Going vegan can improve joint pain in arthritis patients

By Joe Morgan via SWNS

Turning vegan can improve joint pain in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, according to a new study from the George Washington University School of Medicine in D.C.

Eating a plant-based diet without calorie restrictions could be the key to improving the pain felt by the estimated 1.5 million Americans.

Researchers have found early diagnosis and treatment is an important method for preventing the auto-immune condition from getting worse, but diet could also be extremely important.

Patients who went vegan found they had a far greater reduction in joint pain compared to those who had an unrestricted diet.

Physicians were also able to see a reduction in the C-reactive protein, which indicates inflammation in the body.

In the study, 44 adults previously diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were assigned to either eat vegan for a month, eliminate additional foods for three weeks, then reintroduce them back over nine weeks.

The average number of swollen joints decreased from seven to 3.3 in the vegan phase, the study found.

Using the Disease Activity Score-28, which calculates tender joints, swollen joints and C-reactive protein values, the patients who went vegan decreased by two points on average, compared to a 0.3 point reduction in the other unrestricted diet group.

In addition, body weight decreased by about 14 points on average on the vegan diet compared with a gain of about two pounds on the placebo diet.

Dr. Neal Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee, said: "A plant-based diet could be the prescription to alleviate joint pain for millions of people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

“And all of the side effects, including weight loss and lower cholesterol, are only beneficial.”

The study was published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.