Today, we’ll uncover the 6 worst foods for arthritis. We’ll also reveal the real root cause of pain and inflammation in your joints, and the #1 best way to fix it.
Arthritis is a common medical condition characterized by inflammation and swelling of the joints, which can lead to stiffness, pain, and reduced range of motion.
There are over 100 different types of arthritis; however, two primary forms dominate: Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, wherein cartilage gradually deteriorates over time due to wear and tear or injury. While rheumatoid arthritis involves an autoimmune response that causes inflammation of the joints and can also affect other organs in your body.
Other types of arthritis include:
Psoriatic arthritis: another autoimmune disease that affects some people who have psoriasis—a skin condition characterized by red patches of skin with silvery scales.
Gout: a painful condition caused by the buildup of uric acid in the joints, particularly the big toe.
Fibromyalgia: a chronic disorder marked by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and tenderness near joints.
While each type of arthritis has its unique symptoms and associated risk factors, they all share a common theme: inflammation plays a major role in their development.
Let’s begin, with the first food that makes your joint pain worse. Then, we’ll reveal the real root cause of inflammation in arthritis.
Number 6. “Vegetable Oils & Trans Fats”.
Vegetable oils are one of the worst culprits when it comes to exacerbating symptoms of arthritis and inflammation.
Also known as refined seed oils, these oils, such as corn, sunflower, safflower, and soybean oils, are commonly used in households and restaurants.
It’s hard to escape from vegetable oils, as they are also found in large amounts in packaged or processed foods, such as potato chips, hot dogs, white bread, fried chicken, French fries, and salty snacks.
The reason these oils are bad is their high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids, which are easily oxidized by heat and light. Oxidation means that the oil has been damaged by chemical reactions and has turned bad. These rancid oils greatly fuel inflammation in your gut lining, joints, and blood vessels, contributing to chronic pain and disease.
Another form of vegetable oil that is even worse is “artificial trans fats.” These are labeled as “partially hydrogenated oils” on some food labels.
The main culprits that contain trans fats are vegetable shortening for making soft and flaky cakes and pastries, microwave popcorn, margarine, fried fast foods, and nondairy coffee creamers.
To reduce inflammation, replace vegetable oils with healthy fats like avocado oil, macadamia oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and extra virgin olive oil.
Before we get to the next worst food for arthritis, let’s look at the root cause of joint pain. You may have been told it’s inflammation, but that is not the whole story.
The real root cause is an excess of fibrin around the joints, which leads to chronic inflammation and pain.
So, what is fibrin? Fibrin is an insoluble protein that is involved in wound healing. It also forms the base material for clots, scabs, and scars.
Here’s how fibrin works:
When your body experiences an injury, even if it’s just a small bump, scratch, or sudden temperature change, it triggers a reaction by:
#1: Sending white blood cells to the affected area to fight infection, which results in inflammation and swelling.
#2: Releasing fibrin to form a strong, protective mesh-like web to seal off the site, and begin the healing process.
This mesh is critical for capturing the platelets and red blood cells needed to form blood clots.
Normally, once the injury has healed, the fibrin breaks down, and inflammation subsides.
However, in arthritis, fibrin continues to accumulate in the blood vessels and connective tissues surrounding the joints.
As excess fibrin thickens and hardens to form scar tissue, it restricts blood flow and oxygen. This slows down the healing process and keeps you stiff and in pain for longer.
This is why pain meds become less effective over time; they completely ignore the REAL cause of the problem.
Fibrin doesn’t just affect the joints. As long as there is excess fibrin in your circulatory system, red blood cells are prevented from getting to the areas where they are needed most.
The result is that your heart is forced to work harder, and your blood pressure increases. Excessive levels of fibrin in the body increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Before we reveal how you can break down fibrin, let’s look at the other worst foods that cause fibrin accumulation and inflammation.
Next at Number 5, we have “Soda And Sugar”.
The high amount of refined sugar in soda has been found to worsen knee osteoarthritis. Consumption of soda causes spikes in blood sugar and insulin, leading to increased inflammation throughout the body.
In addition, high-fructose corn syrup-packed sodas and other sweetened beverages contain a lot of empty calories, which contribute to weight gain—another factor that exacerbates arthritis symptoms.
To reduce inflammation, replace sugary beverages with unsweetened tea or water.
Coming up Next, Number 4. “Refined Carbohydrates”.
Do you notice that your joints become more achy, after consuming a lot of pizza, bagels, cookies, doughnuts, or pasta? This is because these refined carbohydrates are easily broken down into sugar, causing a spike in insulin levels that leads to body-wide inflammation, just like soda.
To reduce unwanted inflammation, replace white bread and pasta with healthier options like whole-grain bread, and sweet potato. But you may want to skip the gluten.
This brings us to Number 3. “Gluten”.
If you have celiac disease or are sensitive to gluten, your body may provoke an innate immune response that can trigger joint pain and other symptoms. A study published in the Oxford Journal of Rheumatology revealed that 41% of participants with rheumatoid arthritis experienced symptom improvement on a gluten-free diet.
If you suspect you have gluten intolerance, eliminate all foods containing gluten for two weeks. Then, observe if your joint pain worsens when you reintroduce it. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye.
Coming into our Number 2, we have “Char-Broiled And Blackened Foods”.
If you have arthritis, it’s best to avoid high-temperature cooking methods like broiling, frying, and grilling, as they create advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that can exacerbate inflammation and joint pain. This means you should steer clear of foods like grilled meats and fried potatoes.
And at Number 1, we have “Nightshade Vegetables”.
People with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or other joint problems such as gout may want to eliminate nightshade vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and peppers from their diets. This is because nightshades contain alkaloids that can lead to the accumulation of calcium deposits in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and joints that can cause inflammation and pain.
Now, let’s look at how we can eliminate the root cause of arthritis.
The answer lies in proteolytic enzymes.
Here is the one thing you need to take away from this video: Proteolytic enzymes have powerful anti-inflammatory properties and are essential for a pain-free life.
Proteolytic enzymes, also known as proteases, are a type of systemic enzyme that breaks down proteins into smaller, more digestible units that your body can utilize.
The most important thing that proteolytic enzymes do is to break down excess fibrin present in your circulatory system and connective tissues, including your muscles.
So, the key to stopping your arthritis pain is to get enough proteolytic enzymes.
These enzymes eat away at the fibrin and scar tissue, bringing much-needed oxygen and nutrient-rich blood into your tissues to remove the metabolic waste that is causing you pain and inflammation.
Even though your body produces proteolytic enzymes in your pancreas, their production significantly decreases after the age of 27. So it’s important to get them from food sources or dietary supplements.
Two of the best food sources of proteolytic enzymes are pineapple and papaya. Bromelain (from pineapple) and papain (from papaya) are effective at reducing symptoms of pain, swelling, and joint stiffness in people with arthritis.
I have provided a link to a “Pineapple Joint Elixir“ Recipe below.
Other foods rich in proteolytic enzymes include kiwi fruit, figs, ginger, asparagus, and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, and miso.
Other than fighting inflammation and pain, proteolytic enzymes have other important functions, such as easing sore muscles, speeding up wound healing, regulating blood pressure, boosting the immune system, and killing viruses.
In summary, to fix your arthritis pain, eat more pineapple and papaya. However, food alone, may not boost your enzyme levels high enough to relieve pain.
To see our recommended proteolytic enzyme supplement, click the link below.
The next two videos to watch are, “13 Foods that Cause Inflammation” and “5 Ways to Reduce Inflammation“.