Food allergies and RA??

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http://www.arthritis.org/ra-and-food-allergies.php

" Rheumatoid Arthritis and Food Allergies

A new study suggests that food allergies may be linked to RA, after

all.

By Lynn Mann

If you've thought your joints felt achy after a meal, only to doubt

yourself after hearing that no evidence links food allergies to

rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you are not alone. Until now there has

been little evidence to support this connection.

Most studies have focused on antibodies (proteins that attack and

destroy foreign substances) in the blood, but that focus may have

been wrong. Food-related antibodies may not show up in the blood but

in the gut of people with RA, and that's just where researchers at

the University of Oslo, Norway, looked.

They found that, in test tubes at least, the intestinal fluid of

people with RA had higher levels of antibodies to proteins from

cow's milk, cereal, hen's eggs, codfish and pork than that of people

without RA.

" The gut is the first site of exposure to food, and the immune

system in the gut is the first to recognize potential allergens, "

says Brostoff, DM, professor of allergy and environmental

health at Kings College London.

Food allergies occur when your immune system mistakenly believes

that something you ate is harmful. To protect you, the immune system

produces immunoglobulin E – also called IgE antibodies – against

that food. The antibodies set off a chain reaction that causes

symptoms.

In some people, the antibodies and proteins bind together and form

immune complexes in the intestine. These immune complexes then

circulate and get into every nook and cranny of the body, including

the joints, where they may contribute to inflammation, says Dr.

Brostoff. Once antibodies are made against a particular food, the

body instantly recognizes that food the next time it is consumed,

and the cycle begins again.

So what should you do if you think certain foods make your RA worse?

Keep in mind that this study is preliminary, and it looked at

results only in test tubes. The researchers withdrew intestinal

fluid from the participants and then added the proteins to the fluid

in the lab; participants didn't actually eat the suspect foods. So

unknowns remain. But if you think you are sensitive to certain

foods, Dr. Brostoff suggests trying an elimination diet.

" Try eating the standard Stone Age diet, which includes only fruit,

vegetables, meat and fish, for one month, " he says. Studies have

shown that if a person is food-sensitive, this type of diet can help

reduce morning stiffness and pain, improve range of motion and lower

inflammatory mediators in the blood.

In fact, Dr. Brostoff did an experiment and found that more than one-

third of people with RA felt better and had less morning stiffness

on this diet. " We had one or two patients who, after one or two

months, were so much better they could go walking and do all the

things they could do before, " he says.

The next step is to reintroduce the foods, one at a time. " The only

way of knowing if you are sensitive to a food is to eliminate it and

then add it back, " Dr. Brostoff says. "

blessings,

Ebony