A healthy and varied diet would be linked to better health outcomes and new study from the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN), Hyderabad suggests a potential link between dietary quality and rheumatoid arthritis.
The case-control study found that adults newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis had less diverse diets, lower micronutrient adequacy, and diets with higher inflammatory potential compared to healthy adults.
However, the researchers stressed that the findings indicate an association, not a cause and effect relationship. Poor diet does not lead to rheumatoid arthritis, the study shows.
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What Did The ICMR-NIN Study Find?
The study included 615 adults between 18 and 55 years old, comprising 301 newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis cases and 314 healthy controls.
Researchers used the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) as one of the main measures of inflammatory potential of a person's diet.
The median DII score was 2.18 among the participants with rheumatoid arthritis, compared to 0.37 among healthy controls. A higher DII score suggests an inflammatory dietary pattern.
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The study also assessed dietary diversity. Only 50.2% of people with rheumatoid arthritis had a high dietary diversity score compared to 74.2% of healthy participants.
Micronutrient adequacy was also lower in the rheumatoid arthritis group. Median micronutrient adequacy was 18.9% among cases compared to 32.9% in controls.
The researchers found that each one-unit increase in the Dietary Inflammatory Index was associated with 17% higher odds of rheumatoid arthritis. On the other hand, increased dietary diversity was associated with lower odds of the condition.
Why Dietary Diversity Matters
A variety of diet generally means eating food from a variety of food groups and not just a few staples in a diet.
Foods provide vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein, etc. A more diverse diet can therefore be much easier to obtain a wider range of essential nutrients.
The ICMR-NIN research found that greater dietary diversity was associated with lower odds of rheumatoid arthritis. Similarly, better micronutrient adequacy was associated with lower odds of the disease.
This does not mean that eating one food can prevent rheumatoid arthritis. These results are only part of a growing body of research that considers how systemic dietary patterns may be related to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
ICMR-NIN is one of the leading Indian research institutions that are studying nutrition and related public health problems. Research on food composition, nutrient requirements and dietary advice is carried out in this institute.
What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks tissues in the joints. It can cause persistent inflammation, pain, swelling and stiffness and may eventually contribute to joint damage.
Unlike wear-and-tear arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease and can affect other parts of the body as well.
Diet is only one of many factors in health and disease. Genetics, immune responses, environmental factors, physical activity and other lifestyle factors can also play a role in rheumatoid arthritis development and progression.
So people should not take the study as evidence that just changing their diet alone can prevent or treat the disease.
What Can People Take From The Findings?
However, the study does support the importance of a balanced and diverse diet.
Dietary quality of food should include a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds and other nutrient-rich foods. Depending on individual preferences and diets, dairy products, eggs, fish or meat can be a bonus to one’s diet and be an important source of nutrients as well.
Reducing the reliance on highly processed food and eating well is a healthy eating behavior, a whole diet.
For someone who has already had rheumatoid arthritis, dietary changes should complement rather than replace medical treatment. Joint pain, swelling or stiffness in the morning should be treated by a healthcare professional.
The researchers themselves noted that the case-control design means the findings establish an association rather than causation. Future prospective and intervention studies will be needed to determine if improving dietary diversity, micronutrient adequacy and the inflammatory profile of the diet can actually influence rheumatoid arthritis risk or disease outcomes.
For now, the study is another reason to look beyond individual “superfoods” and instead, to the overall quality and variety of the diet. A balanced eating pattern may be an important part of general health, but rheumatoid arthritis is a complex disease and cannot be explained by diet alone.
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