Arthritis, often mistakenly thought of as just joint pain or rheumatism, is actually a misconception. Arthritis is a general term for a group of inflammatory diseases that affect the joints. It is characterized by inflammatory manifestations in the joints, such as redness, swelling, heat, pain, and dysfunction, or pathological changes in the various tissues that constitute the joint, such as degeneration, exudation, and hyperplasia, which are necessary to be classified as arthritis.
As autumn arrives, the weather gradually turns cooler, and the number of arthritis patients tends to increase during this season. Most of these cases are triggered by factors such as dampness and cold, strain, or injury. Therefore, it is essential to prevent arthritis in the autumn. Besides keeping warm and maintaining good health, attention to diet is also crucial for better prevention and management of arthritis.
6 Foods That May Worsen Arthritis Symptoms:
1. Overly Acidic and Salty Foods: Consuming too many acidic foods like peanuts, liquor, white sugar, as well as poultry, fish, meat, and eggs can temporarily raise the body's pH level beyond its normal balance. This leads to increased lactic acid secretion and the consumption of certain minerals like calcium and magnesium, thereby worsening symptoms. Similarly, eating salty foods like pickles, salted eggs, and salted fish can increase sodium levels in the body and aggravate the patient's symptoms.
2. High-Fat Foods: During the oxidation process in the body, fats produce ketones. An excess of ketones can strongly irritate the joints. Therefore, patients should avoid eating high-fat foods such as whole milk and fatty meats. When cooking or making soups, it is advisable to use less oil.
3. Seafood: Patients should avoid eating scaleless fish and seafood, such as catfish, loach, eel, kelp, sea cucumber, sea fish, and sea shrimp. These foods contain uric acid, which, when absorbed by the body, can form urate crystals in the joints, worsening symptoms.
4. Reduce intake of sugars and fats, avoid fried foods, and use less oil when cooking. Opt for low-fat or skim milk. Try to eat ice cream as little as possible.
5. Tea, coffee, citrus fruits, and dairy products may also worsen symptoms for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
6. For patients with symptoms of damp-heat, alcohol consumption is not advisable. Alcohol is considered "heating" to the liver and "dampening" to the spleen. When combined with "hot" medicinal herbs like aconite, cassia bark, or asarum, it can exacerbate internal heat, swelling, and pain. Long-term use of pain relievers, which can irritate the gastrointestinal tract, is often required. Drinking alcohol can further irritate the stomach and intestines, increasing the side effects of these medications.
6 Foods That May Relieve Arthritis Symptoms:
1. Foods that invigorate blood circulation, clear the collaterals, expel wind, and relieve pain, such as snake and insect dishes, can be cooked or soaked in wine for consumption. They can alleviate local redness, swelling, heat, and pain, and also prevent the condition from spreading to other joints.
2. A variety of vegetables and fruits can meet the body's needs for vitamins, trace elements, and fiber. They also improve metabolism and have effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and alleviating pain, thereby relieving local redness, swelling, heat, and pain.
3. Foods like shiitake mushrooms and black fungus can boost the body's immune system and help alleviate symptoms such as local redness, swelling, heat, and pain.
4. Foods like bitter melon, bitter herbs, purslane, and loofah have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, which can help relieve local fever and pain.
5. Consuming iron-rich foods can help prevent anemia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These include animal livers and bone broth; green leafy vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, Malan head, shepherd's purse, rape, and amaranth; and fruits like red dates, peaches, plums, apricots, and oranges.
6. Consuming pork, beef, mutton, and bone broth can help expel cold and dampness. Foods and medicinal herbs like snake meat, dog meat, eel, caulis spinae gleditsiae, aconite, cassia twig, asarum, astragalus root, red sage root, Solomon's seal rhizome, and ligusticum wallichii can nourish qi and blood, benefit the liver and kidneys, and expel wind and dampness.