Healthy diet cuts risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in women under 55 years old, experts discover

Women with the healthiest diets are the least likely to encounter rheumatoid arthritis, says research in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Data from almost 170,000 women was analysed. Overall, women aged up to 55 years old who are in the highest quartile of diet quality had two-thirds the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis than those in the lowest-quality quartile. The association is especially strong for seropositive rheumatoid arthritis.

The same was not found for women older than 55 years, which suggests there may be differing risk factors for early- and late-onset rheumatoid arthritis.

Moderate alcohol consumption and lower intake of red meat were the components most strongly associated with lower early-onset rheumatoid arthritis risk.

“These results indicate that an overall healthy diet quality may be more beneficial for rheumatoid arthritis risk reduction than individual foods and nutrients, particularly for early-onset seropositive rheumatoid arthritis,” says Dr Bing Lu, who is involved in the work.

“It is proposed that later-onset rheumatoid arthritis may be different from earlier-onset rheumatoid arthritis in terms of genetic predisposition and immune dysfunction, and hormonal changes with menopause can be a source of rheumatoid arthritis activation in older female patients.”

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