An anti-inflammatory diet may alleviate rheumatoid arthritis

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

15.11.2022

A diet with a relatively high amount of - let's name a few - selenium, healthy fatty acids, vitamin C, magnesium and zinc inhibits chronic inflammation in the body. According to an epidemiological study published in Nutrition Journal, such an anti-inflammatory diet may also help rheumatoid arthritis patients suffer less from their disease.

An anti-inflammatory diet may alleviate rheumatoid arthritis

Study

Researchers from Kermanshah University in Iran studied 184 female rheumatoid arthritis patients, who had in common that they attended the arthritis clinic in their city. The researchers used questionnaires to determine the activity of the disease in the study participant on the one hand and their diet on the other.

For each study participant, the Iranians calculated the dietary inflammatory index. You can read what this means here.

Results
The higher the inflammatory index of the diet, the greater was the activity of the inflammatory protein CRP in the blood of the study participants.

This was to be expected. After all, a high inflammatory index of the diet also increases inflammatory factors such as TNF-alpha and interleukin-6.

A diet with a relatively high amount of - let's name a few - selenium, good fatty acids, vitamin C, magnesium and zinc inhibits chronic inflammation in the body. According to an epidemiological study published in Nutrition Journal, such an anti-inflammatory diet may also help rheumatoid arthritis patients suffer less from their disease.

The higher the inflammatory index of their diet, the more affected the study participants were from their disease. A high inflammatory index was associated with more painful and swollen joints.

Click on the figures below for a larger version.

Conclusion

The researchers are well aware that although this type of epidemiological research can detect associations, not every association implies a causal relationship.

"Prospective longitudinal studies or clinical trials are needed to elucidate whether the low dietary inflammatory index diet can induce relevant improvements in rheumatoid arthritis disease activity", write the Iranians.

Source:
Nutr J. 2022 Aug 16;21(1):53.

More:
Fish reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, processed meat has the opposite effect 14.11.2022
Fish oil reduces rheumatoid arthritis joint pain 24.05.2017
Animal study: supplementation with 5-HTP can combat rheumatism 15.05.2016

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