Food and Arthritis

Foods, particularly foods to which there is a sensitivity or allergy, can cause joints to ache and deteriorate.  Although any joint can be affected, hip, knee, and ankle joints may become excruciatingly painful if these foods are eaten.  The thumb joint can also be painful.  Some people choose to eat the foods occasionally with full knowledge that their painful joints will adversely affect their sleep and ability to move for several days.  Sometimes the ankles become so painful the person has difficulty walking or may even become unable to walk for a time. 

Sugar, wheat, pork, and foods in the Nightshade Family (a botanical family) tend to exacerbate arthritic pain.  The Nightshade Family includes tomatoes, potatoes, all peppers, eggplant, and pimentos.  (Tobacco is also in the Nightshade family.)  Even potato chips can trigger pain in some people.  Peppers of all kinds (especially bell peppers and chili peppers) are problematic for many people with arthritis.  It may take 6 to 9 months of total avoidance to determine if members of the Nightshade Family are affecting arthritis.

The Importance of Magnesium

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies.  It is important in a wide variety of biochemical processes in the body and is required for the production of more than 300 different enzymes.  If the body does not have enough magnesium, it cannot function optimally.  Insufficient cellular magnesium levels can affect metabolic function that leads to serious health problems.  Magnesium works in tandem with calcium, vitamins D and K2.  Eating processed food is a primary risk factor for magnesium deficiency.  Stress, lack of sleep, alcohol consumption, and use of some prescription drugs (diuretics, statins, fluoride and fluoride-containing drugs) can also cause the loss of magnesium.

Among the most common symptoms that magnesium is lacking are “Charlie horses” (muscle spasms that occur when you stretch your legs), fatigue or weakness, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, and headaches or migraines.  More serious symptoms include abnormal heart rhythms and coronary spasms, muscle cramps and contractions, seizures, numbness and tingling, and personality changes.  All of these are warning signs that you may need to correct a magnesium deficiency. Deficiencies can be improved/corrected by eating a varied diet, being careful to include plenty of dark-green leafy vegetables. It is important to remember that magnesium content of foods depends on the amount of magnesium in the soil in which a plant was grown.  Some people must add a magnesium supplement if sufficient magnesium is not present in their diet.