Diet And Arthritis

The Study

The relationship between diet and arthritis progression was examined in 2,757 subjects with existing knee arthritis. Subjects in this study tended to eat two different types of diets. The Western Dietary pattern was high in French fries, red and processed meats, sugar, refined grains and pizza. The Prudent Dietary pattern was high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and whole grains. After 6 years of follow-up, subjects consuming the Western diet had a significant progression of their arthritis. Subjects consuming the Prudent diet had a significant decreased progression of knee arthritis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2020; 111:667-676.  

Take Home Message

This is a fascinating study. The idea that your diet can impact something like arthritis progression is powerful stuff. There are two potential mechanisms. One is that eating the unhealthy Western diet promoted weight gain, which speeds up arthritis progression. This is not the only mechanism because when body weight was controlled for, the relationships persisted. It is also possible that the Western diet promoted inflammation while the Prudent diet decreased it. There are about 1,000 reasons to eat a healthy diet. It looks like we can add improving orthopedic health to the list.