I have heard that there are certain foods that affect RA - I was told bread and tomatoes should be avoided!

Does anyone know anything about food & RA?

Sue x

The only thing that affects my arthritis are peanuts! Within a few hours of eating them I start to get pains! It's weird as I believe peanuts are part of the legumes family and yet I'm alright with peas etc.

Hi Sue,

I can't eat cheese or citrus fruit, but find I am OK with tomatoes as long as they are cooked. Also - very strangely - Lemsips are a definite no-no for me! I think it's all trial and error and you have to experiment to find out what works for you.

Lynne x

Hi Sue,

This is a controversial question (i love controversy!LOL) and I would LOVE to say diet affects RA but I am beginning to have suspicions...

It is definitely a good idea to keep to a very healthy eating regime, but again, this is a tricky area as what is healthy to some isn't healthy to others!

For us as a family (my personal view) we try and follow (loosely sometimes, rigorously at others!) a special age old diet (...http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/tradfds.htm)....


.which is pure food, ie NO dietary foods, no processed foods, no white sugar, white flour, and no additives. Basically how people ate thousands of years ago as if one looks back diseases like RA (auto immune problems and such), heart disease, cancers were not as prevalent as they are today. In some societies they are not as rife either.

So, I would always stick to lots of fresh foods and vegetables, as little pre packaged foods as possible and avoid white sugar and flour at all cost!

Dr Patrick Holford's 'Say no to arthritis' (it is not quacky, he just runs through the foods to avoid and the minerals and vitamins to take) is very informative. He did research to look into allergies and wheat and milk were both found more consistently in people with RA.

However, I do not believe in a non-dairy diet (the milk we drink is not good for you but pure milk is etc!) and people with RA need lots of dairy products.

That said I do firmly believe that NO diet will cure RA however I would imagine through eating well and not putting rubbish (all the time!LOL) into our bodies can only make for a healthier lifestyle...and also help to stave off other problems like high BP etc.

Love,

Amanda

Hi
seems to be a individual thing,for me i cartn have only small amount tomatoes,citrus fruit,thats it ok with everything else.
i did try book diets the cure ra naturally one all i got was excess wind and thats it.
so i find just to try eat balance healthy diet is key to make sure getting all my nutrients.
and varation.

t care melly

LOL, Lizzie! I am partial (or you could say, fond) of choc myself, too much so. I *try* and eat very dark choc but also have a great weakness for caramel bars and this giant quality streets, the purple ones! LOL

My other vice is wine, in case you didn't know! LOLOL

Hope you're having a good night!

Love,
Amanda

Hiya Sue,

I went on an exclusion diet approx. 20 years ago, eliminating virtually everything, including tap water, salt, pepper etc. and introducing foods back one at a time. All that happened was I lost a lot of weight!

I believe in eating as healthily as I can and keeping my weight down.

Hi Sue

I asked my doctor about this and he said there is no indication that diet affects RA sufferers. However, as is obvious from the replies you've got, certain things do seem to affect some people. It may be a good idea to keep a food diary alongside a pain diary and see what makes a difference, if anything. I think I might actually try it myself, now I've come up with such a brilliant idea (I didn't read all the replies completely, probably someone's already said this ).

Anthea x

I love your post, Sylvia!

LOL