5 Things to Avoid If You Have Arthritis

If you are suffering from arthritis, you should consider making some dietary modifications for improving the symptoms and preventing them from worsening. Arthritis is a chronic, systematic inflammatory diseasethat causes damage to joints and connective tissues. Your diet plays a significant role in controlling suchinflammation. The food items you consume may increase your inflammation and also lead to other conditions such as diabetes, heart diseases and obesity. You should keep away from all kinds of inflammatory food and instead consume food items, which are anti-inflammatory in nature. Here is a list of 5 types of food,which you should strictly avoid, if you are suffering from arthritis.

1. Fried and processed food: You must cut down on your intake of fried and processed food items. You should try andavoid food such as fried meat or processed frozen meals. Avoiding such types of food will reduce the inflammation and the body’s natural defense is likely to get restored as well.
2. Lower your intake of AGE: AGE or advanced glycation end product is a form of toxin. It appears when food items are grilled, heated, fried or pasteurized. This causes damage to certain proteins in our body. The body breaks the AGEs using cytokine or inflammatory messengers. Depending on the place where the AGEs develop, inflammations may worsen. Therefore, avoid all food items, which are associated with AGEs. You must cut down the amount of sugar in your everyday diet as high amount of sugar leads to increased AGEs, thereby resulting in inflammations.
3. Dairy products: Dairy products contain a certain type of protein, which may result in increased arthritis pain. This protein may lead to irritation of the tissues around the affected joints. Switching to a diet containing no animal product is a good idea for arthritis patients.
4. Alcohol and tobacco: Different health hazards are caused by the consumption of alcohol and tobacco and joints are affected as well. Smokers are more prone to developing rheumatoid arthritis and heavy drinkers are at an enhanced risk of developing gout.
5. Corn oil, salts and preservatives: Corn oil is present in many baked food products and snacks. In arthritis affected patients, the inflammation is triggered by corn oil. Fish oil can be used as an alternative, which gives relief to the inflammation. Food items, which contain excess salt and chemical preservatives should be avoided as they may result in enhanced joint inflammations. Your consumption of salt should be reduced.

An arthritis patient should maintain a balanced diet and a healthy body weight. The food items which trigger inflammation should be abstained from as much as possible. It is recommended to consult a dietician for getting a healthy diet chart. If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a dietitian-nutritionist.