How to avoid the worst foods for joint pain

Some foods help to fight disease, nourishing and healing you from the inside out. Others can do just the opposite, harming your body’s systems and making you sick in the long run.

For example, the foods on this list can increase system-wide inflammation and may worsen joint inflammation, which could lead to joint pain. Avoiding these foods can improve your overall health and may offer some benefit when it comes to joint pain, as well.

Inflammation and your joints

There are different types of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, and others. Each has its own list of symptoms, but most involve chronic inflammation, especially inflammation of the joints.

What’s inflammation? It’s your immune system’s natural response to injuries and infections. When you have a wound or an illness, it will activate cells in response that heal and deal with bacteria. The swelling, redness, and pain that develop around a scrape or cut are examples of healthy inflammation at work. They’re signs that immune cells and blood cells are gathering around the wound to rebuild your tissue and fight infections.

Sometimes the body triggers the inflammation response in normal, healthy tissues due to conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. General inflammation may also develop throughout your body because of lifestyle factors like sitting all day or eating ultra-processed foods. General inflammation can worsen chronic joint pain and put you at risk for other conditions like heart disease and diabetes, as well.

Avoid these inflammatory foods

Removing the following foods from your meal plan can improve your overall health and may help to ease your joint pain.

Surprisingly sugary foods

Some sugar is necessary in every diet. But high-sugar foods that cause an immediate spike in blood sugar, followed by a quick drop, can create system-wide inflammation. Are these foods part of your diet?

• Sweetened or flavored coffee drinks. Ask your barista to skip the flavored syrup, which may pack up to 25 teaspoons of sugar per beverage. That’s three times the daily recommended amount of sugar for adults. Instead, sprinkle in a small amount of a natural sweetener like stevia.
• Fruit juices from concentrate or ones with added sugar. Add a splash of juice to sparkling water for a refreshing swap.
• Condiments. Ketchup, barbeque sauce, and honey mustard are high in sugar. For example, 2 tablespoons of barbeque sauce may contain up to 16 grams.
• Some yogurts. Unprocessed Greek yogurt can be a calcium and protein-rich snack. But certain yogurts, especially those with fruit on the bottom, can be hidden sources of sugar, packing up to 30 grams per serving.

Always read the ingredients and nutrition facts label before buying condiments, yogurt, and other packaged foods. Look out for sugar “code words” like corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, and molasses.

Foods high in saturated fat

A number of studies have found that a diet high in saturated fat increases inflammation in both healthy tissues and adipose, or fatty tissues. That can cause tissue damage, increase your risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease, and may worsen joint pain.

Regular cheese and pizza are the top sources of saturated fat in the American diet, according to the National Cancer Institute. These foods contain large amounts as well:

• Lard, cream, and butter
• Red meats like beef, pork, and lamb
• Chicken with the skin on

Trans fats like those in red meat

Along with saturated fat, red meat is a natural source of trans fat. Trans fat used to appear as “partially hydrogenated oil (PHO)” on packaged food labels until it was permanently banned by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Here’s what you should know about trans fats. They:

• Decrease HDL, or “good” cholesterol and increase LDL, or “bad” cholesterol
• Raise your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, and stroke
• Promote system-wide inflammation, which may aggravate arthritis symptoms

For more information about joint pain and diet, speak with a healthcare provider (HCP). They can recommend foods to avoid—or focus on—based on your health, your wants, and your needs.