Relieving Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain- Managing Weight
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All content, materials and information here at An Eccentric Lifestyle are for informational purposes only. Any and all content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the eccentriclifestyle.com.
I feel like I have always struggled with my weight, although now I wish I had been more comfortable with myself back then.
Now after a Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis and three kids later, I was really struggling with weight. Plus more serious RA flare-ups due to a number of factors I was in rough shape. I knew what the extra weight was doing to my joints, my mental health, and my ability to get my to-do list done. I also didn’t have the energy I wanted in order to play with my kids, connect, and spend time with them. I needed to find ways to relieve the rheumatoid arthritis pain so I could enjoy life again
What is RA/RD?
Well if you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) also known as rheumatoid disease (RD), you know what it is but for those who have just been diagnosed or if you don’t have it then here it is… Rheumatoid Arthritis is in the class of autoimmune disorders and is a chronic inflammatory disorder. Essentially your immune system has a short circuit and mistakenly attacks your body’s tissues; joints, organs, the works.
RA symptoms include:
- Painful and/or swollen joints
- Mild to extreme fatigue
- Body stiffness, particularly in the mornings or after long periods of inactivity
- Weakness, e.g. unable to open lids, difficulty grasping items such as peelers, pens, etc
These are just a few most common symptoms experienced, personally, I suffer from anemia, insomnia, and loss of appetite for prolonged periods of time, we are talking weeks at a time. Only after experiencing my first run with this did my rheumatologist tell me that was a RA side effect.
While this description is a generic textbook definition of RA, it doesn’t capture what the illness does to your quality of life. There are stretches of time where it feels like you have a dementor constantly following you around. Any Harry Potter fans?
I know that sounds dramatic but it is not an outlandish description. Most people can wake up, stretch, and hop out of bed to nip into the bathroom and start getting ready. That’s not my life. It takes a good hour for my joints to loosen up and there is definitely NO hopping out of bed. I am a 28-year-old woman who gets around like a 90-year-old trying to keep up with my three kids. Not an easy task.
Extra weight & RA
As mentioned previously, I would be considered overweight and the problem became worse after having three pregnancies.
“About two-thirds of people with RA are overweight or obese- the same proportion as in the general population. But when you have RA extra body fat can create extra problems”
(Rath, How Fat Affects Rheumatoid Arthritis )
“Being just 10 pounds overweight increases the force on your knees by 30 to 40 pounds every step”
(Jaret, 2014)
I can attest that the extra weight made life harder. My RA flares were worse and WAY more frequent. I was struggling to function during the day; keeping up with my 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and 8 months old, and keeping my house from blowing up. Just trying to keep up with housework would easily become overwhelming.
I wanted to thrive instead of just survive. I wanted to enjoy the time with my kids, play with them, and keep up with the basics; keeping my home in decent order. Even with RA, I feel like there should be a way to still enjoy life. So I started the research…
All content, materials and information here at An Eccentric Lifestyle are for informational purposes only. Any and all content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the eccentriclifestyle.com.
For this post, we are just exploring weight loss in relation to the food we eat, one of the many options we have available, to relieve RA symptoms.
Food
Some underestimate the short-term and long-term effects food has on our health, good and bad. We all think of food in terms of simply gaining or losing weight, looking good in a swimsuit, or just fitting in our clothes. Food has a much deeper influence:
“Food provides all the building blocks used to make every cell, tissue, organ, and structure in our bodies. Food provides all the raw materials for the millions of chemical reactions happening inside our bodies at every moment. And food provides the energy needed to sustain life. When you think about it this way, it’s easy to see how eating the right foods is so important for health…”
(Ballantyne, 2017)
Instead of looking for a list of do’s and don’ts perhaps it’s time to change and start thinking of food as a part of your lifestyle framework, the framework including stress management, sleep, exercise, connecting with friends and family. Our food choices need to be a part of our lifestyle and what we want our lifestyle to look like.
Foods to avoid
I learned this the hard way. There are foods that will light up RA flares like a Christmas lights show in your body. It is not pleasant to experience. Generally, these foods include:
- Any and all processed foods
- Sugars and sweets
- Soda
- Oils high in saturated fats such as coconut and palm kernel
- Consuming high amounts of salt
- Gluten
- Certain animal products
This is not the “Ten Commandments” of thou shalt not eat list. Everyone is different and therefore reacts differently. I have personally experienced increased RA symptoms with all of these except coconut oil and palm kernel oil but I haven’t had much of an occasion to use them. I also noticed that when I bought meat from local ranchers instead of the grocery store, I tolerated eating the meat better.
Say no to the soda and bow to the mighty WATER!!!
