Combining one type of food with exercise will drastically improve your arthritis pain, flexibility, and mobility.
This is according to a new study in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.
Best of all, these benefits last.
The researchers focused on one anti-inflammatory diet — long praised for its health benefits — and paired it with regular exercise to see if it would make a difference.
They recruited 60 women with arthritis, splitting them into two groups:
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• Group 1: Followed a specific diet plus an aerobic and strength training program.
• Group 2: Followed the same exercise plan but stuck with their usual diet.
The study ran for six months, measuring pain levels, muscle function, inflammation, grip strength, and body weight.
The results were remarkable:
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• Stronger Muscles: The diet group significantly improved muscle balance, reaching 84.59 vs. just 69.92 in the exercise-only group.
• Less Pain: Pain scores dropped more in the diet group (42.33 vs. 54.33 in the exercise-only group).
• Lower Inflammation: C-reactive protein (a major inflammation marker) decreased significantly.
• Better Function: The diet group improved more in mobility and daily activities (1.13 vs. 1.9 on the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index).
• Stronger Grip & Lower Weight: Participants increased handgrip strength and shed excess weight, both crucial for arthritis management.
Even more impressively… the benefits lasted!
Even after six months without any intervention, the diet group maintained their improvements, proving that this simple lifestyle shift could provide lasting relief.
This is no surprise to me.
For over 25 years, I’ve helped people fight off their arthritis using simple diet and lifestyle changes.
And yes, an inflammation diet is one part of that, but not in the way you’d think.