There is
no one food or group of foods to give up that will help all or even most
people with arthritis. Some people report benefits from altering their
diet, but it is very individual. You have to do a lot of detective work.
Some people feel better when they give up animal protein.
Some people feel better when they give up all foods in the nightshade
family.
The nightshades are tomatoes, white potatoes, peppers (includes bell peppers, cayenne, chili, paprika, pimiento) and eggplant. The nightshade family also includes tobacco and belladonna. The nightshade family can be tricky. After eating a tomato, it can take as long as 48 hours before a reaction occurs. And it can actually take as long as six months for all reactions to stop. This means if you want to test for nightshades you may need to completely give up every member of this family for six months. You must carefully check all labels. Prepared foods often have potato starch or tomato paste. Relish may contain peppers or paprika. Anytime you see "spices" listed under ingredients, the food may contain paprika or pepper.
Some people
feel better when gluten is eliminated from their diet.
Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley, and oats.
Some people feel better when they give up all dairy products.
The problem may be molds. Foods like potatoes, sweet potatoes, nuts, berries,
cantaloupe and honeydew melon get moldy easily. If you react to these
foods sometimes, but not others, you may be allergic to certain molds
rather than the foods.
There are many other foods that can increase arthritis symptoms. Sometimes
the only way to identify these foods is to either go on a fast with nothing
but water for five days, or try a rare foods diet.
See Testing for Food Allergies and Sensitivities.
Are you overwhelmed by all the foods to test and all the treatments to investigate?
Click here.