Anyone who suffers from any kind of chronic inflammation can relate to the pain and discomfort that comes when joints stiffen and swell. Not only is it uncomfortable, but it makes even the most mundane tasks like picking up a pen or taking a walk, difficult to get through. Unfortunately, this isn’t all that uncommon. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 5 adults in the United States suffer from doctor-diagnosed arthritis.
For some people, inflammation is hard to prevent, but there are little things we can do to ensure joint pain doesn’t rear its ugly head anytime in the near future. Studies have shown that certain foods can have anti-inflammatory effects. These kinds of foods are things like olive oil, nuts, and fatty fish. On the same note, there are foods that can contribute to inflammation in the body. Some of these foods won’t be that surprising as they’re pretty unhealthy already on their own, but others might! Here are some examples of foods that may lead to joint pain…
1. Tomatoes
This one might come as a surprise because tomatoes are usually thought of as anti-inflammatory, but according to Prevention, they can actually make inflammation worse when it comes to one specific type of arthritis called gout. When it comes to gout, tomatoes can trigger joint pain. The source refers to research from a study that surveyed 2,051 people who suffer from gout and found that a whopping 20-percent experienced worse inflammation after eating tomatoes. “They then analyzed data from 12,720 people who did not have gout and found that eating tomatoes increased the levels of uric acid found in their blood,” writes the source.
So what is it about tomatoes that causes joint pain for people with gout? Prevention explains that the foods high uric acid content is the underlying cause. The source also states that people can still eat tomatoes if they have gout, they should just try to cut back and take a uric acid-reducing drug to help relieve the symptoms.
