Nutrition and Rheumatoid Arthritis
If you’re suffering with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) then this blog is for you. Common issues with RA is swelling and stiffness in the joints, weight loss and fatigue that they can’t compare go anything else. Nutrition can play a huge role in easing symptoms and help to get you pain free.
I never knew nutrition can affect RA
When we look at auto immune conditions such as RA, there are a few things that come into play and gut health is one of them. A lot of people don’t put gut health and RA together, however, they are very much correlated because autoimmunity is caused by inflammation, which generally stems from the gut.
Tip 1: foods to avoid
There are some trigger foods that can cause problems. The main trigger food for RA is gluten. Gluten is able to not only mimic a molecule of the immune system, which can cause an up and down immune response, but it also triggers the gut lining, making it more permeable resulting in ‘leaky gut syndrome’. This is where the food you’re consuming doesn’t get absorbed into the bloodstream, but instead gets passed through, meaning the nutrients are being wasted. A tip top is to try and avoid gluten at all costs and replace it with ancient grains, which are gluten free for example quinoa, millet, buckwheat, teff and couscous.
Tip 2: repair your leaky gut
In order to repair the leaky gut we need to help heal the gut lining.
Consuming rich healing foods. Anti-inflammatory foods include avocados, butter, olive oil, turmeric, nuts and seeds. Wild-caught fish, which are rich in Omega-3 are also very good to eat, including salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines and tuna. Having a bone broth is very beneficial.
Taking supplements. These include vitamin D, zinc, collagen and glutathione. This can help to reduce inflammation and prevent swelling, stiffness and pain in the joints.
Tip 3: healing the dysbiosis
This can be achieved by adding in beneficial bacteria from your diet and from probiotics. There are two strains that with overgrowth can cause RA (prevotella copria and proteus mirabilis). These can be detected through a stool test, and if you are positive with a strain then we starve them by detecting what foods they like and reducing them from our diet. These foods are generally pro-inflammatory and rich in refined carbs and sugars. We can balance the guy by reducing the intake of pro-inflammatory foods, increase intake of anti-inflammatory foods and take probiotics.
I suffer with RA, how can I get help?
Contact us today for a complimentary 15 minute call, or an initial consultation, where she can go through all your symptoms in detail and set a personalised plan to get you feeling back to 100%.