Does A Gluten Free Diet Help Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune Diseases? + FREE Food and Symptom Printable
Does a gluten-free diet help rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases? Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis patient for 15+ years and a blogger for the past 5, I get asked this question a lot and I am here to offer you my experience with figuring out if a gluten-free diet helps Rheumatoid Arthritis and autoimmune diseases. I’ve even included a FREE Food and Symptom Daily Tracker at the bottom of this post so you can determine how your diet impacts YOUR body.
Now I’m only speaking from MY personal experience, I am NOT a doctor and my opinion does not replace professional medical advice. Your experience may, and likely will, be different than mine as it seems no two RA or autoimmune disease patients are exactly the same. The bottom line? It is definitely worth a try to see if a gluten-free diet helps alleviate your pain and symptoms from your autoimmune disease. You might be astonished at the results, like I was.
Note: This post contains affiliate links as indicated by an asterisk. Purchases from these links provides a small commission to me at no extra cost to you. In addition, I am not a medical professional and this does not constitute medical advice. I am only sharing my personal experience as an RA patient with you. See my full Privacy Policy and Disclaimers here.
Does a Gluten-Free Diet Really Help Rheumatoid Arthritis?
So does a gluten-free diet help Rheumatoid Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases? As my tax professor in college said, the answer to every tax question is “it depends.” And I think the same is totally true for questions about Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
When I first heard that a gluten-free diet could help my RA symptoms a few years ago, I was totally skeptical. First, I didn’t think I could give up breads, pastas and baked goodies to find out if it helped. I have three underweight boys who honestly need the carbs to put on weight. Second, I really didn’t think food had a connection to my pain. I didn’t understand the scientific connection between my gut health and this disease. Truth is, I really hoped that a gluten-free diet wouldn’t work so I wouldn’t have to give up gluten and complicate my life any more than it already is.
So I tried a gluten-free diet half-heartedly. I didn’t read labels and completely eliminate gluten from my diet. I didn’t give the diet a long enough trial. I gave the gluten-free diet a shoddy effort and not surprisingly, nothing changed in my pain or symptoms.
But I happened across The Autoimmune Solution: Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases* by Dr. Jan Myers in the library one day. I had never seen a book catered to autoimmune diseases and written by a doctor who is also an autoimmune patient. One of my biggest complaints about my former rheumatologist is she had no idea how it felt to deal with the physical pain, fears and mental depression that the chronic nature of autoimmune diseases can have.
But Dr. Myers, the author of The Autoimmune Solution*, did understand. Within a chapter, I realized that this doctor put down on paper all the deepest, darkest fears I had in my head that I don’t say out loud. I could relate to what she was saying. I cried as we tend to do when someone finally “gets” us.
More than just the emotional connection, Dr. Myers laid out precisely how gut health impacted our immune systems. It made me realize how many of my health problems (rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, asthma, acne and dandruff) related to my immune system’s response to the food I was eating. I knew now I had to give a gluten-free and elimination diet a better try to decide once and for all if it would help my pain and so many aspects of my health. I owed it to my boys and to myself to figure this out once and for all.
Now Dr. Myers’ recommended a diet that not only eliminates gluten but eliminates dairy, refined sugar, corn, soy, tomatoes and nightshade vegetables. That being said, it’s overwhelming to try and eliminate everything at once as Dr. Myers suggests. She does give menu plans and recipes to accomplish this diet but I knew my kids wouldn’t go for it. Now Dr. Myers has an Autoimmune Solution Cookbook* with gorgeous photos and recipes to help you stick to the diet she suggests.
A nutritionist I saw soon after recommended that I eliminate the three biggest triggers first (refined sugar, dairy and gluten) and see how it impacted my pain before eliminating other food groups. She suggested that I give up all 3 in the beginning and add back a group at a time after 2 months to see how my symptoms change.
During those 6ish months, I read every label of every item I bought to make sure I was avoiding sugar, dairy and gluten. It’s shocking really to read nutrition labels and find out how much added sugar and preservatives are in most of the things we buy.
