Fasting for Arthritis Relief

In the late 1990's a Norwegian researcher tracked the year-long improvement of a group of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferers who began their treatment with a 7 to 10 day fast. This was not an absolute fast, but a modified fast that allowed beet, carrot, and parsley juices, a watery potato soup, and herbal teas. Dr. Jens Kjeldsen-Kragh of the Ullevaal University Hospital in Oslo had long experience with RA patients getting better through diet, and he hoped a modified fast would kick-start their improvement and make it easier to stick to a less restricted diet for an entire year.

In this scientific study of fasting for RA, fasting was not a miracle cure, but it was very helpful. Before the patients went on their fast, the average of reported morning stiffness lasted three hours. After the fast, morning stiffness was down to an average of one hour. But even as the RA trial participants added more and more foods back to their diet over the course of a year, morning stiffness only increased to an average of 90 minutes a day.

Why should fasting relieve arthritis? The answer probably lies in the immune system.

Boosting the immune system is detrimental in rheumatoid arthritis, because the tissue damage caused by this form of arthritis is due to over activity of the immune system. More specifically, an important factor in rheumatoid arthritis may be an overreaction to infection with the microorganisms Proteus mirabilis.

This microorganism a common component of the human bowel contents and a common cause of urinary tract infections. There is a sequence of amino acids on its surface, glutamic acid, glutamine, arginine, arginine, alanine, and alanine, that is also found on human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a trigger for T cells to destroy tissues.

Proteus sends this protein into the bloodstream, and triggers an immune response. The tissue destruction is minimal, however, as long as the bloodstream keeps “washing” the proteins away. In the joint, the protein is trapped and the immune system “revs up” to destroy what appears to be an infection, only it is healthy tissue.

Fasting deprives the immune system of the energy it needs to fight this supposed invader. A similar effect is achieved by vegetarian diet. Less protein in the system weakens the immune response, an immune response that causes the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis.