November 6, 2003

Food! The universal subject we all love and hate. One aspect that I have seen over the years in practice is that some foods can actually help to increase aches and pain and even increase inflammation and joint pain to a severe degree. In other people, this may occur only to a mild or moderate degree. How do we know? Many people who are put on elimination diets experience less general pain and then the pain returns when they reintroduce the eliminated foods. The type of foods can also vary from person to person although some foods seem to be involved more than others. Of course many of us have heard of nightshade vegetables aggravating arthritis (peppers, tomatoes and potatoes).

Although dietary management alone shouldn't replace your standard medical evaluation and appropriate care recommended by your physician, any such relationship with diet and your symptoms should be discussed with your doctor.

The possibility of less medication as monitored by your doctor is always a plus given side effects of many arthritic and pain medications.

A way to see if this may be the case is to do a three week test with an elimination diet. If you feel less pain and symptoms, then reintroduce the eliminated foods and see what happens. If a connection is apparent, you may be a good candidate to add diet and nutrition as a way to help manage your pain. This should be discussed with your family physician and overseen by a dietician or nutritionist to make sure you follow a proper elimination diet to ensure proper nutritional support. The approach described above can help determine which foods for you are "friend or foe".

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