Arthritis and the Paleo Diet

Can you relieve arthritis pain by simply changing your diet?  Some believe it could be that easy . And while many people will scoff at the notion that somehow diet is the culprit between alleviating arthritis pain or having to take medication to prevent the pain, the reality is that what we eat, in fact, could factor in to how arthritis affects us .  Let me explain:

From a historical view, our diet, which consists mainly of agricultural foods, is relatively new  . Before that, we were hunters and gatherers, eating berries, eating what we can catch and kill and foraging for vegetables.The paleo methodology claims that that is the way we should be eating today.   Our agricultural diet is killing us.  Foods such as grains, sugar, breads and pastas, while good for feeding large populations, not only will make us fatter but could be partly responsible for some of our modern day diseases.    Paleolithic dieters insist that modern foods aren’t fit to eat, our bodies aren’t evolved to eat them and as a result, our bodies don’t know what to do with them. 

While many will write this off as being “hokey”, the reality is that there are scientists and researchers who agree .  A number of studies have shown that lectins (a substance commonly found in breads, grains and dairy) could be a source of aggrevation when it comes rheumatoid arthritis.  The reason for this is because lectins can breach the intestinal walls and enter the blood  .  The substance then can interact with the tissue that is most affected by people with arthritis .

The reality is that by knocking out the “bad foods” and replacing it with nutrient rich, organic food such as fruits and vegetables, the dieter has all the weapons to fight off inflammation of the skin .

So Can the Paleo Diet Naturally Treat Arthritis?

No one know this answer for sure just yet.   And there are some in the scientific community who will argue this point. Some argue that cultures that are primitive don’t experience these so called modern day diseases because they don’t live long enough to experience them  Still, the advocates believe that the paleo diet will help reverse some modern day chronic conditions simply by omitting the ‘bad’ food from your diet.

Be forewarned…if you want to go on a paleolithic diet, it will be harder than most diets    After all, you will be eliminating anything canned, processed and not freely available in its natural state.   Peanut butter is off limits, although many dieters will allow it  .   As far as sugar goes, only honey and the fructose found in fruits is allowed  .   Sugar and processed foods are all off the table .   This could make a dieter have to literally empty their pantry and start over .

The other benefit that is proven with the paleo diet is that you will lose weight quickly . The best news is that there is not another diet that you can do that will drop as much weight quickly and do so in a healthy fashion.  This means that not only will you feel more “alive”, arthritis pain could go away and you could drop weight.  Now who wouldn’t want that?

 

“Tendonitis in my knee has cleared up…”

“…As a health professional and former long time vegetarian, I have been following the Paleo diet for about two years, and am delighted with the results. My weight has returned to normal and remained normal, my HDL has increased to 50 from 35, my LDL, which was at the upper range of normal has decreased to healthy levels, my VLDL has also returned to healthy levels (around 12), my triglycerides have plummeted from 250 to 60…my fluctuating high blood pressure is now consistently within safe parameters. The tendonitis in my knee has cleared up completely. I now recommend this diet to many of my patients in my acupuncture practice, the majority of whom have symptoms of Syndrome X. I am utterly fascinated with this approach to diet and health…”