Rheumatoid Arthritis - What It Is And How DHA and EPA From Fish Oil Can Help

Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition involving inflammation of the tissues and joints, accompanied by swelling, soreness, stiffness in the joints when waking up, and general fatigue or malaise.

The condition is not well understood by conventional medical doctors, but there are several theories about what the causes could be, with two of them being the most prevalent.

One theory is that it is an autoimmune disease. That is, a condition in which the immune system loses its balance and begins to attack its own tissues as though they were foreign invaders. Some have proposed that the immune system is not actually attacking its own tissues, but instead is attacking a bacterial or fungal infection that has attacked the joints and tissues and has become resident there. This is the reason that some prominent doctors are now using antibiotics to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Antibiotics, however, involve a lot of risks and my personal experience has shown that taking strong antibiotics can cause more harm than good. By killing all the beneficial bacteria in your colon, they can actually promote fungal growth and cause more problems than they solve.

Another theory is that rheumatoid arthritis develops because most people actually eat a pro-inflammatory diet which in turn causes severe inflammation in the body, and disrupts the immune system so that it becomes confused and disorderly. So, what is a pro inflammatory diet? Any diet high in omega 6 fatty acids and processed foods and low in the polyunsaturated fatty acids known as DHA and EPA.

Inflammation almost always involves high levels of interleukin-1 and C-reactive protein, two highly inflammatory substances in the blood. The first thing you have to do up to keep this inflammation under control is to eliminate the pro inflammatory foods that cause it. You have to eliminate all processed foods and junk foods as well as severely limiting all omega 6 oils, such as corn and seed oils and replace them with olive oil (an omega 9 oil) and fish oil (an omega 3 oil).

Plenty of studies have shown that the polyunsaturated fatty acids DHA and EPA found in fish and fish oil supplements can decrease the level of the two inflammatory chemicals mentioned above and therefore help moderate the immune response and the pain that goes with it. Fish fat has potent anti-inflammatory properties, and I know this from personal experience. Several years ago, while suffering from a severe candida (fungal) infection, I had all sorts of aches, pains and stiffness. All of those have disappeared after going on a strict anti-inflammatory diet and taking a strong omega-3 supplement daily. It took over six months, but the effort and investment were worth it!