Curing Rheumatoid Arthritis – Removing the Causes
Over the three and a half plus decades in which I’ve had rheumatoid arthritis, the severity of my symptoms has varied greatly day by day, even hour by hour. Stress, weather, sleep, exercise all had an impact but I eventually discovered that my diet was the most powerful symptom-determining factor.
I had a low-level tooth/gum infection throughout this time which gradually became worse in more recent years to the point where it became a critical health issue and I had to get it treated. I had a course of powerful antibiotics which significantly reduced the infection and I later had the tooth removed and the socket cleaned. I now believe that this tooth infection set the stage for the development of my rheumatoid arthritis by releasing pathogenic bacteria over a long period of time and compromising my immune system. The combination of dietary triggers (via leaky gut) and the bacterial infection from the tooth caused and promoted my RA.
I came to realise many years ago that when I stopped eating (apart from filtered water) all my symptoms would reduce then disappear. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, I could only maintain this for a few days at a time. It was very ironic that eating (essential for survival) was actually killing me.
So, I began to experiment with my diet and spent many many years trying to isolate and identify the particular foods that were causing my symptoms (at this stage I wasn’t taking the tooth infection seriously). I subsequently read dozens of books on this specific subject, all very interesting but most of them contradictory.
Unfortunately, although I tried hundreds of times over a thirty odd year period I could never produce a diet that worked and still allowed me to be healthy. Drinking water and breathing fresh air just wasn’t enough :-)
I did manage to identify a number of foods (and food substances) which were particularly devastating to me, and I was very optimistic each time that removing these from my diet would cure my illness. Alas, no… I realised that there had to be some thing (or things) causing a reaction that I was eating all the time, no matter which diet variation I tried.
The problem was (still is) that in the real world I had to earn a living, run my company, take care of hundreds of things every day, every week… It was almost impossible to stick to any kind of test diet without drifting off slightly or becoming discouraged and giving up.
Whenever the stress increased, the accuracy of my dietary experiments would decrease. After working fourteen hours on my computer or on-site, it was difficult to avoid drinking a coffee or making a quick snack that wasn’t quite within my test limitations ;-)
The problem is, in my experience with rheumatoid arthritis, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are, how good your diet is, or how old you are, if you eat the wrong thing you become ill.
Ultimately I did develop a diet which effectively cured my rheumatoid arthritis for a period of several years, eventually however, my tooth infection gradually became worse and my diet was no longer enough to maintain remission. At this point I sought treatment for the infection and later had the tooth removed, but due to the infection and the antibiotic treatment I received, as well as mistakes made by several doctors; my RA became even more aggressive and destructive than before.
Since then I’ve been trying to recover for the second time and reach the point where I’m in remission again or effectively cured. This time around it’s been much more difficult and I’ve had to do a tremendous amount of work and research to achieve modest results for myself (so far). The reason I’m writing this is because I feel certain that the knowledge I’ve gained through this process will help fellow rheumatoid arthritis sufferers to reduce their symptoms, halt the progression of their disease, and hopefully in many cases reverse it. I know for myself, if I’d had this knowledge just five years ago I could have maintained my cure and stayed in remission, and avoided all of the subsequent suffering and wasted time. I’d be extremely happy if I could help even one other person to avoid my current situation.
At this point I’m going to update this page to reflect my current (as of 2018) diet and lifestyle which is based on everything I’ve learned and experienced since I originally wrote the content for this page. I’ll leave my original, earlier conclusions and RA diet cure below towards the end of this page. It was effective at the time and may be helpful for those who don’t want to adopt a fully whole food plant-based diet.
My Whole Food Plant-Based Anti-Rheumatoid Arthritis Diet (2018)
I now eat a whole food plant-based diet because prior to adopting this diet I wasn’t making any progress with my RA. My current diet is made up from the following whole food groups.
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Grains
- Fungii
I don’t eat any processed foods, fast foods, packaged foods, snack foods, cafe or restaurant foods or alcohol. I don’t eat anything with an ingredients list.
I don’t eat any added processed oils or fats.
I don’t eat any meat, dairy or any other animal products.
I’ve minimised my added salt intake to a maximum of 1.5 g per day, often I don’t have any added salt.
