Arthritis: diet and fish oil in arthritis pain

Arthritis pain has never been easy to treat and arthritis symptoms have often been managed by the use of possibly toxic or unpalatable arthritis medication. Arthritis pain relief sometimes comes at a price!

In recent years there has been a great deal of interest in the benefits that fish oil can bring to our health - although many might say that our grandmother's insistence on a spoonful of cod-liver-oil before breakfast predated modern medicines interest in the topic.
Most attention nowadays is devoted to omega-3-oils extracted from the flesh of oily fish and taken in the form of capsule supplements.

Omega-3-oil capsules contain a higher dose of the active ingredient than cod liver oil and also lack the cholesterol content and vitamin content of the more old fashioned remedy. Although much focus has previously been devoted to the impact of fish oils on the heart and circulation, good research is showing that they can have great benefits for arthritis treatment too - rheumatoid arthritis patients in particular seem to benefit.

Arthritis pain relief with fish oils

Several good studies have now shown that taking high doses of fish oils seems to reduce the arthritis pain, to relief the arthritis stiffness and to leave the arthritis patients feeling less tired at the end of a day. The benefits also seem to last for several weeks after stopping taking the fish oil treatments.

The dose of fish oil needed to relieve arthritis pain

The minimum dose of omega-3-oil that is needed to obtain benefit in arthritis seems to be around three grams a day. Most of the available capsules contain around 1g of the omega-3 components. If you suffer from arthritis and can tolerate the idea of taking additional capsules each day then fish oil supplements may be well worth a try. Be prepared to wait a few weeks before you see real benefits - there seems to be a "lag phase" before the benefits start.

Side effects of fish oils

The effect is not dramatic but high doses of fish oil supplements seem to cause a slight thinning effect on the blood - this could be a problem for anyone taking aspirin. Diabetic patients should also be careful because some reports suggest that regular fish oil supplements make day to day diabetic control more difficult. Some people develop diarrhea when taking fish oil but the only really common side effects are "fishy burps" or heartburn - both of which are seen as a small price to pay for improvement in arthritis pain and stiffness.