Foods with Anti-inflamatory Properties

cold water fish
intense pigment vegetables
walnuts
turmeric
ginger
pineapple

Sorry to hear about your discomfort. My brother just learned he has RA too. I know people who swear by turmeric capsules. I have an inflammatory condition myself, but haven't tried turmeric yet. Maybe I should listen better when I crave Indian food!

Tart red cherry juice. It is available in most grocery chains and is packed with analgesic/anti-inflammatory compounds. Bolthouse farms and Pom make good ones. Just mix it with a little water, club soda or pop. My father's doctor recommended it to him after he had a car accident. He was hesitant to prescribe pain meds since he was on meds for diabetes and HBP already. My dad swears that this stuff has miraculous properties.

Anti-inflamatory

I also have an arthritic condition - I know the ones to stay away from are nightshades, red meat, dairy and sugar - and I DO stay away from those! I never knew about the ones that are suppose to be helpful, but eat a lot of ginger. Think I willtry the cherry juice!

Thank you, I'll give the juice a try

At 44 I'm still a young'un, but I have my tribulations with inflamation, namely plantar fascitis, or inflamation of the soles. Like an eejit, I listened to Dr. #1, who told me the condition would pass by itself and told me to take Viox until it did, I was on that stuff for almost 2 years.... When the whole Viox scare hit the fan, I was at Dr. #2's door and was prescribed a course of tumeric and pineapple extract pills. Got 'em at a health food store and they did seem to quieten things down a bit.

Just found this web site about a study of cherry juice in lessening the effects of muscle damage with it's anti-inflammatory properties. It was done by the British Journal of Medicine.


The efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in preventing the symptoms of muscle damage -- Connolly et al., 10.1136/bjsm.2005.025429 -- British Journal of Sports Medicine

I've been a lurker here for the last few months, but had to come out of the shadows on this topic.

I'm a mom to a 21month old toddler with an infalmmatory disease, this is all great information!

My son is being seen at the NIH and I asked about the milk making his issues worse and the rheumatolgist promptly dismissed my concerns. I will try some of the suggestions here and also try to cut down on the dairy, which with a toddler is hard!

Hi fat fish like Black Cod, Chilean Sea Bass and Salmon
King Crab, Snow Crab and cold water molluscan shellfish.

I hear pomegrantes work as well

Cat Man

Anti-Infamitory

In addition to the Cherry Juice........
Pomegranate Juice (Pomegranate can also be gotten in capsules)
Green Tea with about three tsps. (or to taste) of Ginger Juice and honey.
Lots of Cranberries (jellied or fresh) and Cranberry juice

Pain is pain, whether it is osteo or joint.....but all of the above help!
We buy the fresh ginger root and use our Juice Man juicer.

I have arthritis and don't think there is anything that can really cure the situation, but the above gives me some blessed relief! I also take multi-vitamins and glucosamine-condroitin. Stay away from coffee! :talk:

The cold water fish mentioned earlier works primarily because of Vitamin D. I was put on relatively high doses of vitamin D for a mild case of psoriasis, which is an immuno/inflamm condition that's very similar to RA. My dosage is about 600 IU, which is also the USRDA for adults over 70. It has truly worked wonders for me! Apparently, up to 2,000 IU is needed to correct certain conditions and/or deficiencies, but more than that is potentially toxic as it is a fat-soluble vitamin that builds up in your body. So you'd need to check with a doc.

The best dietary source of Vitamin D, after cod liver oil, is wild salmon. Check with your doc first, but if it doesn't interfere with your other meds, or isn't contraindicated for other reasons, you can take cod liver oil capsules.

Turmeric is great too. I've always eaten it, but lately have really upped our consumption.

I'm not sure how important the brand is, that is just what is common in my area. I would imagine that if the packaging and handling is okay with your standards, that the juice will give you the benefits no matter what brand. I know if you do a google search, there are a lot of brands on line with a ton of good information.

I just got back from the supermarket close to me, I could not find any Tart red cherry juice :eek:

Tomorrow, I will visit the natural products shop close to me

Thanks again for the information ;)

"The best dietary source of Vitamin D, after cod liver oil, is wild salmon".

I don't want to start a debate here.....however I don't understand how the salmon has to be wild in order to give someone the Vitamin D they might need to help with inflamation.

Are you suggesting farm raised salmon does not have the same benefits?

Cat Man

Hey Shel here is additional advice if you are going toward Turmeric.

Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is oil soluble. You will benefit more if you consume turmeric with a healthy does of oil.

second, studies have found that a little black pepper heightens the absorption of curcumin by the body. 1 part black pepper to 1000 part turmeric is all you need.

Third,the combination of turmeric and cauliflower is very beneficial. (found in Indian food)

A nice recipe to try: cauliflower in bitesize fleurettes sauteed in Olive oil (maybe a little butter). Let the cauliflower start to caramelize. Add a healthy dose of turmeric and some cracked pepper and more oil. Toss everything until evenly coated. (I add a little brown sugar to sweeten the dish a little more. the kids love it.).

