Making the Diet/Arthritis Connection

Rheumatoid arthritis is a crippling joint disease that afflicts over two million Americans. Modern medicine has never found a cure, and medical treatments are symptomatic and largely ineffective.

The Arthritis Foundation has always denied that dietary therapy could do anything for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. This position is somewhat puzzling, however, considering that a decade's worth of studies have shown that the fatty acids found in fish oils and some plant oils can relieve painful symptoms of the disease. There have been almost a dozen studies confirming that omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid in fish, and gamma-linolenic acid in evening primrose and borage oil) help to suppress the body's production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes—chemicals that bring on rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.

Recently, the Arthritis Foundation reversed its position, and now concedes to a diet/arthritis link.  Based on information in: Mother Jones, Mar/Apr 1998