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Arthritis is usually considered a chronic, incurable disease. More often than not, it is caused by genetic factors.<\/p>\nArthritis is usually considered a chronic, incurable disease. More often than not, it is caused by genetic factors.<\/p>\n
A new study published in BMC Nutrition & Metabolism<\/em> shows that you can prevent it by cutting out specific foods and loading up on others.<\/p>\n The research team noted previous studies that linked specific foods to reducing arthritis risk, but they wanted to answer a bigger question\u2014what dietary pattern could cut the risk?<\/p>\n They recruited 100 newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis patients and 197 healthy subjects. Those with a history of heart disease, kidney disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases were excluded. So were consumers of alcohol and people who consumed less than 800 or more than 4,200 calories per day.<\/p>\n They gave the participants a 168-item questionnaire to record their food intake. They had to say how often they consumed each item during the previous year: never, 2\u20133 times per month, once a week, 2\u20134 times per week, 5\u20136 times per week, or daily.<\/p>\n Based on the portions the subjects reported, the researchers calculated how many grams per day they ate of each food item.<\/p>\n They divided the foods into 32 categories based on their nutrients to identify dietary patterns.<\/p>\n They identified two general patterns: a healthy dietary style and a Western dietary style.<\/p>\n The healthy style included poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, fruit, and vegetables, while the Western style included a lot of red meat, processed meat, and organ meat.<\/p>\n They also investigated their subjects\u2019 weight, height, education, employment, medical history, drug consumption, and so forth to ensure that none of these affected their findings.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, they found that those with low adherence to the healthy diet were 2.85 times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. Those who ate the Western diet were 2.22 times more likely to have this type of arthritis.<\/p>\n They attributed these findings primarily to the inflammation caused by the unhealthy diet.<\/p>\n They stated that previous studies had found that red meat and processed meats caused inflammation, especially the arachidonic acid in red meat. Sugary treats and beverages are also pro-inflammatory.<\/p>\n Furthermore, fruit and vegetables contain lots of minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, all with anti-inflammatory functions. Fish provide plenty of anti-inflammatory omega-3s, and the riboflavin, calcium, and vitamin B12 in dairy are also anti-inflammatory.<\/p>\n