Vegan diet relieves pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

During the study, 44 adults previously diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were assigned to one of two groups for 16 weeks. The first group followed a vegan diet for four weeks, with the elimination of additional foods for three weeks, then reintroduction of the eliminated foods individually over nine weeks. No meals were provided, and participants handled their own food preparation and purchases, with guidance from the research team. The second group followed an unrestricted diet but were asked to take a daily placebo capsule, which had no effect in the study. Then the groups switched diets for 16 weeks.

During the vegan phase of the study, DAS28 decreased 2 points on average, indicating a greater reduction in joint pain, compared to a decrease of 0.3 points in the placebo phase. The average number of swollen joints decreased from 7.0 to 3.3 in the vegan phase, while that number actually increased from 4.7 to 5 in the placebo phase. For those who completed the study, VAS ratings also improved significantly in the vegan phase, compared with the placebo phase.

The vegan diet also led to greater decreases in DAS28 in a subanalysis that excluded individuals who increased medications during the study and another subanalysis limited to participants making no medication changes.

In addition to reductions in pain and swelling, body weight decreased by about 14 pounds on average on the vegan diet, compared with a gain of about 2 pounds on the placebo diet. There were also greater reductions in total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol during the vegan phase.

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10.1177/15598276221081819