For those that have tried the gluten free diet, how long before you saw results, if any?
I tried it for six months and it made no difference to me...a local well known rheumy did a 20 year study on gluten and found no link...apparantley..but you have to give these things a go..sugar however does...try cutting that out, eat food that hasnt been mucked about with.....no processed, no added sugars, no low fat, lots of veggies, and pulses and wholegrains white meat and fish, with little red meat. Good luck
What's this for? RA?
Gluten free is not known to affect RA. It's mostly for digestive issues, IBS, for eg.
Losing weight will help though. Less to carry around and damage the joints.
There is only one scientific report of diet helping in RA that I know of and it was a study done using a very strict vegan diet. This resulted in half of subjects achieving good relief of joint pain which returned as soon as any animal protein at all was reintroduced to their diet. The authors postulated that there were possibly 2 different mechanisms at work causing the problem which was why only half became pretty much pain-free. The patients did find the diet hard work - though these days vegan products are easier to find.
Gluten-free per se doesn't have a scientific reputation for helping anything other than coeliac disease or something that might be made worse by intolerances of grains - in which case you would expect a change in symptoms within weeks. However, gluten-free won't generally help lose weight (which is almost always helpful), especially if you use the free-from shelves in the supermarket! Their products are packed with all sorts of stuff to make them taste more like the "real thing" - and that includes a lot of sugar.
Interesting, Eileen. So a strict vegan diet might cut it?
I'll pass that on to my friend whose symptoms have all come back after 15 years in remission.
What a beast this RA is!
50/50 chance according to that study.
She might find this interesting:
Diet therapy for the patient with rheumatoid arthritis? by M Haugen - 1999 in Rheumatology, Oxford Journals
which is a general flick through the small trials there had been then.
Something makes me think this must be the study I mentioned:
Kjeldson-Kragh, J., et al. Controlled trial of fasting and one year vegetarian diet in rheumatoid arthritis, The Lancet 1991; 338:899-902
but the abstract doesn't quite match some of the things I remember - but that may be because I've remembered incorrectly!
There are several links though to mentions of removing milk products altogether - one being from a dairy farmer who'd been very angry at someone who had claimed milk caused RA symptoms (not surprising really I suppose). However, his wife had severe RA and they decided to give up drinking/eating their own milk products for a few months and she was cured. End of dairy business...
Results from dietry miracle cures are individual based, I tried non dairy - didn't help, I tried cutting out inflamatory foods such as tomatoes, potato skins, etc - didn't help, probably due to processed foods. Unless you live like Robinson Crusoe and grow all your own food you simply can't escape processed food of some description.. Just gone back onto gluten after months off - didn't help. I also tried all the inflamtion fighting foods such as pennywart - didn't help. So far nothing is helping including MTX, Sulphasalazine, hydroxychloroquin and prednisone. I have found the only med that helps me is ibuprofen; however, that only relieves pain doesn't stop joint damage. In short, try everything and keep in mind what works for some may not necessarily work for you! Whilst some treaments are not scientificall proven, many report good results from going gluten free or dairy free and even such things as bee stings and FMT have helped some.
Yes, this is true. It's worth experimenting with all the alternative approaches and see if anything works for you. I also did non-dairy and it didn't make any difference, but thre are individuals who do well on various things.
One friend even swore by essential oils!
Hello all, I really do not think diet has anything to do with RA or any other arthritis for that matter. I have been a strict vegan for almost my whole life, gluten free as well. Do not use suger or eat any processed food, none. But still I was diagnosed with RA as well as PsA a week ago! I have had nail psoriasis for 19 years now, but nothing on my skin anywhere.