Healthy Diet and Exercise May Help Rheumatoid Arthritis
The mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is medications. But many people with RA wonder what else they can do to help control the disease, such as modifying diet and exercise. While there’s no specific diet for RA, a recent study examined an intervention that included a plant-based diet, exercise and stress management. For the study, which was reported at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (November 2022), 77 people with RA were divided into two groups. One group received a diet and exercise program in addition to usual care, while the other group received only usual care. After eight weeks, those in the intervention group had a greater reduction in disease activity, as measured by the number of tender and swollen joints and a blood test for inflammation. The effect was sustained at 16 weeks.