Good luck with the RA.

Luc H.

Cat Man said: "...however I don't understand how the salmon has to be wild in order to give someone the Vitamin D they might need to help with inflamation. Are you suggesting farm raised salmon does not have the same benefits?"

I'm sorry I didn't express myself clearly. In no way was I saying that it "HAS" to be wild, or that "ONLY" wild salmon would be useful. I mentioned wild salmon for two reasons. First, some research has found that farmed salmon is significantly lower in vitamin D than wild salmon -- at least one study that I know of found it to have only 1/4 the amount of vitamin D found in wild salmon. Second, many of the contaminants of concern in fish tend to concentrate in fatty tissue, so fatty fish such as salmon, tend to carry higher concentrations of those substances.

Again, my emphasis was on the apparently better nutritional profile offered by wild salmon. Naturally, the most important thing is for those who can/will eat salmon to do so, regardless of its source. It's an exceptionally nutritious food, not only for its potential anti-inflammatory properties, but for many, many other reasons. If only farmed salmon is readily available or affordable, it should certainly still be eaten for its very important health benefits, which far outweigh any small risks or nutrient deficiencies.

My primary point was that sufficient Vitamin D should be consumed. It has been fairly well established as a critical element in immunity, sometimes called the "antibiotic vitamin" and it is currently undergoing several studies of its anti-inflammatory properties.

Some people can't or won't consume fish at all. If cod liver oil is acceptable, I encourage them to explore this option. If that's not good, then take a vitamin D supplement.

No matter what, consult a physician before significantly altering your consumption of Vitamin D. There are several instances where large amounts are contraindicated, and if dosage is to excessive, it can be quite toxic.

Farmed salmon is the devil, and in addition to other evils, is depleting wild stocks of salmon spreading lice and diseases to it. (she's opinionated this morning:smiles:) There should be no farming of fish in wild environments. I have no probs if you want to get a self contained tank somewhere, farm away, but it is an environmental disaster the way fish is being farmed today IMO.

Shel, I've also read that the acid in strawberries is quite similar to ASA (aspirin), so they are supposed to have some anti-inflammatory / analalgesic properties. With pineapple I've read a half pineapple a day to get the effect. I didn't notice an effect from pineapple myself.

organic farmers can use Vitamin D as rodenticide. You can also make vitamin D yourself by getting out in the sunshine. I have read 15 minutes on hand and face will give you the RDA, so you could go upwards from there.

Its not your opinion, what you are stating is fact (except maybe the devil part:talk:)

Not to hijack this thread, but it is NOT nearly as healthy as wild salmon, same goes for cattle are are fed a nutritionally bankrupt diet of grain. It just appals me that farmed salmon is so deviod of its natural and nutrient rich diet that the flesh is white and has to be dyed to give it the pink or orange color. Farmed salmon is fed corn...esentially between the beef industry and now the fish most people are eating, we have quite the simplified diet of CORN. I don't need to be a scientist to know that there is something amiss when we are feeding fish corn (which BTW is a tropical grass). I also don't need to be a scientist to know that industrial farming on a mass scale of of any species/crop and the extreme methods we go to to feed an overpopulated planet is going to turn out to be a total disaster. I'm just sayin....

Having arthritis myself, besides taking glucosamine/chondroitin, one of the best things one can do is drink plenty of water. Water keeps the body (and joints) hydrated, thus reducing the inflammation induced from movement.

doc

1Tsp+ per cup sounds right. (about half of brown sugar)
Turmeric will smell musky/flowery when heated. Very appealing.

Turmeric quality: Shel I know you always buy good stuff but the way to tell if your turmeric is of good quality is the colour: It should be more orange then yellow. Dry, it should smell like cement dust.

Turmeric is a rhizome like a ginger root. I have seem fresh turmeric roots in a local Asian store here but haven't tried it.

Luc H.

I can't recommend a dosage or regime. I use GNC Triflex, 1500/1200 combination of glucosamine/chondrointin and something else I can't remember.

At first, I noticed a remarkable change after a bout 2 months. Then after about a year of it, I had my wife try it. Her back problems went away too, after about 2 months. However, she now has osteoopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis which is a loss of calcium in her hips and lower back. Not related to arthritis. I've read a bout a liquid sold only over the internet, that uses pharmaceutical grade glucosamine. The trouble with anything sold in a health food store is that it isn't monitored or approved by the FDA. Therefore you have little guarantee of there being contained within the pills what the label says.

But I do know that if I don't drink enough water each day, I'll suddenly wake up one morning stiff as a board in my joints and muscles.

We've been drinking Fiji water. It tastes so good, better than any other. Supposedly has lots of minerals and is very pure. We like it. Fun to drink water that tastes so good!

doc