| Everyone needs to eat a well-balanced diet. But it's | | | | soda may help reduce symptoms in many patients. |
| even more important for those suffering with the pain | | | | Preparing Food: |
| and swelling of arthritic joints. | | | | Preparing healthy meals can become a daily struggle |
| A good diet includes foods from each of the five basic | | | | for an arthritis patient, especially during a flare-up. Try |
| food groups: | | | | these tips to make cooking easier: |
| -Breads and cereals. | | | | -Use convenience foods on particularly difficult days. |
| -Fruits. | | | | -Buy prepackages fruits and vegetables that are |
| -Vegetables. | | | | already diced and cut |
| -Poultry, fish, lean meats, or dried beans. | | | | -Cook double portions when you are feeling well, and |
| -Low-fat milk, cheese, yogurt. | | | | freeze one for days when cooking is a struggle |
| Arthritis can make it difficult to eat a good variety of | | | | Mixing Food and Medicine: |
| foods. Fatigue and pain can sap your appetite, while | | | | Some arthritis medications can affect the amount of |
| swollen joints and loss of movement may cause you | | | | certain nutrients in your diet. For example, |
| to avoid foods that require more time and effort to | | | | corticosteroids can cause your body to lose potassium |
| prepare. Certain medications may also affect what | | | | and retain sodium; antacids may contain high levels of |
| you can eat. | | | | sodium and magnesium. This can be especially |
| Let's begin by listing some foods arthritis sufferers | | | | dangerous is you have kidney problem; Colchicines |
| should avoid. | | | | used for gout can affect how well vitamin B-12 is |
| -Sugar. | | | | absorbed; and Penicillamine used for rheumatoid |
| -Caffeine. | | | | arthritis lowers levels of copper. For most people, |
| -Citrus. | | | | eating a variety of foods will help keep up the levels of |
| -Salt. | | | | these nutrients. That's why eating right is so important |
| -Red meat. | | | | to keep new symptoms at bay. |
| -Dairy products. | | | | Foods That Aggravate Arthritis: |
| -Additives. | | | | There have been no foods scientifically linked to |
| -Soft drinks. | | | | arthritis or its symptoms, but many sufferers insist that |
| -Corn. | | | | too much coffee, tea or caffeine can aggravate |
| -Flour. | | | | symptoms, as can excess sodium in the diet. There is |
| If you eat any of these foods, and notice an increase | | | | a rare form of arthritis called Sprue, which is caused |
| in symptoms, the odds are you have a slight allergy to | | | | by a wheat allergy, and when those products are |
| the food and should stop eating it to alleviate | | | | eliminated form the diet, the arthritis symptoms |
| symptoms. | | | | disappear. |
| Many scientists believe that the increase in our | | | | Basically, research seems to point to a well-balanced |
| increase in sugar consumption and the widespread use | | | | nutritional diet as a great supplement to any arthritis |
| of soda pop can be linked to an increase of arthritis. | | | | treatment. If a patient finds a food to be aggravating |
| Whether this is true or not is still under debate, but | | | | to their condition, they should discontinue its use. |
| most physician's agree that limiting both sugar and | | | | |