I have a considerable amount of aches and pains. 50 + years of an active lifetstyle has iuncluded a lot of old injuries. My knees, ankles, wrist and shoulder have all been injured a few times and I'm pretty sure at least some of the pain I'm now experiencing in these joints is arthritis.

My vegetarian brother who has been anti Atkins for a long time lately has ben telling me that I should try vegetarian eating for arthritis pain relief. If it wasn't for the fact that I need to lose weight.. a method I know will help at least my lower body symptoms.. I might be tempted to give it a go.

Aside from the obvious benefits of losing weight, can anyone share his or her experiences with osteo arthritis and low carbing? Any one familiar with any studies or research?

Any personal experience?

Any and all replies will be appreciated! Thanks!

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"Failure is not an option" ~ me


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I've had osteoarthritis for many years and the worst time was just prior to my starting this way of eating. Certainly losing a third of my former self had to have been a relief to my lower extremities and back, but I've had considerably less pain all over for the last 10 plus years.

The weight loss alone couldn't have had this beneficial effect on my hands and wrists. I suspect that the anti-inflammatory properties of a healthy low carb diet must be a contributing factor. I've seen some research to that effect the links to which are on my older computer which is in the shop at the moment. When (if) I get that back, I'll pass on the info.

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Gregg, I also have arthritis, have had for many years (osteo), in both knees, my lower back, and my hands.

Losing 80+ lbs did help, but so did eating low carb. Even after losing that weight (and I still have a lot to go), I had extreme difficulty if I had to walk a long distance, or stand for an extended period of time. As I've stuck to low carb, even without losing much of anything, my arthritis has improved tremendously. A few years ago, when we did our big WalMart shopping trip, my legs hurt so bad that my husband had to do the checkout so I could sit. Now I can do that big shopping trip, by myself, do the checkout, load the stuff into the car, unload it when I get home, and put it all away, without those major pains I used to get.

No, the arthritis didn't magically disappear, and my weight, although quite high, has been fairly stable for the past couple of years, so the improvement isn't due to more weight loss. I attribute it to getting enough protein, eating fat, and staying away from the foods that can cause inflammation - carbs.

I still get flares, especially when the weather changes, but a dose of ibuprofen usually takes care of it.

I also take ginger, which has both anti-inflammatory properties, and is the best way to control motion sickness, which I am extremely prone to.

Gregg, I am convinced that, if I had not been following a low carb plan the past few years, my arthritis would be unmanageable.

HTH

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Nita

Losing weight will help. But I have been low carbing since 2002 and haven't noticed my pain increasing(osteo in my fingers mainly).

I find that a good fish oil supplement(omega 3) and glucosamine/chondroitin daily have helped.

I will be 54 this May and walk and jog about 20+ miles a week.

I have it really bad in my knees. Since I started eating this way in December it hasn't gone away, but it is not as bad. I have hope that it will go away. Like Nita, I could not shop in my Walmart super store any longer. Now I finally went there the other day and went from one end to the other with no problems. I have started doing many things now that I was not doing due to the pain. I wasn't sure if it is due to the fact that I am not eating any processed foods or any sugar or just getting more protein and fresh vegetables. Or maybe it is all of them together. I had thought of going to the vegetarian diet before I found Atkins........all I can say is that I am so happy I did not. I love my meat!

katlupe

Thanks for the responses guys. I think I was lured by the sensational claims that I could feel better than I ever had in my life if I would do a vegan detox diet and a juice fast... eating no animal protein and going all organic and raw. While it seems plausible that eating this way could have health benefits, I have to consider what's workable as a long term strategy.

It might be something I'll consider down the road. Right now, for me, getting my weight down is priority #1. I've been side tracked in the past from my low carb woe. But always come back to it when I need to lose weight again. When I reach goal and if I am still bothered by arthritis, I might give it a go.

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"Failure is not an option" ~ me


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My first post.
Greg I've dealt with lyme disease for many years and the doctor tells me any autoimmune diease will do better on low carb. These diseases feed on sugars and lot of bad carbs. I know I don't hurt near as bad if I stay on low carb.
Susan

Gregg, I have fibromyalgia, which is an arthritis like condition, and osteo arthritis in my hands. I have read the promises in the vegan books about the pain going away on a strict vegan diet. I tried for quite a few years to eat vegan and waited patiently for the miracle to happen. It never did. I didn't lose weight, and my fibro pain only increased. In the fall I went low carb, actually it was the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that got me started on the low carb lifestyle, and that was for my intestinal problems. (I'm a mess!) So I did that for a few months and felt much better. Then Christmas came along and I bent the rules, more and more as the holiday season went into full swing. By the time January got here I could barely walk, my legs hurt so bad. They even hurt when I was sitting still. It took me a while to get back into low carbing, I wavered a bit and went back and forth between the two (vegan and low carb) until I finally figured out that low carb made the pain lessen, I had more energy, and no more episodes of hypoglycemia from all the rice, oats and potatoes on the vegan. Plus I was constantly hungry on the vegan diet. Going low carb has made a huge difference for me in so many ways. I do think the vegan diet has its benefits, but it doesn't work for me the way they say it does for other people.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience buff! I've also read that cancer cells need glucose to grow. Amazing stuff.

Thanks for the post Anniriki! It was my experience early on that my arthritis benefitted from LC, but lately since it had gotten worse, I was tempted to believe the hype comming from the vegan crowd claiming that my arthiritis would disappear.

It's really good to hear about your experience as it seems there is very little scientific evidence to indicate arthritis is affected one way or the other by diet.

What I noticed helped me was taking large amounts of fish oil..6 caps a day made a noticeable difference.

Thanks gals for relating your experiences!

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"Failure is not an option" ~ me


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I want to second Annariki's post. I've tried to eat vegetarian a few times and always lose my strength. I would have so much pain in my back and knees. My knees especially need animal protein. After being on vegan one time I got out of the car, started to walk into the store and both of my knees just gave out on me. I went down and got skinned knees through my jeans. This past 2 weeks I started low carb again and felt energy coming back quickly. It's wonderful and I am through with vegetarian. My nerves are calmer, I'm not hungry, my blood sugar is even. So many benefits. My husband is getting his strength and energy back also.

Can someone help me please that knows their way around the site. I tried to get on this afternoon and it said I am banned from the forums. I haven't done anything wrong or said anything wrong I am just sick over this but don;t know how to get it changed. This post and I have posted on PatTee's Garden is the only thing I have posted on. I would so appreciate you contacting an adminastrator and seeing what my problem is because I can't get into the site. This was sent to my email and it was the only way I could get in. Thank you so much. Susan