Joint Pain

Arthritis might just be the end result of a food allergy, or maybe food allergies inflame your joint when you have arthritis, nobody knows. One thing for sure, you need to avoid certain foods if you want to live without joint pain and joint swelling. When I moved to the humidity of Florida from the desert, my joints instantly inflamed, so I started researching the subject. I know now why so many people with arthritis move to the desert of Arizona, Nevada and California.

Dairy Products Cause Joint Pain

Dairy is the most common ingredient that causes joint pain and joint swelling for those with arthritis. Most people are eating so many things that inflame arthritis that they never noticed the connection between joint pain and dairy. By avoiding butter, milk, cheese, whey and all ingredients beginning with “lact,” the pain will lessen within a few days.

One trick to quickly identify a prepackaged food as dairy is to do what Jewish people do, look for the kosher symbol on the box. Kosher products will typically have a U with a circle around it or a K with a circle around it. If the product contains any dairy ingredient, then there will be a D or the work dairy next to the symbol. Rabbi are very strict about dairy in food. The Food and Drug Administration is not. They will allow up to 2% of a product’s ingredients to be not listed on the food label.

Food to Avoid When You Have Arthritis

The basic list of foods to avoid when you have the joint pain and joint swelling of arthritis is: milk products, eggs, tomatoes, citrus fruits and palm oil. There are more, but the biggest problem is dairy, followed by tomatoes and citrus.

Citrus Causes Joint Pain with Arthritis

Citrus, like milk products, is very difficult to avoid. You wouldn’t think so, but you will see it on so many things when you shop for food and read ingredients labels. Citric acid is used in most candy that isn’t chocolate and it is in just about every soda pop and juice. It is a common preservative in food. This means, you need to make your own candies and give up sodas and juices. Your doctor will be very happy about that one.

The Tomato – The Other Nightshade Plant

Nightshade plants are known for their poisonous nature and we eat the tomato anyway. However, if you have arthritis, you need to consider them poisonous because they do cause your joints to swell and inflame. You may have noticed this because your body is in a constant state of inflammation from many foods you’re eating that cause problems for you. Once you clear your system out, it’ll be very easy to identify problem foods. You will start to swell and have pain within an hour of eating them.

Avoiding the foods in this article will get you started in living a pain-free life with arthritis. There are more foods to avoid, but this article points to the biggest problem foods for those suffering with joint pain due to arthritis. If you avoid dairy and tomatoes you’ll feel a good deal of relief within a week.

Pamela Love writes frequently about foods that cause joint pain on her website ArthritisCooking.com