5 ”Health Foods” That Make Osteoarthritis Worse

If you’re suffering from osteoarthritis, take a hard look at what you’re eating. You may not realize it, but foods can affect your arthritis pain and symptoms. Chronic inflammation contributes to sore joints — the kind that is associated with many forms of arthritis, including the osteo and rheumatoid types. Avoiding certain foods is crucial as inflammation is often made worse because of a person’s diet.

It is a well-known fact that if you want to be healthy, you shouldn’t consume sugar, alcohol, and processed foods. However, only a few people are aware of the fact that many popular ”health foods” are really junk foods in disguise that can even make your osteoarthritis worse!

Margarine

Butter has been a staple food for people around the globe for centuries. However, when it started to be demonized by health experts due to its high-fat content, margarine was promoted to be a healthier substitute. The truth of the matter is that whereas raw butter from grass-fed cows is a rich source of vitamin A, D, E and K2, manganese, chromium, zinc, copper, and selenium, margarine has NO health value! It is a chemically processed, hydrogenated oil which lacks essential nutrients and is proved to be high in extremely damaging trans fats which can aggravate inflammation in the joints and cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

No wonder a study showed that people replacing butter with margarine are in fact more likely to die from heart disease. Better than butter? Forget this bullsh*t!

Soy

Apart from disrupting the body’s thyroid and endocrine function, screwing with your sex hormones, and blocking the absorption in the gut of key minerals like iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium, soy is a harmful inflammation-triggering irritant!

This popular ”health-food” damages the lining of the digestive tract which causes "leaky gut syndrome" where the damage to the gut allows larger proteins to enter the bloodstream. As soon as the body launches immune responses to rid itself of the foreign matter, these immune responses often lead to inflammation and joint pain.

Not surprisingly, leaky gut is a problem commonly seen both in OA and RA patients.

Brown rice

Because it has not had its bran and germ stripped away during processing, brown rice is said to be more nutritional than white rice. However, unlike white rice, brown rice contains phytates. Phytic-acid is a so-called anti-nutrient which binds to minerals to make them unavailable to the body. The main minerals phytates target include calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc. A diet high in phytate-rich grains will result in mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis, tooth decay, and osteoarthritis.

Whole grains

It is a common misconception that swapping white flour for whole-wheat in your recipes will increase your nutrient intake. In reality, whole grains are also rich in phytates and therefore ‘steal’ nutrients from our bodies. Cartilage in osteoarthritis lacks essential minerals, so it is not advisable to deplete the body's nutrient reserves even more rapidly with consuming whole grains.

Sugar-free foods

Never trust a processed product with a “sugar-free” label! Most of them contain artificial sweeteners that are much worse than sugar. The biggest troublemaker of all is Aspartame, which can be found in thousands of different food and drink products. The book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing," by James and Phyllis Balch, lists aspartame under the category of "chemical poison". It is said to cause migraines, nausea, weight gain, fatigue, irritability, vision problems, heart palpitations, memory loss, and joint pain.

For more invaluable information about osteoarthritis, visit the author's website.