Should You Avoid Milk And Dairy If You Have Arthritis?

Can our diet affect us if we have any form of arthritis? While conventional medicine doesn't put a lot of emphasis on what we eat, alternative medicine sites diet as one of the main contributors to our health or lack of it. This is definitely something to consider as we all have experienced pain or pleasure when we eat certain foods.

If you suffer from arthritis, you have probably heard that the nightshade group of vegetables should be avoided. These include potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant. In general, however, it is important that we put alkaline forming food into our bodies and don't over indulge in the acidic forming foods. The acidic foods are often the ones we eat on a daily basis. Meat, coffee, processed foods, sugary foods are really not a good idea if you have arthritis.

Milk and dairy are acid forming when metabolized in our bodies and although we have been told to drink our milk to get strong bones, in actual fact the only strong bones it can get are those in cows. Milk and dairy consumed by humans, on the other hand can cause our bodies to release the alkaline calcium which has been stored in our bones to leave the bones in order to combat excessive acidity in our system. As you can imagine, over time this means that our bones can become brittle and even break.

Recently milk and dairy has been put under the microscope as far as arthritis is concerned and the results don't look good. First of all, cows are unfortunately subjected to many forms of grain which isn't in their natural diet (which should consist of grass and hay). Today's cows consume genetically modified soy and corn as well as pesticides and antibiotics. What they consume is, of course, passed on to their milk. No wonder that milk and dairy aren't among the best of foods for your body.

In fact there was a study involving rabbits where by switching their usual water to milk, caused these rabbits to get joint swelling. Also, in another study (no rabbits this time) when participants eliminated milk and dairy products they experienced more than a 50% reduction in pain and swelling of their arthritis. Food for thought...

If that isn't enough, milk and dairy produce mucous in our body which means we have a greater chance of coming down with a cold and can generally contribute to respiratory disorders. The same is true of allergies and hay fever - if you get them try avoiding milk and dairy to see if your symptoms improve. It has often been said that your body knows best!

After all is said and done, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Why don't you try eliminating milk and dairy from your diet for a month or two. You will soon see if this works to reduce your arthritis pain and joint swelling or if it makes no difference.