10 foods to help beat rheumatoid arthritis inflammation

(Beth Levine, Michele Bloomquist/ Everyday Health) — The most troubling symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis — pain, stiffness, and swelling — stem from the same source: inflammation. What to do? Part of the answer may involve your diet.

Findings from a study published in April 2021 in Arthritis Research & Therapy, showed that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had significantly more pro-inflammatory diets, and those individuals with RA who were able to lower diet-associated inflammation between 2011 and 2017 were also able to maintain low disease activity.

“That particular result was extraordinarily strong and consistent as indicated by more than 3.5 times greater odds of maintaining good control over the disease compared with those who did not adopt a more anti-inflammatory diet,” said study coauthor James R. Hébert, MSPH, ScD, Health Sciences Distinguished Professor and director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. (…)