You will find numerous theories about which foods are good to eat and which foods should be avoided by people with arthritis. Some theories point to eliminating whole groups of foods while others focus on pinpointing the specific food that aggravates your arthritis. Rather than an entire food group as the culprit, individual food sensitivities are a more plausible cause for arthritis flares in some people.

It may seem like an overwhelming task to try to find a single food that may cause you to have a nonspecific, allergic-like, immune reaction manifesting itself as joint pain. Elimination diets do exist, but it's an arduous process and some medical experts disregard the process as a fad while others deem it unhealthy.

Nightshade Vegetable Diet

The nightshade diet is probably the most well-known and commonly tried of the elimination diets. The nightshade diet eliminates nightshade vegetables from the diet, which include tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, and eggplant. The benefit of eliminating nightshade vegetables is purely anecdotal and nothing has been proven in terms of reducing arthritis symptoms.

The Dong Diet

The Dong diet is another well-known elimination diet. Red meat, fruits, dairy products, alcohol, additives, and preservatives are all eliminated with the Dong diet. The diet strongly promotes vegetables, with the exception of tomatoes. The Dong diet dates back to a book published in 1980 called The Arthritic's Cookbook and another book called New Hope for the Arthritic published in 1985, both by Collin H. Dong, M.D. There are no scientific studies that support the Dong diet.

Alkaline Diet

The alkaline diet focuses on eliminating acidic foods such as sugar, coffee, citrus fruits, grains, and nuts for a one-month period. Supporters of the diet point to relief in arthritis symptoms, while opponents of the alkaline diet suggest people either feel better because they lose weight on the diet, and thereby reduce stress on their joints, or because of the placebo effect (the diet works because people expect it to work).

Vegetarian Diet

Vegetarian diets eliminate meat from the diet. There have been some small studies that indicated people with rheumatoid arthritis were helped by a vegetarian diet. Once again, the studies were small and did not reveal significant benefit that would suggest this is a cure or a solution for the majority of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Fasting and Eating for Health

Dr. Joel Fuhrman is a board-certified physician in private practice in New Jersey, and as a leading expert on nutritional modifications to reverse disease, he has appeared on numerous radio and television programs. He has had vast experience with the nutritional treatment of arthritis and autoimmune diseases and has also had articles published in medical literature. Dr. Fuhrman suggests that dietary modification must be tailored to the individual patient and that a high-nutrient, vegetable-based diet with appropriate supplementation (such as vitamin D and fish oil) is the starting point that can be an effective modality enabling most patients to either reduce or totally avoid the need for medications for rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Fuhrman reports that his impressive results in autoimmune illnesses don't hinge solely on the absence of animal products in the diet, but is related to nutrient scoring to assure that an adequate amount of phytochemicals, such as isothiocyanates, are consumed. After enough time on his recommended dietary protocol, rich in green vegetables, Dr. Fuhrman sometimes recommends periodic fasting to be added for patients not receiving adequate results from dietary intervention alone. Fasting (framed by a vegan diet) has been shown to reduce pain and lower inflammatory markers in patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. An extended period of fasting has been shown to result in remission in some patients. More information is available at his Web site (www.DrFuhrman.com).