Diet with joint disease
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Diet for joint disease, according to the prevailing majority of specialists, little or no effect on joint pain. However, there is another point of view, according to which, the diet will help only when the emergence and development of joint pathologies is associated with metabolic disorders.
Diseases of the joints have become a serious problem for the health of modern people, and doctors emphasize: the causes of these diseases are so numerous, and the forms of their manifestation are so diverse that to systematize the features of nutrition and give all patients an exhaustive answer to the question - which diet in joint disease can alleviate their condition? - almost impossible.
What kind of diet for joint disease is needed for you?
We will not search for a panacea, but simply try to find out the basic principles on which a diet is built for joint disease. It is clear that the etiology of the disease must be based on it.
With inflammation of the joints - arthritis - like everything is clear. It is absolutely certain that this kind of arthritis, like gout, is caused by a high level of uric acid formed in the decomposition of uric acid purines, which settles in the joints and turns into crystals. A similar reason for the so-called false gout (pyrophosphate arthropathy or chondrocalcinosis), only here in the joints of the knees, wrists and ankles, as well as in the hip joints, calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals are formed. Where do they come from? Pyrophosphoric acid salts are formed in the process of enzyme oxidation (and energy production from nutrients) of the main energy carrier in cells - adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
But with the causes of degenerative changes in the cartilaginous tissue of the joints (arthrosis), science has not completely figured out. Although among arthritis, too, there is a "dark horse" - rheumatoid arthritis. Even some long-time practitioners say that this disease (like multiple sclerosis or rheumatic polymyalgia) is autoimmune and no diet for joint disease in this case is of the slightest importance.
Nevertheless, numerous foreign studies confirm that many patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of inflammatory joint diseases do react to certain substances that enter the body with food.
For example, an excessive amount of proteins in food leads to a violation of their absorption from the intestine into the blood. In the so-called syndrome of increased intestinal permeability (in people with chronic parasitic invasions, colitis, enteritis, etc.), antibodies are produced on the protein of chicken eggs, meat or dairy products, wheat or soy, perceived as an antigen (foreign). In addition, the amino acids of these proteins can penetrate into the sensitive tissues of the synovial membranes lining the joints. There they can provoke serious inflammatory reactions and pain. If the inflammation is chronic, it eventually leads to scarring, contracture and loss of joint mobility.
By the way, a frequent "companion" of ulcerative colitis is a form of arthritis, like ankylosing spondylitis (Bechterew's disease), which affects the joints of the spine. Scientists attribute this to the fact that the greatest amount of lymphoid tissue that protects the body from antigens is in the intestine. A malnutrition - high in fat, cholesterol and animal protein - can reduce the potential of lymphoid tissue.
Diet recipes for joint disease
Nutrition, which is useful for our joints, does not necessarily have to be "boring" for our tongue. Diet recipes for joint disease are recipes for foods that do not contain foods that can exacerbate the disease.
Here, for example, are very tasty and useful pancakes with vegetables.
For their preparation you need two young zucchini (zucchini), one medium-sized carrot, one small onion, garlic (pair of teeth), two raw chicken eggs, half a glass of wheat flour, salt and black ground pepper (to taste), refined sunflower oil (only for frying).
Culinary process begins with the grinding of vegetables: squash and carrots - on a grater, onions - finely chopped. Then, in a bowl with vegetables, break the eggs and mix everything as it should. After that, you need to pour the flour, put the chopped garlic, salt and pepper.
Finally, mix the dough until smooth and fry like regular pancakes. There are their best warm - with sour cream.
By the way, if in this cabbage-carrot dough add 50 g finely grated cheese and a little chopped parsley or dill, and then pour into a baking tray and put for 35-40 minutes in the oven, you get another diet recipe for the disease - a wonderful vegetable casserole .
Approximately half of all people over 65 have problems with the locomotor apparatus, primarily with joints. What can they advise? Eat healthy food! Eating enough vegetables, whole grains and fruits helps maintain proper weight and good health.
A healthy low-fat diet with autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, gout or osteoarthritis can slow the overall progression of joint degeneration. In many cases, a diet with joint disease can become even one of the means of their treatment.
What you can not eat with joint disease?
Diet for joint disease (arthritis, arthrosis, rheumatism, etc.) involves the removal of the diet of all products of animal origin and refined carbohydrates.
If the products of animal origin do not need to be listed, then the names of refined carbohydrates will not be discouraged. This wheat white flour of higher grades, sugar, all sweets (except for natural honey) and various confectionery products, as well as ground and pre-processed cereals (devoid of grain shell and fiber parts).
What can not be eaten with joint disease, in addition to the products already mentioned? You should minimize the use of nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant). Contained in these vegetables glycoalkaloid solanine accelerates the decomposition of erythrocytes, increases the permeability of the intestine, causing diarrhea, joint pain, convulsions and even disorders of a neurological nature.
People with gout should avoid the use of oily sea fish (in any form), caviar and cod liver, meat and poultry offal (liver, etc.), chicken eggs, nuts, fatty sour cream and butter, since all these products are rich in ergocalciferol (vitamin D2). But with osteoarthritis intake of this vitamin should be increased.
If there are problems with joints, it is contraindicated to use mollusks; beans (beans, peas, lentils); sorrel and spinach; strong broths; all fried, hot and smoked; sausages; cooking fats and spreads; spices and spices; sweet fizzy drinks, alcohol (including beer).
And once again we emphasize: it is necessary to limit the animal protein, because it is purines, the products of the cleavage of which enter the synovial fluid, acidify it and conduct it to the joints.
What can you eat with joint disease?
In any type of joint disease, the main food products should be natural cereals and vegetables (except those listed above).
A diet with joint disease diagnosed as osteoarthritis should take into account the presence of a sufficient amount of vitamin C. The fact that osteoarthritis develops when the cartilage wears out, which prevents friction of bones in the joints. It is the loss of cartilage that leads to pain, a decrease in the volume of movements and edema of the joint. And vitamin C (one of the strongest antioxidants) provides the synthesis of collagen, which is part of the cartilage tissue. Therefore, the correct products for this joint disease are vegetables, fruits and berries - in any form. Especially useful are apples, blueberries, as well as citrus and greens with a high content of natural antioxidants and polyphenols. Vegetable fresh, especially carrot and cabbage, are of great use. By the way, coffee, which contains polyphenols, can also reduce inflammation of the joints. And the inflammatory process - especially with rheumatoid arthritis - helps to reduce the intake of flaxseed oil (a dessert spoon a day).
Besides this, what can you eat when you have joint disease? You can eat meat, but only lean (chicken, turkey, rabbit), not more than twice a week and, best of all, in boiled form (when cooking meat, almost half of the purines are in broth). You can also eat: bread (rye and coarse flour); dishes of their cereals and vegetables; milk and sour-milk products; cottage cheese and cheese; eggs (no more than three pieces per week). It is very important to drink enough water (not less than 6-7 glasses every day).
Those who suffer from gout, nutritionists are advised to arrange one unloading during the week. On such a day you can drink kefir or juices, or eat only fruits. At the same time, the volume of water to be drunk should be increased to 2.5 liters.
In addition, a diet with joint disease should help to reduce the total body weight, as excess kilos give an additional burden on the joints in the back and legs. It is recommended to abandon cereal and pasta dishes, replacing them with vegetables, daily use of bread to cut to 100 grams, and forget about sugar altogether.
The daily diet menu for joint disease must be calculated in such a way that the calorific value of a 4-day diet is not more than 1900-2000 calories. And the general principles that you need to follow are now known to you.