Does anyone know of any special diets used for the treatment in RA? What about exercise programs? I need to drop some weight(about 30 pounds) and I know it could help with the pain in my ankles. Any help or suggestions????
Thanks so much!
Susan
Diet is a hard question. Most medical sites will tell you that special diets have little or no impact on RA symptoms. A lot of them will tell you to avoid the nightshade family like: peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes. But I don't particularly notice any problems eating any of these. Although, I tend avoid egg plant now. It's really hard to avoid tomotoes and I love them.
Generally, the rule of thumb is that some people are food sensitive. If you find you are, then just avoid those foods.
A healthy diet is the best one. I feel better when I eat lean meat, stay away from beef and eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Am I always good at that, no.
Overall, I hear the best results coming from people following Weight Watchers.
Best exercise is swimming. Depending on your joints, walking and bicyling are also good exercises. Forget jogging, skiing and horseback riding. Range of motion exercise will keep things moving.
Joining a fitness center that will work with on your RA is something I've done in the past and I wish I hadn't stopped going. I used a fitness trainer, opting for this instead of PT at the time. They worked with my doctor and were very gentle in starting me on the small weights and pulleys, the balance ball (which is a lot of fun).
Many people here use yoga very successfully. There was a previous thread on it, with a really good link to the basics.
But if you can even go for a walk every day, you will lose weight.
Also, if you are taking prednisone, its is really hard to lose weight. So, you want to work down off that according to your doctor's instructions. Prednisone turns everything to fat.
Even if you don't lose weight, but can turn it into muscle, you will give your joints some relief.