Conditions like arthritis can’t be cured by changing your diet, but it may help you avoid or deal with them.

Arthritis or joint inflammation is a common condition that often causes painful symptoms, such as joint pain and swelling. However, lifestyle factors like food can be used to regulate it.

According to estimates, more than 15 million individuals in the US suffer from arthritis, which is a debilitating condition that cannot be treated. The painful symptoms that frequently accompany the inflammatory condition can be managed, though, by making a few healthier choices.

According to Natalie McCormick, a research fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School, the evidence seems to show a benefit when it comes to prevention.

“Studies, such as the Nurses’ Health Study,” according to the expert, “have found that not only can an anti-inflammatory diet help to prevent arthritis, but it may also prevent conditions like heart disease and diabetes that people with arthritis are more likely to develop.”

If you eat a balanced diet over time, you may be less prone to illnesses like gout or other types of arthritis. If you already have joint issues, the benefit is less obvious, according to McCormick. However, it might still be beneficial.

Inflammation

Inflammation develops within the body when the immune system mobilizes an army of white blood cells to combat an infection or injury. The region around a wound may enlarge or grow red when this healing process takes place. However, once the issue is under control, the inflammation goes away and your body starts to function normally.

Chronic inflammation is detrimental to your health. Inflammation does not go away if you are under continuous stress, are fat, or have an autoimmune illness. It continues, harming the body and may be causing issues like cancer, heart disease, or arthritis.

A healthy diet may assist in turning off this inflammatory process, thereby protecting the body from injury. There are still many unknowns regarding the relationship between the foods you eat and your body’s inflammatory levels. But there is more and more evidence of a possible benefit.

“When researchers first started looking at diets that produced anti-inflammatory effects, they were interested in whether they could reduce heart disease and cancer. But over the years, other benefits have emerged,” McCormick notes.

This includes the potential joint protection offered by these diets.

According to McCormick, there are two main dietary habits that are believed to have anti-inflammatory effects. Mediterranean and DASH diets. The Alternative Healthy Eating Index, which assesses diet quality, can also be used to achieve a similar healthy eating pattern that has been demonstrated to benefit health — lots of fruits and vegetables; healthy fats, such as olive oil; whole grains; and lean meats, fish, and legumes. These diets don’t include processed, sugary meals and drinks and red and processed meats.

People who frequently follow an anti-inflammatory dietary pattern have been shown to have lower levels of several markers of inflammation inside the body, such as a molecule called C-reactive protein. Western diets have the opposite impact.

A healthy eating regimen over time may lower your risk of having a painful joint problem. According to McCormick, an anti-inflammatory dietary habit over time may reduce your risk of gout by as much as 60%. People with osteoarthritis may find relief from their joint pain and perhaps halt the disease’s course by maintaining a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods.

She advises eating a range of anti-inflammatory foods over an appropriate period of time to reap the greatest benefits.

While there are still unanswered concerns regarding the role of food in reducing inflammation, it is known that the foods that seem to do so also tend to be healthy for you in other ways. So, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t eat more of these foods every day.

McCormick says that you don’t have to choose one diet over another if you want to reduce inflammation. Instead, you can mix and match parts to fit your own tastes and way of life. According to McCormick, eating red meat and drinking sugary drinks are linked to an increased incidence of gout. So, if you can, you should get rid of those.

A healthy diet may protect against many diseases.

She adds: “You don’t have to choose one type of food to prevent one condition and something else for another.”

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