Are your joints out of joint? Is arthritis pain and swelling in and around your joints causing you daily discomfort? There is a connection to arthritis and fat that can be controlled by diet. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system, instead of protecting the body, begins attacking the body. When these attacks happen, it causes swelling of the membrane that lines the joints. Eventually the swelling eats away at the joints' cartilage.
A diet of low saturated fats reduces the body's production of protaglandins, hormonelike substances that contribute to inflammation. A low-fat diet may hinder the communications sent by the immune system, thereby interrupting the body's inflammatory response and helps the joints to heal. If you want a very simple way to reduce your intake of saturated fats...just don't add them to food and foods you eat.
Simple ways to reduce fats include replacing butter, sour cream, and cheese with their lower-fat or fat-free counterparts. The fat that does help with relief is the omega-3 fatty acids you get from primarily cold water fish like Spanish mackerel, trout, and salmon. The omega-3 fatty acids reduce the body's production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes, both substances that contribute to inflammation. There are other specific food items that switch on the body's inflammatory response. Those items include wheat, dairy foods, corn, citrus fruits, tomatoes, and eggs. Knowing which foods, if any, to avoid can be difficult. Keep tract of what foods you eat just before each flareup of your arthritis. Avoid those and log your eating habits and find what does and does not cause flareups. After you have an idea on what foods cause flareups, stop eating them for 5 days to see if those are what are causing the problems.
Remember, fats and your diet can affect your arthritis.
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