Diet and osteoarthritis

Eating too much sodium causes your cells to retain water. This means they swell up. 

Your body does need sodium to function. However, eating too much leads to an inflammatory reaction. This can contribute to joint damage. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most AmericansTrusted Source consume too much sodium daily. To cut back on sodium, try swapping out salt for other spices, such as lemon zest, or flavored black peppers like garlic pepper, to enhance your food. 

The Arthritis Foundation points out that foods high in saturated fats, such as fries and doughnuts, can increase inflammation in the body and make OA pain worse. 

The oils used to fry foods create chemical reaction in your body and can raise your cholesterol. 

Stick with foods baked without any oil additives. When you need to use oil to cook with, opt for a small amount of locally sourced oil instead. 

Refined wheat products, like white bread, stimulate your body’s inflammatory response. That’s why eating a lot of refined pastas, cereals, and grain products might make your OA pain flare up. 

To avoid this, choose whole grains whenever possible. Avoid heavily processed bread products. - Whole grains and yeast additives that contain gluten may also affect OA pain. 

Most experts discourage drinking alcohol to excess when you have OA. Drinking alcohol, especially beer, can contribute to flare-ups because of high purine levels in commercial alcohol products. 

Also, most arthritis medication will interact with alcohol, which affects the effectiveness of the drug and can be dangerous. 

Many foods people with OA should avoid also happen to be foods that interfere with a healthy diet. 

Limiting these foods can benefit your OA by reducing levels of inflammation in your body and even helping you lose weight. 

Even small incremental weight loss can make a difference in OA symptom severity.