You would be surprised what our beloved pop, soda, or soda pop (admit it, that is fun to say) does to our bodies. It is essentially straight sugar, drinking soda sends our organs on overdrive when they shouldn’t be. All that energy gets stored as fat thus putting more pressure on our bodies and particularly our joints.
No good.
Enjoying a pop every once in a while will not doom you but making it a daily habit will take a toll on your body. Once I stopped drinking pop, my experience with stomach bloat essentially disappears and after I detox, I noticed that I had a flatter stomach as well as a drop in flare-ups. I felt a million times better after cutting out soda from my diet. Cutting out pop meant that I instantly was drinking more water, I even started drinking tea.
Unlike pop, water actually hydrates you giving your body what it needs to function at an optimal level. Every body system, every organ, every cell needs water to function properly so it is vital to your health to drink water consistently throughout the day.
Dr. Julian Seifter from Harvard Medical School recommends 30 to 50 ounces a day preferably gradually and not all at once. Did you know that feeling those hunger pains might actually be your body telling you to drink water? It is true, the body’s signals for hunger and thirst can be similar so next time you feel those hunger pains, you might ask yourself when was the last time you had some water?
Take a break from the sugars
Much like when we talked about cutting soda out, your body will thank you for cutting the sweets back a touch. It’s okay to cry at this moment, I am right there with you. My husband and I have a sweet tooth and we are big about our chocolate. So cutting out sugar completely out of our lives was a firm “NO” in our family.
Have no fear! There are ways to lose weight and curb flare-ups without completely ditching those delectable sweets. One way is to switch over to dark chocolate instead of milk or white chocolate. Dark chocolate satisfies that craving and can give you a boost in your mood without the crash. At our house, if we want a dessert then we have a rule that we make it at home. I almost always substitute honey for granulated sugar in my desserts.
Another aspect to consider when cutting down your sugar intake, you will more than likely experience withdrawal symptoms and be mister or missus cranky pants for a week or two. That is your body going through a detox and is totally normal but a mite frustrating because you will desperately want to give in but eating a handful of dark chocolate covered almonds or nuts can help you push through. Slashing the sugars will help bring your body into balance and that is what we are looking for, a balance in life.
For most of us, our sugar intake whether food or liquid form is a crutch, a quick fix for when we are stressed, overworked, overwhelmed, and just plain done with life.
My advice would be to implement an activity in place of consuming sugar for a stress reliever. The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good habit. Yoga, breathing exercises, journaling, or even make a smoothie whatever works for you.
Food Diary
This is where keeping a food diary or log would be useful, just a small notebook or notepad. Keep a daily log of what you have eaten throughout the day as well as how you are feeling; any pain, where is the pain located, fatigue, anxiety, any and all symptoms.
The purpose of a Food Log/Diary is to identify any foods that might be a “trigger” for your RA. Keep in mind that if you are eating something that is causing a flare-up you might not see that flare-up for 1 to 3 days after consuming that particular food. That’s why keeping a log is so important, you can go back, review your eating habits, find trends, and discover the culprits responsible for flare-ups.
Best foods to keep RA at bay
Again there is much speculation and debate on which foods to incorporate into our life that can be beneficial at staying any flare-ups. Those in the queue:
- Fish oil
- Omega 3
- Raw or moderately cooked vegetables
- Fruits
- Probiotic yogurt
- Spices such as cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, oregano
- Olive and avocado oil
There is a decent argument for the high consumption of many varieties of fruits and vegetables while keeping meat and carbs at the low end. Giving the phrase “eat the rainbow” a whole new meaning that has absolutely nothing to do with Skittles. Eating all kinds of fruits and vegetables gives our body access to macro- and micronutrients it needs to function and even heal itself when necessary.
Guidelines to follow
If you are like me, I like to have a plan. I can’t be left to my own devices to figure out all this from scratch! TOO MANY DECISIONS!!!
As I said, I am trying to keep up with my three kids and my husband at times, keep my home in order… well parents you know the struggle we face. That being said, it’s nice to have a set of “rules” to make grocery shopping or meal planning easier. There are several diets out there that have shown some promise in helping reduce flare-ups. I would deduce because they have an abundance of those foods that seem to lessen RA symptoms; the anti-inflammatory diet, Mediterranean diet, and the elimination diet. Personally, I would even add Paleo because it prioritizes fruits and vegetables.
Again think of these not as diets or restrictions but as guidelines; what foods should be in your kitchen and what yummy meals you can make with them. If you decide to make a change take note that you need to give yourself and your family time to transition. If you are used to consuming high amounts of processed foods and sugars then there will be a detox period if you are switching to more whole foods.
