Arthritis Foundation Staffed by Boneheads

It's that time of year again when bone-chilling
weather brings additional suffering to those
afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis.

The Arthritis Foundation

http://www.arthritis.org

offers this advice re: dairy consumption:

"Boost your calcium and vitamin D intake to prevent
the bone loss associated with osteoporosis while bypassing
animal fats with low- and non-fat milk, yogurt and cheeses.
An 8-ounce glass of non-fat milk or container of low-fat
yogurt provides 300 mg of calcium (one serving). One ounce
of low-fat cheese, on the other hand, provides a little
more than half of a serving. 'Swiss cheese has lots of
calcium with reasonable fat,' Hogan adds. 'And I like to
add mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses to salads."

A study published in the February, 2003 issue of Annals
of Rheumatic Diseases was performed on non-vegetarians
living in Sweden. The authors obtained dramatic results
by placing 26 subjects on a dairy-free diet for three months,
while 25 "control subjects" continued to eat a typical Swedish
smorgasbord of meat and dairy products. According to Dr. Lars
Skoldstam:

According to Dr. Lars Skoldstam:

"The current results suggest that patients with rheumatoid
arthritis can obtain better physical function and increase
their vitality from eating a Mediterranean diet for three
months."

The results of this study should come as no surprise
to the ignorant folks at arthritis.org.

In 1985, the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
(volume 78) reported the case of an eight-year-old girl
with severe rheumatoid arthritis:

"...juvenile rheumatoid arthritis was a milk allergy. After
avoiding dairy products, all pain was gone in three weeks."

In 1991, the British journal Lancet (Volume 338) published
the results of a study in which the subjects ate a
vegetarian diet:

"Controlled trial of fasting and a one-year vegetarian
diet eased symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis."

The British Journal of Rheumatology (36;1, 1997) reported:

"...43 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, those assigned to
a vegan diet...had improvement in rheumatoid arthritis
symptoms."

Rheumatoid arthritis is a painful condition, and it
is tragic that in light of the evidence, arthritis
organizations and websites continue to promote the
consumption of Swiss cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan
cheese.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com