Nutritional Therapy for Rheumatic Diseases

Excerpt

Physicians and patients have long been intrigued with the possibility that some foods or food-related products provoke rheumatic diseases whereas others alleviate symptoms of arthritis. If this hypothesis were true, then arthritis would respond to appropriate nutritional therapy. However, diet therapy for rheumatic disease has generally been considered a form of "quack" therapy, for which a large percentage of patients with arthritis spend nearly $ 1 billion annually. Surprisingly, despite the fervor of advocates and skepticism of rheumatologists, little objective information exists about nutritional therapy for rheumatic diseases, and virtually all conclusions have been based on inadequate data or improper