Dietary recommendations for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a review

Abstract

Luis Vitetta,1 Samantha Coulson,1 Janet Schloss,1 Shoshannah L Beck,1 Robert Allen,2 Avni Sali21Centre for Integrative Clinical and Molecular Medicine, The University of Queensland School of Medicine, Brisbane, 2National Institute of Integrative Medicine, Melbourne, AustraliaAbstract: Dietary interventions can assist with the management of disease symptoms that accompany rheumatoid arthritis (RA), such as pain, tender swollen joints, stiffness, and associated disability and disease progression. Dietary interventions have gained widespread appeal for both clinicians and RA patients. Interventions that promote self-help through education can have significant benefits for patients as they negotiate pain and musculoskeletal disability. There is substantial scientific evidence that demonstrates patients diagnosed with RA may benefit from dietary interventions; however, recent systematic reviews remain uncertain about the therapeutic efficacy of dietary manipulation for RA due to clinical trials with a high risk of bias. However, dietary interventions with plausible therapeutic activity may be indicated for reducing RA-associated symptoms, including elimination of foods that may trigger an allergic or intolerant response, introduction of known anti-inflammatory dietary compounds and correction of food, or drug-induced gastrointestinal tract microbiota abnormalities and permeability.Keywords: diet, rheumatoid arthritis, vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean, fish oils, probiotics