After following a Mediterranean diet for three months, people with rheumatoid
arthritis experienced a number of improvements not seen in people following a
Western diet, including a decrease in pain, inflammation, disease activity and
in the number of swollen joints.
Previous research suggested that more olive oil and cooked vegetables help
protect people living in the Mediterranean--who by and large follow a
Mediterranean diet--from the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The current study focused on arthritic patients living in Sweden, none of
whom had previously been vegetarians or followers of the Mediterranean diet. The
study findings suggest eating the Mediterranean way can help people regardless
of their previous dietary habits.
The current results suggest that "patients with (rheumatoid arthritis) can
obtain better physical function and increase their vitality" from eating a
Mediterranean diet for three months, write Dr. Lars Skoldstam of Visby Hospital
in Sweden and colleagues.
The authors add that they plan to continue to follow patients to see if
following the Mediterranean diet helps ease symptoms of arthritis for more than
three months, but note that previous research suggests that the diet has
long-term benefits.
"If so, living on a lifelong (Mediterranean diet) might improve long term
physical function, quality of life, and other disease outcome measurements,"
they note in the latest issue of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system, for unknown reasons,
mistakenly attacks the joints, leading to inflammation, swelling and pain. Over
time, this process erodes the bone and soft tissue within the joints.
During the study, 26 people with rheumatoid arthritis followed a
Mediterranean diet for three months, while another 25 patients stuck with a
Western diet during the same time period. To help people keep up with their
diets, the investigators prepared meals each day for the patients during the
first three weeks of the study.
People who follow a Mediterranean diet tend to eat a lot of fruit,
vegetables, and legumes, more fish and less red meat. They also consume a
moderate amount of wine, and rely on olive oil as their main source of dietary
fat.
Previous research has suggested that followers of a Mediterranean diet enjoy
a wide range of benefits, such as a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and
memory loss.
