Vegan diet reduces joint pain, swelling in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
April 14, 2022
2 min study
Resource/Disclosures

Disclosures: 
The Medical professionals Committee for Liable Medicine is a nonprofit group that promotes plant-centered diet program and investigation. Barnard experiences obtaining royalties and honoraria from guides and posts he has authored and lectures he has supplied. You should see the study for all other authors’ suitable money disclosures.
Older people with rheumatoid arthritis who adopted a vegan diet plan skilled improved joint soreness, lessen cholesterol and bodyweight loss, in accordance to a little, randomized analyze released in the American Journal of Way of life Drugs.
“A plant-based food plan could be the prescription to reduce joint pain for millions of men and women struggling from rheumatoid arthritis,” Neal Barnard, MD, the president of the Physicians Committee for Dependable Medication, stated in a push release. “And all of the aspect effects, together with excess weight reduction and lower cholesterol, are only beneficial.”

Barnard ND, et al. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022doi:10.1177/15598276221081819.
Because RA is an autoimmune ailment, Barnard told Healio “it is probable that just one or more nutritional antigens are fueling the inflammatory process.” A vegan food plan is absolutely free of the antigenic proteins contained in dairy, meat and egg products.
Neal Barnard
In a randomized, crossover demo, Barnard and colleagues evaluated 44 grownups who were beforehand identified with RA. Of these participants, 32 finished the analyze, all of whom were women of all ages. Their signify age was 57 several years 66% have been white, 16% Black and 9% Asian or Pacific Islander.
50 percent of the contributors have been assigned to a vegan diet program for 4 months with the elimination of extra foodstuff, this sort of as glutenous grains, soy products and solutions, potatoes, chocolate and other food items, for yet another 3 weeks. The eliminated food items have been then reintroduced one particular at a time each and every 2 times above a time period of 9 months. Participants in the food plan phase ended up invited to show up at voluntary weekly, 1-hour nutritional assist group classes. The other 50 % of participants were being authorized an unrestricted diet plan with a day by day placebo supplement. After a 4-7 days washout interval, the teams switched remedy programs for an added 16 months.
The individuals purchased and dealt with their possess foodstuff without having any caloric boundaries in spot. The scientists utilised the Disorder Activity Score-28 (DAS-28) and the visual analog scale (VAS) to assess joint pain and inflammation results.
Barnard and colleagues reported that members lessened their joint soreness from 4.2 to 2.5 DAS-28 details (P < .001) during the diet phase of the study compared with a reduction from 3.2 to 2.9 DAS-28 points during the placebo phase. Also, the average number of swollen joints felt by participants decreased from seven to 3.3 (P = .03) in the diet phase compared with an increase from 4.7 to five in the placebo phase. The women who completed the study saw significantly improved VAS ratings during the diet phase compared with the placebo phase, according to the researchers.
Overall, participants lost an average of 6.5 kg (treatment effect = 7.3 kg 95% CI, 9.4 to 5.1) during the diet phase and gained 0.8 kg pounds during the placebo phase. Total LDL cholesterol also decreased during the diet phase.
“Before committing a patient to lifelong medication use, practitioners should always try a diet approach,” Barnard said. “It is free of the risks of immune suppression and enormous cost of current medication regimens. A couple of months’ trial will show whether it works or not.”
References:
Barnard ND, et al. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022doi:10.1177/15598276221081819.
Vegan diet eases arthritis pain, finds new study. https://www.pcrm.org/news/news-releases/vegan-diet-eases-arthritis-pain-finds-new-study. Published April 4, 2022. Accessed April 6, 2022.

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