Likewise, I’ve minimised my added sugar intake to 5 g per day or less.
Currently, I take only two supplements; B12 and an algae derived DHA.
I drink plenty of filtered water.
I try to obtain around twenty minutes of sunshine each day when possible in order to obtain my D hormones.
I try to sleep seven hours each night starting before midnight when possible.
I aim to do at least forty-five minutes of cardiovascular exercise each day.
The summary above represents the base of my current anti-rheumatoid arthritis lifestyle and I’ve highlighted the most important components of it. It’s not an easy lifestyle to adopt but it is very simple, and based on current knowledge it’s by far the most health promoting and disease preventing lifestyle, not just in terms of rheumatoid arthritis but for all other chronic diseases.
To treat my rheumatoid arthritis I’m combining the above lifestyle with the identification and elimination of RA triggers. As I mentioned earlier it’s important to have a health promoting lifestyle as a base but for the treatment of RA it’s extremely important to remove inflammatory triggers.
For the majority of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers the most common inflammatory triggers are usually; dairy products, gluten-containing grains, nightshade vegetables, corn, trans-fats, saturated fat (especially animal fat), any highly processed so-called foods, cigarettes, alcohol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (speak with your medical practitioner before changing any medication), and citrus fruits. Regardless of specific triggers which vary from person to person, I believe in all cases of RA that dairy products should be removed from the diet immediately.
I’ve found that the best approach is to start with a very simple starch-based meal and eat that for a week and see if RA symptoms improve. The starch-based meal should be as simple as possible for example rice and broccoli with a little added sea salt, or buckwheat and Brussels sprouts with some added sea salt :-) as long as you obtain enough calories from the starch base and include some greens then this should form a safe starting point for the identification of food-based RA triggers. If symptoms calm down after eating this simple meal for about a week then individual new food items can be introduced one at a time for a period of two days each time, whilst monitoring symptoms. If you react badly to a particular food item, remove it again for a period of two days and then try a different food item. A highly nutritious and enjoyable diet can then be developed based on whole foods, diet which no longer triggers or aggravates RA symptoms.
I’m currently creating a number of recipes with photographs and videos which I will post here on this page to help fellow RA sufferers who want to trial my method of treating rheumatoid arthritis :-) in the meantime, I’ve provided quite a lot of information and tips in some of my more recent posts including explanations of why I think this approach offers the best chance of recovery.
My original (old) anti-rheumatoid arthritis diet can be found below, this is from 2009 but I prefer my new approach which I’ve described above (2018).
I Managed to Build a Safe Anti-Rheumatoid Arthritis Diet (2009)
As I explained in my ‘About Me‘ page; some time ago with some deduction and reasoning but mostly luck, I finally discovered some foods which were safe for me (at the time) :-)
So, here is the result of my initial twenty-eight years of study, research and experimentation. This worked for me, not just a bit, not just sometimes; it worked 100% as long as I stuck to the diet. However, it wasn’t easy and required stupid amounts of willpower. So if you are going to try this, then follow these instructions literally. If you’ve known the pain of arthritis, then you should be able to find the willpower to give it a go. You’ve nothing to lose (except maybe a few pounds in weight) and everything to gain :-) Also, keep an eye on my latest posts for more recent insights into RA and for my latest dietary changes.
Obviously, if you’re already on a very strict diet prescribed by your doctor, or if you suffer from another illness which a change in diet may adversely affect, then seek medical advice before making any changes. Then use common sense.
In my own experience, I would suggest trying this for one month if you can manage. If it’s going to work for you, you’ll know within this time. In fact, you should notice a difference within a day or so, but persevere anyway.
Foods and Other Substances Bad for Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Cigarettes.
- Alcohol.
- Illegal substances (I have to mention this, because many people use them and they will have an effect on the success of this solution).
- Junk food: burgers, fish and chips, curries, pizzas, fizzy drinks etc.
- Processed foods, ready meals, mixed foods, TV dinners, microwavable stuff etc.
- All fried food, all baked food, all grilled food. No cooked fat or oil whatsoever.
