Effects of a low calorie vegan diet on disease activity and general conditions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]

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Effects of a low calorie vegan diet on disease activity and general

conditions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis]

[Article in Japanese]

Fujita A, Hashimoto Y, Nakahara K, Tanaka T, Okuda T, Koda M.

Clinical Research Laboratory, Sunstar Co. Ltd., Takatsuki.

There is little objective information about diet therapy for rheumatoid

arthritis (RA) in Japan. We studied 14 patients with RA who stayed in

the Koda hospital for 55 days. They basically took a 1200 kcal vegan

diet consisting of unpolished rice gruel, juice of raw vegetables, soya

bean curd and sesame seeds, and undertook a 3-5-day fast three times.

During the 55-day stay, average body weight decreased by 5.1kg. Lansbury

index and ESR decreased whereas CRP did not change. WBC decreased and

the differential cell counts showed a decrease of neutrophils,

eosinophils and monocytes without a change in lymphocytes or basophils.

RBC, hemoglobin and MCV increased. LDL-C decreased, while HDL-C

increased. There was no change in total protein or albumin. These data

suggest that this combination of a low calorie vegan diet and fasting

may contribute to improve RA with little undesirable effects on the

patient's general conditions.

Publication Types:

* Clinical Trial

PMID: 10434573 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]