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Research shows there is a connection between rheumatoid arthritis
and food intolerances. This reinforces the findings of Charles de
Coti-Marsh, who undertook pioneering research into the causes and
treatment of arthritis. He was convinced that what we eat plays
a major part in the development of many chronic conditions, including
arthritis.
If you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis you may be interested to
know that there is a connection between this and food intolerances,
in particular, allergy to wheat or dairy foodstuffs.
In a report from the UK Medical Research Council in 2001, it was
stated that there is evidence from both case reports and controlled
studies that an individualised diet, where offending foods are identified
and removed, can cause an improvement in rheumatoid arthritis.
What we are talking about here is an elimination diet: removing
virtually all the foods which might be causing symptoms, to determine
whether symptoms improve, and then re-introducing food one at a
time to identify which are causing the symptoms.
An example of this is described by consultant rheumatologist Dr
Gail Darlington in a study published in 1986. She undertook a controlled
study of 6 weeks of dietary manipulation therapy in 53 rheumatoid
arthritis (RA) patients. During the first week the patients were
only allowed to eat foods they were unlikely to be intolerant to.
Other food items were then introduced one at a time to see whether
any symptoms were elicited by the dietary challenge. Foods producing
symptoms were then excluded from the diet. There were significant
improvements in the exclusion diet group in comparison to the placebo
diet group.
Darlington went on to complete further clinical trials and in 1993
published a table of foods most likely to cause intolerance in patients
with RA. The top five were corn, wheat, bacon/pork, oranges and
milk.
None of this would have been surprising to Charles de Coti-Marsh,
who undertook pioneering research into the causes and treatment
of arthritis in the 1940s and 1950s. His findings convinced him
that 'disease begins in the bowel', in other words, what we eat
plays a major part in the development of many chronic conditions,
including arthritis.
De Coti-Marsh treated patients by using what he called the 'Sanocell
System.' Judging the amount of toxic compounds (or food antigen)
he believed to be present within that food, based on observation
and case histories, he gave each food a value of 1-200, 200 being
the most toxic to the body. His patients were given a Home Treatment
Programme to follow, and at each stage of progress they were allowed
to include in the diet all the foods below a certain number. Foods
categorised by a higher number were not allowed. This was the elimination
phase. As patients progressed, the Sanocell System allowed for the
re-introduction of certain foods. It was an individualised diet,
supervised by de Coti-Marsh himself.
Since the death of Charles de Coti-Marsh his Home Treatment for
arthritis continues to be promoted by The Arthritic Association.
As scientific knowledge has progressed, so The Arthritic Association
has presented its Home Treatment Programme for Arthritis in the
context of scientific literature; investigated and ratified by the
medical profession. As such, the charity's health programme has
now been acknowledged to be a largely self-administered intervention
based on the three areas of diet, supplementation and physical therapy.
If you would like to know how the Home Treatment programme can
help you, please visit our website or call our Freephone number
0800 652 3188.
Elizabeth Hartland,
Nutritional Therapist,
The Arthritic Association
http://www.arthriticassociation.org.uk/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Arthritic Association (http://www.arthriticassociation.org.uk/)
is a UK registered charity dedicated to helping relieve people from
the pain of arthritis through natural methods.
Article Source: ArticlesFactory.com:
Food intolerance and rheumatoid arthritis
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