I kept a wellness bullet journal where I tracked everything I ate and drank, how much I slept, what my morning pain was, the weather when I woke up, my pain levels throughout the day, my hormonal cycle, anything and everything that would help me figure out the connection between my food intake and how my body responded. It didn’t matter how minor it was, I wrote it down. Here’s how I started incorporating my health tracking into my planner.
The Results
Within 2 weeks of eliminating sugar, dairy and gluten, I felt like a new person. No lie. My skin cleared up of it’s acne, which I have struggled with since puberty. I didn’t need my inhaler for my asthma due to allergies. I had tolerable morning pain. I had more energy to keep up with my active boys in the summer. My premenstrual cramps disappeared (seriously? who would have thought it!). My after-Remicade pain was manageable so I could still perform my mom duties (before the diet, I would be bedridden after Remicade infusions for at least a day or two).
A month later, my husband and I hiked 12 miles in Dupont State Forest and to the bottom of this amazing waterfall for our anniversary. See the people on the rocks near the bottom of the waterfall? I made it down there! Across slippery terrain and I didn’t fall in the water!….And I didn’t need ibuprofen at the end of the day. An AMAZING feat for my feet who previously struggled to walk one mile without pain. My husband said it was the first time since I got RA that I looked like my old self, the girl he fell in love with…priceless.
The elimination diet totally worked for me and I think it reset my gut and immune system. As the nutritionist suggested, I started adding back gluten to my diet for 2 months. My pain levels did not change much adding back gluten but my acne would flare up. I then removed gluten and added back dairy for 2 months, all my pain and symptoms came back. I even noticed that within a couple minutes of eating dairy, I start coughing and reaching for my inhaler. Clearly dairy was my biggest trigger. I removed gluten and dairy and reintroduced a little bit of sugar (less than 5g per serving). Sugar impacts my pain because as I gain weight, it puts more pressure on my joints but my pain is still not at pre-elimination diet levels. I still try to limit my sugar intake but I do cheat on sugar more than anything else.
It took a lot of trial and error to understand my body and my chronic illness. But being able to be the mom and wife I want to be, to feel like me again and not a prisoner of my disease has been worth the effort. I know now what my limits are with my diet. I know I can cheat and deal with the consequences but I know the better I eat, the better I feel. It’s not easy to maintain a gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free diet, but feeling amazing in my own body is it’s own reward.
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FREE Food and Symptom Daily Tracker Printable
I’ve created a FREE Food and Symptom Daily Tracker Printable so you can keep track of what you ate, what you did and how it makes you feel. Keeping track of your health will help you understand YOUR body and whether a gluten-free diet can help you relieve your pain and symptoms from Rheumatoid Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Sign up here for my newsletter and get this Free Food and Symptom printable delivered straight to your inbox.
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My Thrive with Chronic Illness Planner Now on Sale in the Ultimate Productivity Bundle!
Today, I’m excited to tell you about something that might help in your quest for gaining more time and managing it well. A bundle of resources created by people (I’m one of them!) who understand that you’re looking for practical productivity solutions that will work in your lifestyle.
It’s called Ultimate Productivity Bundle* and it was created and curated by people with real life responsibilities just like you: they have families, work part- to full-time jobs or run businesses, don’t have personal assistants or the budget for hiring lots of extra help. They want to help you (and themselves) conquer your to-do list, free up more time for yourself, and reach your goals.
When you buy the Ultimate Productivity Bundle you’ll get access to:
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- 5 eBooks
- 14 eCourses & videos
- 26 printables & workbooks
Including….
I’m excited to announce that my newest product, the Thrive With Chronic Illness Planner + Journal is included in the Ultimate Productivity Bundle*on sale for a limited time! This planner is a labor of love and brings one of my life goals to reality.