Stick to this diet and this diet only, nothing else literally, no tap water, no fruit drinks, no nibbles, no one off chocolates, no sips of your friend’s coffee, don’t even use toothpaste or gargle with mouthwash! You have to put only the following foods into your body and nothing else (apart from any essential prescribed drugs of course), ideally for a month.
If you’re taking pain killers or NSAIDS by your own choice, i.e. you decide when to take them to suit your pain levels, then try to reduce the quantity or frequency or remove them altogether after the first day, and see if you can manage without them.
Here Is the Diet That Removed the Symptoms of My Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Filtered water (use one of the many carbon filtering systems available).
- Organic tea (bags).
- Natural unrefined cane sugar.
- Soy milk (I initially used Sainsbury’s own brand, but subsequently switched to organic soy milk with D3).
- LoSalt, the actual brand name one, not an equivalent (later I switched to Himalayan Pink Salt).
- Black pepper – buy the peppercorns and grind your own, don’t use normal pepper powder.
- Extra Virgin, cold-pressed olive oil. Don’t use any other oil or fat, at all.
- Potatoes.
- Carrots.
- Parsnips.
- Swedes.
- Brussels sprouts.
- Cabbage.
- Broccoli.
- Bananas.
- Tinned tuna fish in spring water (only spring water!).
- Tomato puree (the bottled stuff made from tomatoes and more tomatoes!)
OK, that’s it. Make your tea with the filtered water, soy milk and unrefined sugar. Clean (but don’t peel) the vegetables and steam them using the method described below. Mix the tuna fish with olive oil, tomato puree, a little LoSalt and some black pepper, then blend it together. Put the steamed veg on a plate, put a little LoSalt, pepper and olive oil on them, and then empty the fish paste onto the veg and enjoy! Eat bananas as a snack, maybe two or three each day if you like.
It was actually quite nice, but I must admit after 2400 servings or so, it began to lose its appeal :-)
Steaming the Veg
Use a typical steaming arrangement (one of the many tiered pan sets that are available) or just use my method. I used a medium sized pan with a few centimetres of filtered water in the bottom, then I placed a colander type pan over this which contained the veg. I put the lid on the top, set the flame to a fairly low setting and let the boiling water do its job. Usually it took about twenty minutes or so. Watch that it doesn’t boil dry ;-) I did this many times!
Making the Fish Paste
Use a small hand blender if you have one, there’s less washing up to do later. Open a medium tin of tuna fish (in spring water!) and drain off the water as much as you can, you just want the fish. Empty the fish into the blender cup. Add about an egg cup full of olive oil (or less if you prefer). Pour some tomato puree in straight from the bottle, about two or three egg cups full. Add a little LoSalt and black pepper.
Screw the twizzy thing onto the blender cup and shake it up (it helps with the blending process). Then blend it until it becomes a smooth paste.
Final points
I just want to stress that the above list of foods is all that should pass your lips! Nothing else at all if possible. This is a perfectly healthy diet by any standards and you must try to manage on it if you want to give this a proper chance.
I have since found other food items which are OK for me and I am continuing to experiment. I will post the results here on my blog and I would appreciate it if you could do likewise for the benefit of other readers (myself included). You are welcome to comment at the foot of this page or on any relevant post.
Good luck, try your best and I sincerely hope it works for you too :-)
Ari says
Hi Brian, First off, thank you for sharing all of this rich information and for your courage in your pursuit of wellness. I am wondering if you’ve studied the possibility that food grade diatomaceous earth could ease pain and provide joint support for RA folks? I’m reading about it, looks a little too good to be true but I’m open to all possible treatment. Your thoughts?
Brian Darby says
Hi Ari, thanks very much and thanks for your comment.
Yes I tried diatomaceous earth for around six months but unfortunately in my case it didn’t help. However, I do believe it might be useful for removing certain parasites. Thanks for suggesting it though. In general I think the approaches with the most potential are the adoption of a whole foods plant-based diet (no added oil) and the antibiotic protocol (Minocin). Leaky gut and food sensitivities need to be addressed at the same time.
