Is diet beneficial for arthritis?
The gastrointestinal system is the main entry for foreign materials (foods) into the human body and the main transitory route for an enormous mass of microorganisms and products of their activity in the form of feces. Food and microbial products are the main stimulants of the immune system and the main external regulator of various metabolic pathways. Accordingly, composition of the consumed food can influence immune responses and inflammatory processes leading to the development of distinct forms of arthritis. Reversely, various types of arthritis are associated with frequent pathological changes in the intestine and colon. The role of specific diet in therapy of such forms of arthritis as gout, pseudogot, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and gluten-associated arthritis is a well accepted fact. Dietary interventions in some other forms of arthritis or autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome and osteoarthritis are still poorly defined. The
