When you have arthritis, you are going to have to change a few lifestyle habits. One of the big ones involves food. Unfortunately, you will no longer be able to just eat anything. There are certain foods that can wreak havoc on your body and give you sharp pain in your joints.
The major issue you will be dealing with is inflammation. This is one of the key reasons why you get swelling in your joints in the first place. To reduce the inflammation in your joints, you need to load up on a diet filled with anti-inflammatory foods. In this article, we’re going to focus on the foods to avoid with arthritis. That way, you can easily reference foods that will increase joint pain, which is something you definitely do not want.
Here are some of the foods to avoid with arthritis if you want to abide by an arthritis diet:
Processed Foods
When you walk into a supermarket, practically all the food except for the outer perimeter of the store is processed. Avoiding processed foods may be difficult if you are used to eating baked goods, prepackaged food, and snacks of all kinds. The main issue lies in the trans fat, which acts as a preservative. This type of fat spurs inflammation throughout your body, including your joints. Any processed food containing an ingredient that states it is partially hydrogenated is something you should definitely stay away from.
Sugar
Sugar, especially when it’s in carb-filled treats like cakes, cookies, and other baked goods, can weaken your body’s immune response. This leads to greater inflammation, which will make your joints feel agonizing pain. Opt for natural sugar options, such as raw honey, instead.
Salt
You should cut back on the salt if you want to abide by an arthritis diet. When your salt intake is too high, you retain more water, swelling up. Also, too much salt makes your body inflamed, which can also lead to greater joint pain. Eat less salt and try out different spices instead.
Fried Foods
Fried foods, especially deep-fried food, have a lot of saturated fats, which will increase the inflammatory response of your body. Eating fries, doughnuts, onion rings, and anything else fried or deep-fried can lead to you feeling more pain in your joints. When cooking, use a little bit of olive oil instead.
Red Meat
Red meat, in particular, is loaded with saturated fats. This can lead to having more inflammation in your body. There are also significant quantities of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that spur more inflammation. When read meat is grilled, roasted, broiled, or fried, it will have even more of these compounds, leading to even more inflammation.
Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbs are usually found in any foods made using white flour. The original grains go through a refining process, where most of the healthy parts of the grain are thrown away. What’s left is something that skyrockets your blood glucose and increases inflammation.
High-Fat Dairy
Foods that have high-fat content, such as butter, margarine, and mayonnaise, contain a tremendous amount of saturated fats and AGEs that were mentioned earlier. Inflammation is bound to occur when these get into your body. You can still have fermented dairy products, such as Greek yogurt, since those are anti-inflammatory.
Alcohol
When you drink alcohol, you increase the inflammatory response of your body, which leads to the problems mentioned above when your body is inflamed. Stop drinking alcohol for about a month and notice the difference in how much inflammation you have in your joints.
Omega-6 Fatty Acids
Foods containing omega-6 fatty acids are ones you should stay away from as well. This would include corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, safflower oil, and soy-based oils. The reason is that omega-6 fatty acids trigger an inflammatory response in your body, sending pain into your joints.
Milk
Most people have trouble digesting milk. The proteins in milk can inflame your body, causing your joints to flare up. Milk is a form of dairy that seems to especially trigger inflammation, which is why you should stay away from it. Instead, opt for kefir and Greek yogurt.
Supplements For an Arthritis Diet
Now that you know what foods to avoid with arthritis, you should also be aware that certain supplements can reduce the inflammation from arthritis even more. A popular natural joint supplement is JointFuel360. This supplement is packed with several ingredients that will help your body fight off inflammation and keep joint pain away.
There is black pepper extract, which acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory. There is also turmeric, which reduces inflammation and relieves sore joints. You also get resveratrol, which is an antioxidant that protects the cartilage in your joints. The included Boswellia serrata will help to further reduce any swelling you may experience in your joints. All of these ingredients, plus a few more, work very powerfully alongside an arthritis diet to ensure you have as little inflammation in your body as possible.
Wrapping Up
Once you get arthritis, you can no longer eat all the delicious foods you know and love like you used to. This is because your body has become more sensitive to the inflammation-causing compounds contained in certain foods. If you attempt to eat foods with lots of sugar, salt, and omega-6 fatty acids, expect more excruciating and agonizing pain in your joints. However, if you follow an arthritis diet, you will reduce your inflammation by cutting out inflammatory foods while eating foods and taking supplements that reduce inflammation within your body.
If you are like most people, you will prefer to let some of your favorite foods go over having sore joints for the rest of your life. Now that you know what to do, get started on living a life with less pain by cutting out all the foods that contributed to your suffering.
