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Page 7
Food and Arthritis
Of all the ''natural'' approaches to the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory illnesses, the most widely used is diet. Though most American physicians still discount their patients' observations that certain foods seem to cause swelling and inflammation, American researchers have begun to confirm what is common medical knowledge in other countries, and their reports in medical journals document the links between diet and inflammatory illness.
Dava Sobel and Arthur C. Klein published an extensive report of arthritis-related research in their book Arthritis: What Works, citing studies in which physicians measured significant joint swelling (as much as two ring sizes in fingers), pain, loss of grip strength, reduced range of motion and other symptoms of inflammation within hours of the patient's consumption of key foods.
One connection between joint pain and diet is obvious: most arthritis patients are overweight. Excess weight puts increased stress on weight-bearing joints such as knees and ankles, making movement even more painful than it would be otherwise. It is difficult for anyone on America's high-fat, low-fiber, refined

 
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