Managing Arthritis with Good Nutrition

By Nancy Lum, RDN

Arthritis is a systemic chronic inflammatory disease state that as of February 2024, 53.2 million adults suffer with. Arthritis can cause joint pain/swelling from inflammation and affect movement, which can be difficult for people trying to lose weight.

Minimizing inflammatory foods and increasing foods rich in Polyphenols (micronutrients that naturally occur in plants). Good polyphenol sources are herbs/spices cloves, peppermint, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, quercetin in onions, chili peppers, resveratrol in red wine, and ellagic acid in berries. These polyphenols prevent or reverse damage in your cells. Also, antioxidants, omega 3 fats, and foods rich in B vitamins, A, C, D, E, and K vitamins are essential for lowering inflammation.

B vitamins such as B6, B12, and folate can lower C-Reactive protein (a direct measure of inflammation in blood work) as well as homocysteine to lessen inflammation. Vitamin A rich foods are found in Orange/yellow vegetables and fruits such as oranges, papaya, yellow bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potato, carrots, spinach and kale, eggs.

Vitamin C helps prevent cells from oxidation by free radicals which are also responsible for contributing to inflammation. Think about an apple when exposed to air it turns brown but if we put lemon juice, high in vitamin C, on the apple it preserves the apple.

Vitamin D is found in fatty fish (salmon, trout, mackerel) along with Omega 3 fats which are much higher on wild caught fish than farm raised fish due to the natural diet of wild fish.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and found in sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, peanut butter, sunflower/safflower oils, olives spinach and broccoli.

Vitamin K can reduce inflammatory markers, help with blood clotting and protect bone health. We typically do not get enough in the diet. High vitamin K foods are broccoli, turnip/collard greens, spinach, and roasted soybeans.

Omega 3 fats are found mainly in wild caught fatty fish but also in whole grains, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, nuts (walnuts are the highest), avocado and avocado oil, and cold pressed olive oil to name a few.

Notice most of these foods are bright colored fruits and vegetables as well as spices. When getting spices coffee or tea are also high in antioxidants, it is recommended to purchase these organic. Sugars saturated fried foods, junk foods or highly processed foods are the culprit to contributing to increased systemic inflammation in the body. When my patients eat a lot of sugar, they typically complain about increased joint pain. This is a sure-fire sign of increased inflammation in the body.

When changing your food plan to incorporate more whole fresh foods and reduce processed foods, take it slow. Start with a specific mealtime you will be adding certain foods. For example, at lunch I will add one orange fruit daily, at dinner I will add one or 2 of the vegetables listed above and cook in one of the recommended oils. At the midday snack meal, I will add some recommended nuts and have a cup of organic tea with turmeric or cinnamon, more wonderful spices to lower inflammation. As you add these whole foods into your daily food plan it will cause less room for the sugary/deep fat fried/highly processed foods contributing to the pain. By alleviating the pain more movement becomes possible. Start with 10-15 minutes of movement such as walking or swimming in a heated pool, chair aerobic videos on Amazon, recombinant bike, or light yoga. Slowly increase endurance and work your way into 30 minutes a day as able.

Remember, permanent lifestyle change takes time. Try adding one new food every week or two until it becomes the new foods you eat. I recommend keeping a food log and listing the daily pain level from 1-10 as you go along to track the foods making a difference.