Maria says
Dear Brian, I found your blog while I was searching on Internet for alternative therapies for arthritis. I am 37 and I have 2 young boys. I was diagnosed a few months ago with psoriatic arthritis and the doctor told me to start straight away with medicine, methotrexate. I refuse taking these nasty chemicals into my body….since the last few weeks both my knees are swollen and my neck is very stiff. I’m reading your blog with great enthusiasm and I want to start your diet. I want to ask you what other food do you now eat in addition to the above mentioned? What are you having for breakfast for example? Any other tips? Looking forward for your reply!
Brian Darby says
Hi Maria, thanks for your comment sorry for the late reply.
I understand your sentiments, doctors treat symptoms and rarely if ever look for the cause of a disease or an illness. Like me, you’ve chosen to try to treat your arthritis in a natural way and to try and understand the cause. Whilst I can’t contradict medical advice or suggest anything that might interfere with your medical care, it does seem reasonable based on my own experience and my own personal opinion, to try to find the cause of your arthritis and to spend at least some time trying to remove that cause and heal yourself naturally.
In the early stages of arthritis there’s a much greater chance of identifying the cause or causes. The diet that I described in my blog is now quite old, although it was very successful for me I’ve learnt so much more since then.
I would suggest the following; for a month or two I would try to adopt a plant-based whole foods diet as much as possible. Try to cut out all junk food, all fast and processed food, avoid eating in cafes restaurants and takeaways, make all your own meals from fresh preferably organic ingredients, and when cooking try to minimise the damage to the food. Try to eat as much raw food as possible, salads fruit etc., when cooking use methods such as steaming, boiling and water frying. Avoid all types of trans-fats, try to minimise fat and oil intake as much as possible and try to use just extra virgin olive oil – when needed.
If possible, for perhaps one month avoid all forms of wheat and gluten, and all dairy products, as I mentioned above a plant-based diet would be ideal during this period.
If you follow this plan for at least one month you should see a major improvement in your symptoms. In answer to your question specifically; personally I eat lots of green vegetables, kale, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, along with sweet potato, salad vegetables such as lettuce and cucumber, and fruits such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and kiwi. For energy and starch I eat lots of beans, in particular butter beans (lima beans) and black beans. In addition to this you might find quinoa and amaranth and possibly buckwheat to be another useful source of starch and energy.
Most forms of arthritis often involve or are made worse by food sensitivities. For some people it can be just a case of avoiding dairy products for example, for other people avoiding gluten can resolve their arthritis, unfortunately for many people such as myself, there can be a number of food insensitivities occurring at the same time along with other causes, and this makes it more difficult. But in your case hopefully it will perhaps be just one thing that’s triggering your symptoms, the most likely would be trans-fats, if these are part of your current diet.
Hope this helps, I’d encourage you to read more online about plant-based diets helping with and often curing all types of arthritis problems. Also search for leaky gut and food insensitivities. I sincerely hope that you make a full recovery. Each of us must make a decision between pursuing our own solution to arthritis, and when and if to seek medical help. Again, my personal opinion would be to try for a month or so to see if you can improve your symptoms and find a possible cause and then once you’re improving, you could work with your doctors to keep them informed of your progress and they can help by providing test results and blood work to indicate objective, physical markers of improvement and not just subjective markers such as less pain and more freedom of movement. For example CRP, RF and ESR.
Linda Athens says
It’s 3AM and just found your site. I am 74, was diagnosed with RA and lupus at 28; told I would be in a wheelchair by 30. At 74 I am still going however slowly but I mow, dig, just cut a large tree branch down (yes, it took three tries during an 8 hour period, but I got it done). And I am raising an 11 year old Granddaughter whose Mom dumped her and have her Father, who is a big time, many years addict so life isn’t that simple for me.
Along the way, I discovered what I really had also was osteoarthritis as in a dozen herniated discs, now both shoulders are frozen which I simply ignore. And both knees are so shot right now, I fall frequently – just recovering from a bad fall where I splatted on concrete. And after a severe heat stroke some 30 years ago, I was left with severe thyroid problems which affect me constantly and probably go on into adrenal problems and more.
