Arthritis is an extremely painful condition, and unfortunately, there is no permanent cure for it yet. What is available are a range of pain-relieving techniques, along with dietary rules that one can follow to manage the condition. Now, food plays an important role in managing symptoms in arthritis patients and certain types or categories of foods are considered to be extremely harmful. Here is a list of these foods to avoid for arthritis pain.

  • Inflammatory Fats
    Inflammatory fats imply an entire category of foods to avoid for arthritis pain. These include the omega 6 fatty acids, which further include corn, sunflower and vegetable oils. The second type of inflammatory fats is saturated fat, which is found in meat, butter and cheese. And the third type of inflammatory fats is trans-fat, which is the worst of all. It is found in processed foods and it reduces the level of good cholesterol in your blood. While trans-fat should be totally avoided, the other two can be consumed in very limited quantities.
  • Sugar
    While you do not need to stay away from sugar entirely, there are some sugar-made foods to avoid for arthritis pain. For instance, sugar-sweetened soda increases the risk of joint inflammation and aggravates arthritis pain. It leads to obesity, heart issues, and other chronic diseases too. You should also avoid the advanced glycation end products or AGEs. This is an inflammatory compound that is found in the tissues of aging people with diabetes, arthritis, etc. Both fats and sugars, when cooked or processed at a high temperature, increases the AGE level in your blood. Check the label of ingredients while buying any sugar-based packaged food at the store.
  • Nightshades
    This is yet another broader category of foods to avoid for arthritis pain. The category comprises vegetables with a compound called solanine. Nightshade vegetables include potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, and eggplant. Removing these vegetables from the diet helps in relieving the symptoms of arthritis in some people. Even if it is hard to completely eliminate common vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes, the quantity should be restricted to the minimum.
  • High Purine Foods
    Purine is a substance in food that is converted to uric acid by the body. Foods that are high in purines include red meat, organ meat such as liver, seafoods such as mussels and scallops, and beer and other alcohol. Uric acid, resulting from these foods, builds up in the bloodstream and causes gout attacks, which worsens arthritis pain. So, avoiding these is highly recommended for arthritis patients. Interestingly, some vegetables also contain purine, but these are not linked to gout attacks or increased inflammation or pain and can be consumed safely by all.

By eliminating these foods to avoid for arthritis pain, you can get considerable relief from the pain in the joints and in mild cases, can keep the problem at bay too.