While designed for the unique needs and challenges of chronic illness patients, the Thrive with Chronic Illness Planner + Journal will help you:
- overcome overwhelm from daily life
- take charge of your stress, physical and emotional health
- track your daily health and doctor’s visits
- identify your health and stress triggers so you can control what you can and let go of what you can’t
- set realistic, achievable goals
- get done what you need to so you can have more fun
- establish a customized cleaning routine and menu plan that works for you
- track and analyze your budget and actual expenses
- celebrate your successes and how you THRIVE each week and every day
- uncover lessons learned so you can improve your method each week
Look at the resources that are most helpful to chronically ill people (and my planner is #3), valued at $176.99, just these 6 are worth the cost of the entire bundle and the rest are incredible icing on the cake!
- It’s About Time by Aby Garvey ($49 value)
- Quarterly Goal Planner (2019-2020) by Kimi Kinsey ($7 value)
- Thrive with Chronic Illness Planner + Jounral by me! (planner, $17 value)
- Brilliant Baby Steps: Make the Most of Your Messy Middle for a Beautiful, Balanced Life by Beth Anne Schwamberger ($47 value)
- Organize Your Life with Trello by Cara Harvey & Elisa Giorgio ($47 value)
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Check out the entire Ultimate Productivity Bundle* . At only $37 for over $1,500 worth of resources, It’s an incredible deal for everything you get and the bonuses for early birds! Plus it comes back with a 30-day happiness guarantee so you really have nothing to lose!
More Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis Resources
Gift Guide for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Self-Care for Moms with Chronic Pain
Dairy, Refined Sugar and Gluten Free Recipes that Will Make Your Tastebuds Sing
8 Must Have Kitchen Gadgets for Cooking with Rheumatoid Arthritis
You Are Also Going to Love
Only YOU can take steps to understand YOUR body’s response to autoimmune diseases and YOU are worth the time, patience and effort it takes to try a gluten-free or elimination diet to determine if it helps alleviate pain and symptoms from rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Every little bit helps to feeling better and thriving with chronic illness.
The way that diet alone can effect our bodies is so crazy. I’ve been on a few (self-prescribed) elimination diets for my eczema, but i ultimately failed due to trying a diet where I eliminated 100% sugars (even carbs) that WORKED but continuing it while nursing was just not working
Thanks for sharing, Tanya! I’m motivated to tighten up my diet by your testimonial! My joints blow up if I consume too many processed foods, perhaps eliminating gluten will make me feel even better.
Oh I’m sorry to hear that your joints flare when you eat certain foods. Its not easy and it feels like I’m a science experiment. To feel some relief from pain definitely is woth the effort. It’s amazing what we can learn by paying close attention to our bodies. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way.
Thanks for sharing! Seems like I’ll need to try something similar. Your words hit home on the whole ‘hoping it won’t work so I don’t have to give them up’ bit 😜 Also because I have a blood clotting disorder with its own food traps so it’s even trickier, but definitely worth a shot!
Thanks for sharing! I’m gluten free because of celiac disease, but I know lots of people who are gluten free for other reasons.
Hi Brittany, yes it’s incredible how gluten can cause a whole host of problems. What I found interesting is that while I live in the US, when we went to Spain last summer, I allowed myself to cheat on my diet. I ate the sweets and baked goods, and it did not increase my pain or acne. I think maybe it’s the way they process our flour and sugar. I don’t know but it was nice being able to indulge without additional pain. But it was hard not to gain weight over there!
Great post! I’ve been working on keeping a wellness to better track my health and how certain environments affects my body.
Thank you Emily. That’s true, environment plays a big role in how we feel as well. In the Autoimmune Solution, it also discussed how toxins in our environment affect our health, even things like using plastics and nonstick cookware in the kitchen and chemicals to clean. I have a ways to go to clean up all that, I did get more glass containers and stainless steel pots so those are steps in the right direction I think.
It’s amazing the effects of what we eat on our health. Changing our diet is always hard, but as you have shared many times it makes a big difference in how we feel and improving our health.
Hi Rachel, you are so right, it is amazing how much better we feel when we pay attention to what our body needs versus what we want to eat. Being a foodie, it was a difficult lesson for me but being able to keep up with my active boys makes it worth it! Thanks for commenting.