Here is what I once discovered after years of pain. A kindly young Dr in TX tried something on me he discovered after trying it on patients with MS with fantastic results. He gave me a double shot of B12 on Mondays and a single shot on Fridays. He did this for some months and unbelievably, ever single pain left my body. I simply had NO ARTHRITIC PAIN IN ME and even better, I had energy that wouldn’t quit. It was wonderful. After about 4 months, we stopped to see what would happen. . I stayed well but as months went by, started getting arthritis pain again. Unfortunately, the young Dr. died and noone else would try the B-12 shots. I tried giving them to myself but it didn’t work well because I had trouble at that time even getting the B-12.
And my life was always complicated, at that point had to take in my Mother with Alzheimer’s for some 12 years, another grandchild, an alcoholic brother who needed help, etc, etc and we ran a business at the same time so not much time for SELF. At some point, after 42 years of marriage, my husband dumped me, left town and never returned, leaving me with nothing so at 60 I started over back in my home state. You have to always wonder what part stress has to do with these illnesses.
I now am on an arthritis diet that includes a lot of vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc, fruits such as grapes, cherries – I have already been off gluten for some 30 years but make gluten free toast with ground ginger and cinnamon on it and basically, I eat lean meat and tons of salad, take colloidal liquid minerals, Vitamin D for a deficiency they discovered, tons of Vitamin C and B vitamins and exercise slowly, in the water when I am able. Once, when my knees were so bad, I had difficulty waiting on my window at work, I went into manipulation therapy on the knees – simple exercise and again, like a miracle, my knee swelling and pain went down and even the ciatic nerve pain in my lower back left.
So over the years, I do whatever I have to to try to keep going with the twelve herniated discs I live with and have to say, physically, I have accomplished a lot including refinishing furniture, painting walls, gardening like a crazy woman.
Keep on keeping on guys – read the latest arthritis natural treatment books and keep trying until something works for you. Me, I am pissed now and intend, before I die, to be completely arthritis free. :)
Brian Darby says
Hi Linda thanks for your comments and thanks for sharing your story.
I’m so sorry to hear about your struggle with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, you have so much on your plate it must be very difficult to cope, I can’t imagine how hard it is for you.
I understand, I’ve found that osteoarthritis often follows on from long-term rheumatoid arthritis and as you say it seems to affect the spine the knees and the shoulders in particular. I’m sorry to hear about your thyroid problems, thyroid and adrenal issues often occur in people with rheumatoid arthritis. The adrenals and the thyroid are interdependent and chronic inflammation has a powerful negative effect on their function and balance.
Wow that’s an amazing discovery I’m so glad that you were able to find a solution and some relief using B12 injections, it’s really sad that your doctor passed away and I’m sorry that you weren’t able to continue the treatment. I really appreciate you sharing this information as it will be extremely interesting to our readers. There’s a direct connection between B12 and proper thyroid function and a poorly functioning thyroid, particularly an underactive thyroid, can produce symptoms almost identical to rheumatoid arthritis. I think many people who are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus or psoriatic arthritis are actually suffering from low thyroid function. It might be worth supplementing with B12, at least if you supplement on a regular basis you might be able to maintain some of the benefit that you received from the injections. I’m currently supplementing with 500 micrograms of B12 in the form of both methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin.
Again I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve had so many problems in your life and had to take care of so many people. There’s no doubt that these huge stresses would contribute to your illnesses. Stress has a direct effect on the thyroid, and it can also lead to increased inflammation and pain sensitivity. Chronic stress also depletes B vitamins for example, and creates a much higher demand for other essential nutrients.
You’ve certainly created a good diet to help treat your rheumatoid arthritis. Exercise is so important, much more important than I once thought. I’m also exercising my knees in a similar way but I use a recumbent exercise bicycle. It’s good to hear that the manipulation therapy is working for you that’s something I haven’t tried yet but I have found that massage and stretching exercises work for me.
