(gentle music)
- I tell my patients diet is not
the cure for rheumatoid arthritis.
If you go online and you say how can I can cure RA?
And you might find, you know, tons of information
on do this with your diet or do that with your diet,
and your RA will disappear or get better,
I always caution them that these are not
scientifically well done studies or data
that his been proven conclusively.
Having said that, diet is a key part of our health,
whether you have rheumatoid arthritis
or whether you do not have rheumatoid arthritis,
do what's common sense in terms
of what is healthy diet, right?
And you hear about about it,
lots of fruits, vegetables and grains.
Lots of vegetables with lots of colors.
Fruits of different colors.
And why is that important?
Because they provide you with a whole range
of nutrition from anti-oxidants
to very important minerals and vitamins.
I also tell my patients to stay away
from processed foods, colas that have
a lot of empty calories in it,
that water is the best form of hydration,
and cooking in a way where you're reducing
your calories is very important.
Calories and your weight can become
important in rheumatoid arthritis
because if you put on weight,
it may be harder for you to move.
If you have knees and hips and ankles
where there may be stiffness and pain and swelling,
then you add to that extra weight,
and it just becomes that much more difficult to move.
I often hear from my patients that, you know,
one of my friends is getting rid of gluten from the diet,
and the rheumatoid arthritis has gone away,
or my other friend has eliminated meat from the diet
or eggs or dairy from the diet.
In that case, I always tell my patients
that I'm not able to really assess
what's going on in their acquaintance's life,
but for my own patients, if they notice a pattern
that if they cut down on gluten
or wheat or dairy, then I think
it is important to know about it
because some people have food allergies and sensitivities.
So if you come to my clinic and you tell me
that every time I have a glass of milk,
my rheumatoid arthritis flares,
then I have a chance to actually work on that
in a more scientific manner
and try and understand if my patient
has an underlying food allergy.
So I think if there is consistent pattern
that you are recognizing as a patient,
it's important for you to sit down
with your rheumatologist and have a discussion about it.
But, overall, I would avoid elimination diets.
They can be severe.
They have not been evaluated
scientifically in a rigorous manner,
and I think it's best avoided at this point,
and our focus should be a healthy diet
where you're eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains,
and you're staying away from
calorie dense, fatty and processed foods.
(dramatic music)
Another very important component of living healthy
is making sure that you get enough exercise in your day.
Exercise can also mean movement, so keep moving.
And in patients with arthritis,
this becomes especially important.
It's important because, when they exercise
and when they move, they're actually
making their joints stronger.
They're making their muscles
around their joints also stronger,
and they are making their joints
go through a range of motion so that they
are exercising their joints in effective manner.
(dramatic music)
My answer to that always is you need to listen to your body.
If you're in a flare where you have multiple swollen joints,
I do not think that's a good time
for you to be on a treadmill or be in a gym.
You should be listening to your body
and our focus should be in getting rid of that flare.
And once the flare has resolved and the pain has resolved,
you can definitely step back into your exercise regimen.
The other question people often
ask is I want to to exercise,
but when I start exercising, the next day I pay for it
because I hurt so much, either my knees
or my hips or my ankles hurt.
In those instances, I would tell my patients
that you probably need small doses of exercises
that you should gradually build up on.
So don't go out there the first day
and walk for 20 minutes if you're not used to that.
Maybe step out of your house
and walk for five minutes or seven minutes.
The first week, just walk for
five minutes just maybe in your yard.
The second week, maybe, say, I can try 10 minutes
and so gradually increase that
and you will see that your body will slowly feel stronger,
and your joints will not be hurting after exercising.
You may also ask me, there's so many
different forms of exercises, right?
There's cardio, and there's weight training,
and there's stretching, what should I do
if I have rheumatoid arthritis?
And my answer to that would be all of the above,
as long as, again, you're doing it safely,
you're not hurting yourself while exercising.
Stretching is wonderful for patients with arthritis.
It helps you preserve your range of motion,
and the muscles, keeps the muscles
around your joints limber.
(dramatic music)