Obesity is a risk factor for some types of arthritis and makes all types of arthritis harder to control. But it’s not just obese people who are at risk. If you’re more than 10 pounds overweight, you’re putting unhealthy stress on your joints. If you want to have an advantage in protecting your joint health, maintaining a low weight is the best thing you can do to change your risk of osteoarthritis.
It helps to understand the dynamics of how your joints bear weight. Because of the muscles that work on your knees and hips, normal walking puts about four times your body weight on your joints. Every pound of body weight is equivalent to four pounds of pressure on your knees and hips. So if you’re 10 pounds overweight, the force on your knees increases by nearly 40 pounds.
The main effects of weight loss on arthritis may include:
1. Relieves pressure
Research shows that losing one pound of weight results in four pounds of pressure being taken off the knee. That means losing 10 pounds takes 40 pounds of pressure off your knee.
2. No gain, less pain
Many studies show that losing weight can reduce arthritis pain. The more weight you lose, the less pain you have. Research on overweight and obese older adults with knee osteoarthritis pain shows that losing more weight is more effective than losing a small amount. Losing 10 to 20 percent of your initial body weight can improve pain, function, and quality of life better than losing 5 percent of your body weight.
3. Reduces inflammation and disease activity
Fat is an active tissue that produces and releases inflammatory chemicals into your body. By reducing the amount of fat stored in your body, your overall inflammation will decrease. Research shows that obesity can trigger and maintain low-grade inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation can amplify and worsen painful autoimmune disorders, such as psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. Reducing inflammation can lead to reduced disease activity, not only in autoimmune diseases but also in related comorbidities such as heart disease and diabetes.
4. Reduce the risk of surgery
One of the main goals of weight loss is to reduce the extra pressure on your knees, hips, and lower back. This will reduce your need for future joint replacement surgery. Most surgeons will not perform surgery if you are overweight, but this depends on the severity of your arthritis.
5. Arthritis Progresses Slowly
Even if you already have arthritis, you can significantly delay the progression of the disease and reduce your symptoms by achieving your healthy weight goal. Research shows that for every 11 pounds you lose, you can reduce your risk of developing osteoarthritis by nearly 50%. The best and most effective advice for osteoarthritis is to maintain a healthy weight.
What are common ways to lose weight to manage arthritis?
There are three approaches that can help you:
- Choose healthy, low-calorie options to support weight loss
A weight loss diet for rheumatoid arthritis is based on the same principles that are recommended for most people. Essentially, you want to follow the Mediterranean Diet, which not only promotes health with a clean, plant-based approach to eating, but also has the added benefit of helping you lose weight.
You want to eat fewer calories by choosing mostly fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products:
- Fiber-rich foods will help you feel fuller and therefore help you eat less.
- Avoid processed and fried foods.
- Minimize sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats in your diet.
- Healthy fats include anti-inflammatory omega-3s, found in fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, and rainbow trout.
- Avoid or limit alcohol to cut calories
Certain medications used for rheumatoid arthritis, such as methotrexate (Trexall), can cause liver damage. If you are taking methotrexate, be sure to stay away from alcohol, which is also a threat to liver health. Alcohol has calories (empty calories), the kind of calories you want to avoid when dieting to lose weight. If you do drink alcohol at some point, do so in moderation and stay away from beer, which is very high in carbohydrates (men should have no more than one to two drinks a day and women should have no more than one drink a day).
- Plan joint-friendly workouts and make exercise a habit
It’s not always easy to get motivated to exercise when your joints ache and you are fatigued, but exercise can help to boost weight loss and is often recommended because it can actually ease rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. You might find exercising easier if you choose low-impact activities, such as walking, riding a stationary bike, ballet barre workout, or Pilates. Doing water aerobics in a heated pool is an excellent choice because the warm water can be soothing and help relieve pain and stiffness from arthritis. Also, the water provides some resistance, which helps you tone and build muscle strength