You’ve overcome so much, and accomplished so much, it’s very inspiring. Although my journey has not been as difficult as yours, I can understand some small part of what you’ve been through and how difficult it is to deal with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. I agree with your last statement 100%. As you say, I would urge everyone reading this to continue trying to find a cure, never give up, keep searching, keep learning and eventually you will find a solution. Linda, I’m sure you will succeed in your goal to be completely arthritis free – as soon as possible I hope :-)
Marisa De More says
Linda,
That’s very interesting that the B12 shots worked. It sounds as though you were deficient. Did you know you can buy B12 spray from the health shops? You don’t always need injections to rectify a deficiency. Taken together with folate and B6 it’s a miracle cure for many who’ve been misdiagnosed. I’m not sure whether Brian on this blog will let me post the name of a book (I’m not selling the book, Brian, I’ve just been researching it myself for chronic fatigue). Here it is: “Could it Be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses” by Sally Pacholok. There’s also a free film on You Tube which tells Sally’s story. One doctor called Dave Carr was written off as having a chronic neuro-degenerative disorder which left him paralysed with dementia and sat in diapers. It turned out he had a Vit B12 deficiency which caused his brain to shrink. They gave him shots and he’s back at work, working as a pediatrician now! They left it so late to diagnose that he’s suffered irreparable nerve damage, he’s on crutches now, but he doesn’t have dementia and he’s fully continent. This is fantastic news. I love this saying – you can have the greatest message in the world but if nobody hears it, it remains the greatest UNKNOWN message in the world. The message about B12 deficiency needs to get out, if some people are misdiagnosed as having RA then this could be an answer for them. Oh yes, Vit B12 is hard to digest especially for people with immune problems or gut problems – hence, you can eat as much organ meat and shell fish as you wish, but if your body can’t process the B12 content, you’ll end up deficient. Best wishes to you all. Marisa
Brian Darby says
Hi Marisa, I know your comment is for Linda but I just wanted to agree with you 100% about the importance of B12 and to thank you for your valuable information :-)
Eduardo C says
Hi Brian, I am glad to hear that you have managed to control your RA with a diet. It really motivates me.
RA has been in my family, my father has struggled with it for decades and I have had it for a few years. I have read the results of a study about fasting and RA and I have been experimenting with my diet since. I did manage to stop my medication for a couple of months now, but I still have morning stiffness and some inflammation.
I have a clean diet with lots of greens and fruits and I avoid processed foods. I have completely remove grains as it seemed to be a trigger for me, but my main struggle is with my protein intake. The last time that I had tried to reduce animal protein I lost too much weight and I felt weak, so I still eat chicken, eggs/egg whites and drink goat milk.
I am going to eliminate chicken from my diet and try to find a reliable source for fish.
What are your thoughts on eggs and goat milk?
Thanks and all the best.
Brian Darby says
Hi Eduardo, thanks for your kind comment and interesting story.
It’s great to hear that you’re improving your diet and I can confirm that fasting is very effective too. Well done for increasing veg and fruit and for avoiding processed foods! You can get all the protein you need from plant sources (tempeh, beans, quinoa, hemp, amaranth, broccoli etc.) but if you feel you need meat then I would suggest only (wild) fish for a while. In my experience, chicken is the worst possible food for rheumatoid arthritis, for me it causes crippling pain within an hour of eating. All milk should be avoided too for a while just to see if your symptoms improve. Pastured, organic eggs can be ok for many people with RA but could still be avoided for a short while to check your symptoms.
I would also suggest looking for other problems that may be contributing to your RA for example leaky gut, parasites, teeth/gum infections etc. I wrote this article as a general outline, it might help a bit How to Avoid Rheumatoid Arthritis and Many Other Chronic Diseases.
All the best to you too Eduardo, I hope your health has improved since you posted your comment.
Charo Widner says
Hi Brian,
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I have had RA for 15 years now. Medications were not the route for me. I am partially disabled but continue to fight this beast.
Yes I agree with you that diet can help control RA.
My question to you is, have you made the connection of wheat and RA?
I am finding more and more stories of people regaining their health by not eating gluten or wheat.
I am curious to see what you think about that.
Keep up the good work. God bless!
Charol
Brian Darby says
Hi Charol,
Thanks for your comment. I’m sorry to hear about your struggle with RA and your disability, I’m also sorry for my late reply but I hope things have improved for you since your comment was posted.
In answer to your question, yes wheat and some other grains affect my RA. People with leaky gut seem to be more at risk but all RA sufferers should probably avoid wheat, and other grains that are known to contribute to intestinal permeability. The most credible researcher in this field is Dr Fasano, you might find this video interesting intestinal permeability and autoimmunity.
Thanks again for your comment, God bless you too Charol.