Exploring a Nutritional Approach to Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

The Question:

With my mother, several of her siblings and ALL three of my siblings having some form of RA…what can prevent me from following suite…They take tons of medication and shots to get through the day…I have not been tested but fear I may have early symptoms..painful swollen knuckles on my right hand..difficulty walking do to stiff painful hips…and my feet…walking on them takes a few minutes to work out the soreness, poor circulation…I’ve been loosely following the gold coast cure for four years…I used to follow 100% and kind of allowed life to sway me…I know I need to get back on track with that..but my question is…if they all have RA..will I have RA too? can I avoid that painful life sentence by following the GCC?  Im 49 next month…we are still raising children..our youngest is 6…I need to be 100 % for these kids…they need a mom who can function and play and be there through all the “no matters what”…and I’m afraid…and finally is your Clean cuisine an updated version of Gold Coast cure?

Anonymous

 Dr. Larson’s Response:

Rheumatoid arthritis is a very common inflammation-mediated condition and many people I interact with in my office and at the hospital ask if there are any natural rheumatoid arthritis treatments.  Many of the drug therapies for rheumatoid arthritis are expensive and have numerous side effects.  The initial rheumatoid arthritis cause is not known but as you suggest in your question it does seem that genetics play a role.  There is no actual gene for rheumatoid arthritis so we do not have the technology yet to provide you with an individualized “risk” of getting the condition.  Rheumatoid arthritis should not be thought of as an “all-or-nothing” disease because many persons carrying the diagnosis have only occasional mild symptoms while others who have rather severe disease for some length of time find that the disease eventually “burns out” and improves naturally; yes, unfortunately some persons with rheumatoid arthritis develop severe debilitating problems and many do require strong medications to address the condition.

Natural Nutritional Approach to Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

The Gold Coast Cure is an anti-inflammatory diet that is highly effective at preventing the symptoms of clinical rheumatoid arthritis and minimizing these symptoms if they do occur.  I think of an anti-inflammatory diet as being the first line rheumatoid arthritis treatment for persons like you who have mild symptoms in the joints.  I would follow an anti-inflammation diet regardless of whether you decide to see a rheumatologist to pursue a diagnosis at this time.

The Clean Cuisine program includes all of the proven anti-inflammation benefits of the Gold Coast Cure with an additional heavy emphasis on plant-based antioxidants and phytonutrients.  So long as you continue to pay attention to the advice in our Gold Coast Cure, in particular the advice related to fat and oil intake, you will notice even more benefit from our more plant-forward Clean Cuisine program as plant foods are far richer in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances calorie for calorie than animal foods.  Just because we encourage increased plant intake and more vegan options in our Clean Cuisine, DO NOT abandon fatty fish and fish oil.  Research shows fatty fish and fish oil supplements show more promise than any other foods for providing relief from rheumatoid arthritis.

Our programs, the Gold Coast Cure and the Clean Cuisine program can work in combination with medical therapy if needed with some caveats.  Anti-inflammatory NSAID medications like aspirin and Advil and Celebrex can be used for arthritis pain along with our diet if needed for pain relief.  Corticosteroids like prednisone will overwhelm the diet and have massively undesirable side effects.  I can think of very few instances where I would allow myself to take these drugs.  Please try to avoid them and if your doctor recommends them seek a second opinion.  Most of the second line rheumatoid arthritis drugs can be taken with our diet.  This includes the newer biologic injectable drugs like Enbrel, Remicade, and Humira.  Following a healthful Clean Cuisine diet will likely help reduce the risk of infectious side effects of these drugs and will certainly help with maximizing symptom relief of the rheumatoid arthritis itself.

Finally, an important rheumatoid arthritis treatment is regular exercise.  Staying strong by doing resistance exercise can help you “work around” problem joints and problem motions by recruiting secondary muscles.  The result is much improved mobility.  Our stretching routines and yoga routines are low impact and highly effective as well.  I encourage you to take the time to eat properly and exercise at least three times a week to control and possibly even prevent this condition from interfering with your life.

One final word:  physicians and scientists are getting close to understanding the fundamental processes that cause nuisance inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.  It would not surprise me if highly targeted medications with minimal to no side effects were developed in the next twenty to thirty years that could be provided to individual patients based on their exact genes and their exact type of disease that could effectively “cure” these conditions.  Always have hope and do get back in the game with our Gold Coast Cure and Clean Cuisine programs.  They do work.

Andrew Larson, M.D.