Have some dark chocolate covered nuts on hand so if you and your family are craving something sweet you can have a handful to curb to desire to grab something not so healthy. Drink plenty of water. And if you feel a little jittery, go for a walk or give yoga a try. Or if you feel agitated try deep breathing [breathing in for 4 counts- holding for 4 counts- and breathing out in for 4 counts]. Remember when trying to instill a better life style you have to not just get rid of the bad habits but replace them with something better.
Shut down the kitchen
There are several studies and nutritionists that agree but I also have personally experienced this little tidbit; eating in the evening leads to weight gain along with causing disturbances with your sleep cycle as well as your digestion system.
Giving yourself a cut-off time and closing down the kitchen until morning can help you lose weight as well as promote a good night’s sleep. Your body needs time to digest what you have eaten and convert it to energy. Any unused energy is then stored in fat cells, a “save for later” mentality if you will.
I noticed a positive change in my weight when I said no to late-night eating, my cut off was 6 pm due to my bedtime being between 8-9 pm. You have to evaluate your lifestyle to see what time would work for you but you want an hour or two to digest your meal before bedtime. So evaluate and plan accordingly.
It also is a good time to change how you look at meals, breakfast really is important and you don’t want to skip it. Unfortunately, I understand that most are usually rushing out the door to get to work, my husband always is. Perhaps prep ahead of time and make breakfast to go such as; breakfast burritos or breakfast sandwiches. All you have to do is heat them up and go. Perhaps make smoothie “packets” you can just blend quickly in the morning. Even just having a protein bar it doesn’t matter, the point is to at least eat in the morning. Decide what you like and run with it.
Lunch, instead of a light lunch rather than eating a salad, go hearty. Make lunch your biggest meal so you are full until dinner and you have the calories needed to make it through the afternoon. A hearty lunch means you can go lighter when it comes to dinner.
Now am I saying shut down the kitchen and don’t reopen no matter what? Absolutely not. If once in a while you find yourself hungry or you are staying later than usual please don’t cry and don’t let yourself go hungry. There are plenty of small snacks that are great for a late-night pick-me-up without messing you up.
- Popcorn
- Cheese and nuts
- Yogurt and fruit
- Peanut butter or honey to dip apples in
- Banana
- Peanut butter toast with banana
The key is to avoid sugary, fatty, processed or greasy foods.
Wrap up
There you are, some ways you can start your weight loss journey and find relief from RA. Each of these steps have worked for me throughout the years. I have occasionally found myself out of the habit especially during my pregnancies or when my husband was battling cancer.
The goal when first starting out is to just do what you can without overwhelming yourself. Don’t stress because you might not be doing “everything.” Give yourself some grace and some time. Please don’t stress out about the process, allow yourself time to learn and grow. When you have a handle on what you are doing then decide if more should be done. Take time to figure out what your goals are and what is realistic for you and your body as well as your family.
Take baby steps, commit, and keep moving forward. You will not see results tomorrow or even perhaps next week but the results will come.
References
Allen, J. (2015, August 24). Why eating late at night may be particularly bad for you and your diet. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/why-eating-late-at-night-may-be-particularly-bad-for-you-and-your-diet/2015/08/24/ad8b85ac-2583-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html
Amin, N., MD. (n.d.). The Best and Worst Foods for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://drneelaminmd.com/the-best-and-worst-foods-for-rheumatoid-arthritis-ra/
Ballantyne, S. (2017). Paleo principles: The science behind the paleo template, step-by-step guides, meal plans, and 200+ healthy & delicious recipes for real life. Las Vegas, NV: Victory Belt Publishing.
Bennington-Castro, J., Waldbieser, J., Upham, B., Sullivan, K., Weiss, K., & Patino, E. (n.d.). Rheumatoid Arthritis Diet: Everyday Health. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.everydayhealth.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/guide/diet/
Dumain, T. (2018, December 24). 12 Weight Loss Tips that Can Specifically Help If You Have Arthritis. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://creakyjoints.org/diet-exercise/weight-loss-tips-inflammatory-arthritis/
Gelman, L. (2018, November 14). This Is What Can Happen to Your Rheumatoid Arthritis When You Lose 76 Pounds. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://creakyjoints.org/living-with-arthritis/rheumatoid-arthritis-lose-76-pounds/
Jaret, P. (2014, March 31). The Arthritis Diet: How Excess Weight Damages Your Joints. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/features/weight-joint-pain
Jaret, P. (2014, March 31). The Arthritis Diet: How Excess Weight Damages Your Joints. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/features/weight-joint-pain
Killoran, E. (2020, January 03). Best Diet For Rheumatoid Arthritis. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.pritikin.com/best-diet-rheumatoid-arthritis
Rath, L. (n.d.). How Fat Affects Rheumatoid Arthritis. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/about-arthritis/related-conditions/other-diseases/how-fat-affects-rheumatoid-arthritis
