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The basic goal of good nutrition is to get enough of everything -- which is easy if you eat a balanced diet that includes lots of different foods. But these six nutrients appear to have special benefits for people with arthritis. None of these nutrients offer miracle cures, and some appear to have more of an impact on arthritis than others. Bottom line: It's likely these nutrients help, getting more of them certainly won't hurt you, and it's easy to work them into your daily eating without overhauling your diet.1. Omega-3 fatty acids. They may sound technical and unappetizing, but it's worth savoring what omega-3s do for the body -- especially the joints. Fatty acids are a family of special fats that the body needs but can't make for itself, so you have to get them from food. Once in the body, they collect in cells, where they help form hormone-like substances, called leukotrienes, that put the brakes on inflammation -- a root cause of rheumatoid and, to a lesser extent, osteoarthritis. More than a dozen reliable studies suggest that increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids can help quell symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, even if the fats don't slow progression of the disease.
The most important food source of omega-3s is cold-water fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, and trout. But you'll also find types of omega-3s in nuts and seeds, beans, soy products, green leafy vegetables, and cooking oils such as canola oil. Fish oil is not entirely benign: Taking large amounts in supplements can have side effects, and even eating too much fish raises health concerns. Nor is cod liver oil the answer. It is high in calories, has high amounts of vitamin A, and may contain high amounts of cholesterol. Here's how to safely add omega-3s to your diet.
- Switch from corn oil to canola oil. Close relatives of the omega-3s are the omega-6s, fatty acids found in corn and other vegetable oils. While omega-3s (found in abundance in canola oil) are beneficial for your joints, omega-6s aren't: they make arthritis pain worse by promoting inflammation. They also compete with omega-3s in the body. So by switching your cooking oil, you boost your cells' usage of omega-3s and bring your body's fatty acids into better balance.
- Consider omega-3 supplements. To get omega-3s in the amounts used for many studies, you'd need to eat more fish than you can probably stomach -- at least three servings every day. That makes taking fish oil supplements a viable alternative. But first, check with your doctor. On the whole, fish oil is safe, with mild side effects such as fishy burps. But omega-3 fatty acids also thin the blood, so you should be cautious if you're taking blood-thinning medications, including aspirin.
- Emphasize salmon and canned tuna. It's not that these fish are richer in omega-3s than their cold-water companions; it's that they are generally safer to eat. The Food and Drug Administration warns that many cold-water fish, such as king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish, and shark, contain toxic levels of mercury that make eating too much of them potentially dangerous. A safe limit: no more than 14 ounces a week of fish on the FDA caution list cited above. As for salmon, they are usually farmed or caught in the cleaner waters of Alaska. And cans of tuna tend to be packed with younger fish that haven't had as much time to accumulate toxins.
- Say "no" if you have gout. People with gout, a specific type of arthritis caused by excess uric acid, should avoid fish altogether because many types -- including mackerel -- contain purines, a building block for uric acid.
2. Vitamin C. It's one of the most familiar of all nutrients, but vitamin C's role in joint health tends to be underappreciated. Vitamin C not only helps produce collagen, a major component of joints, but sweeps the body of destructive molecular byproducts known as free radicals, which are destructive to joints. Without vitamin C and other so-called antioxidant nutrients, free-radical damage to joints would be much worse. One of the best-known studies looking into vitamin C and arthritis, the Framingham osteoarthritis study, found that people whose diets routinely included high amounts of vitamin C had significantly less risk of their arthritis progressing. Points to bear in mind:
- Drink OJ from frozen concentrate. A prime source of vitamin C, orange juice is a favorite breakfast eye opener. While orange juice bought in the carton is wonderfully healthy, OJ made from frozen concentrate is even better. According to recent research published by the American Dietetic Association, juice reconstituted from frozen concentrate has more vitamin C than fresh-squeezed juice after four weeks of storage. If you prefer no-fuss pourable products, buy juice three to four weeks before the expiration date and drink it within a week of opening.
- Spread out intake. Your body doesn't store vitamin C; rather, it takes what it needs from the bloodstream at any given time and flushes out the rest. So a megadose in the morning doesn't really do as much good as you would think. Rather, replenish your vitamin C stores throughout the day by sipping citrus drinks or eating C-rich fruits and vegetables such as strawberries or melon, broccoli or sweet peppers at meals.
- Beware of megadoses. Your body needs about 60 milligrams of vitamin C each day for basic bodily functions. For healing and antioxidant purposes, many people take much higher doses. Most people aren't affected by a few hundred milligrams of vitamin C, but once you get past 500 milligrams or so, you should check with your doctor. Some people develop digestive unrest when they megadose on the vitamin. In addition, high doses of vitamin C can raise blood levels of salicylate medications such as aspirin, and can also interfere with absorption of other nutrients.
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