Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis page

[CFM]

Are there any other parents out there with their kids diagnosed with JRA that eat Primal / Paleo? Has it helped / hurt/ or not made any difference? My five year old son has JRA and we have to give him methotrexate once a week. It helps but I'd prefer not to have to do this for an extended period of time.

I've been following the Primal Blueprint, more for athletic reasons, and have had pretty good success in regards to recovery time and performance. Not sure if the right diet of children though.

Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks

[Lewis]

Are there any other parents out there with their kids diagnosed with JRA that eat Primal / Paleo?

Not me. But this kind of diet certainly is potentially able to help with auto-immune problems, of which rheumatoid arthritis is one.

At the least it would be worth seeing if the removal of wheat and other gluten-containing grains helps. Dr. William Davies, who has just released a book on the (many) problems caused by wheat, has amassed quite a bit of evidence that it does in a very large number of cases. He has thousands of people pass through his practice, and he says that whatever their medical problem, eliminating wheat usually helps.

Wheat Belly | Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight

It might also be helpful to eliminate all soy products and all products containing refined carbohydrates (sugar, high-fructose corn syrup. etc.). The same might go for dairy products—at least unfermented ones.

That, in a nutshell, pretty much is the Primal approach. Paleo is much the same. I'd suggest you drop an email to Rob Wolf—if anyone has heard directly from parents of children with this problem it's probably he:

Robb Wolf | The Paleo Solution book and podcast | Paleo diet, Paleolithic nutrition, intermittent fasting, and fitness

With people who have more intractable conditions something like a GAPS diet might be necessary. Dr. Natasha-Campbell, who devised the diet (it's based on the SCD with a bit of a WAPF twist) uses it with people with a range of psychological problems that seem to have a link to a lack of gut health (autism, ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression and schizophrenia) and is currently writing a book on the range of physical conditions in which it can also help. Here's her site:

GAPS Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) - Natural treatment for autism, ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression and schizophrenia

[J. Stanton]

Paleo / Primal cannot possibly make autoimmune issues worse, and will most likely help greatly. It is absolutely the right diet for children or anyone else.

Note that recovery from autoimmune issues is actually one of the few cases in which relatively large doses of EPA/DHA are indicated. They're bad in the long term, but the short-term anti-inflammatory effect is significant and important.

[me2]

Go on the GAPS diet. Your gut is compromised, leading to autoimmunity.

(don't be scared of the source of this article. GAPS is not associated with any religion, it was created by a neurosurgeon)
GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome)

Healing Rheumatoid Arthritis on GAPS Diet: Elli Sparks 01/11 by BethWiles | Blog Talk Radio