If you’re living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you know it’s more than just achy joints — it’s a daily balancing act between managing pain, staying mobile, and holding on to your energy. Alongside medical treatments, some people with RA make changes to their diet to help manage their symptoms. Certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties that may help you feel better, while others can increase inflammation and make joint pain or fatigue worse. Knowing what to avoid might help you feel more in control from day to day. Here’s a closer look at 10 foods and drinks that people with RA often try to limit or skip.

What works best for one person may not be as helpful for someone else managing their RA. One member of myRAteam noted, “I get produce straight from the farm. I make all my food from scratch. I even make my own yogurt.” Others are more relaxed with their diet: “I think everything in moderation is the way to go.”

There’s no one best diet for RA. For specific guidance about your diet, talk to your healthcare provider. With this in mind, if you have RA, you may be better off avoiding some of the following foods and drinks.

1. Certain Fatty Foods and Oils

Saturated and trans fats have been found to cause inflammation. Too much inflammation over time can be harmful to the body and aggravate RA symptoms.

Saturated Fats

Saturated fats are often called unhealthy fats. This is because they may increase LDL cholesterol, or “bad cholesterol.” Having too much bad cholesterol is not only bad for your overall health, but it also increases your risk of complications like heart disease and stroke. As for RA, saturated fats can cause inflammation in fat tissues when digested, so it’s best to limit them.

High levels of these fats are found in baked goods, fried foods, whole-fat dairy, red and processed meat, and palm oil.

Trans Fats and Hydrogenated Oils

Trans fats are considered the unhealthiest type of fat. They can damage heart health and cause or worsen inflammation. Trans fats are often found in highly processed foods such as margarine, microwave popcorn, nondairy creamers, and baked goods. Foods with “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated” oils in the ingredient list contain trans fat.

Some canola and vegetable oils are hydrogenated, but many are not.

Nonhydrogenated canola oil, for example, can be healthy in moderation because it contains omega-6 fatty acids. These are fats the body uses for energy, but cannot produce on its own. It’s important to keep a balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are healthy fats found in foods like salmon and nuts. Without the balance of omega-3s, omega-6s can cause inflammation.

2. Red and Processed Meats

Many types of red meat and processed meat are high in saturated fat. Also, processed meat products, like pepperoni and bacon, often have hormones, preservatives, and artificial additives. These ingredients can lead to systemic inflammation. This type of inflammation affects the entire body and can make RA symptoms worse.

3. Fried Foods

Fried foods don’t offer much nutrition. They’re often heavily processed and can contain cancer-causing substances called carcinogens. These foods may also trigger inflammation in the body. Examples include french fries, egg rolls, donuts, and chicken tenders.

4. Foods Containing Gluten

For people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, eating the gluten protein causes inflammation. Some people with RA also experience inflammatory reactions after eating gluten. Several members of myRAteam have felt better by following gluten-free diets.

Gluten is in food that contains wheat, barley, and rye, such as pasta and bread. There’s an ongoing discussion about gluten in the medical community. Some doctors believe that eliminating gluten may be helpful for people with RA. However, because immune responses vary, doctors don’t currently recommend that everyone with RA avoid gluten.

5. Dairy Products

Some myRAteam members have noted that dairy can aggravate their symptoms: “I’m learning that gluten and dairy seem to make my symptoms worse,” said a member. This may be due to sensitivity to casein, a protein found in dairy products. Dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, can also be high in saturated fats.

Some recent studies suggest that low-fat dairy doesn’t cause inflammation in people who aren’t sensitive to it. This may be because it has less saturated fat. Although some people with dairy sensitivity may feel better by avoiding it, dairy isn’t a known trigger for everyone with RA.

6. Sweetened Products

Many people with RA find that sugars and refined carbohydrates trigger their symptoms. One member of myRAteam reported that they “almost never eat sugary things” because eating high-sugar foods caused them to experience “dramatically increased pain and stiffness all over.” Another wrote, “Eating sugar and starch is my number one enemy.”

The digestion of sugars and refined carbs leads to the release of cytokines (substances that create inflammation). Sweetened products include candy, cakes, ice cream, soda, and some sauces. You may also want to avoid foods with the ingredients glucose, fructose, sucrose, and others ending in “-ose.”

7. Foods With Monosodium Glutamate

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a substance used to preserve foods and enhance their flavors. It can be used as a seasoning or be found in foods like soups, processed meats, and fast foods. In general, MSG is safe to eat in moderation. But, for some people, MSG may cause an inflammatory reaction, called MSG symptom complex. People with this condition may experience symptoms such as headaches and heart palpitations.

Symptoms of the MSG symptom complex are usually mild and short-lived. But if you have RA and are sensitive to MSG, eating it may make your RA symptoms worse.

8. Alcohol

Alcohol may not be good for your health if you have RA. Drinking too much can increase inflammation and damage the liver. Still, health experts don’t fully agree on how alcohol affects RA symptoms.

Alcohol can also interact with certain medications used to manage RA symptoms, specifically methotrexate and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Talk to your doctor about whether alcohol is safe for you with RA and how much you can drink, if any.

9. Raw Animal Products

People taking certain biologic drugs and methotrexate may have an increased risk of developing food poisoning or other infections. Doctors recommend avoiding raw or undercooked meats, raw eggs, and unpasteurized dairy products, such as soft cheeses, to reduce the risk of infection when taking these medications.

10. Grapefruit

Eating grapefruit can affect how the body processes certain RA medications. If you eat grapefruit while taking JAK inhibitors, such as upadacitinib (Rinvoq), it can raise the amount of medicine in your blood. JAK inhibitors are drugs that help lower inflammation by blocking certain enzymes that affect the immune system. Grapefruit can have a similar effect on calcineurin inhibitors, like cyclosporine (sold as Neoral and Sandimmune). If you take any of these drugs — or others — talk to your doctor about whether grapefruit is safe for you.

Tips for Avoiding Inflammatory Foods With Rheumatoid Arthritis

If you want to cut back on inflammatory foods, start by checking the ingredient labels on what you eat and drink. Many products contain saturated fats, trans fats, and potential triggers like gluten, casein, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. Some strategies to help avoid foods that may worsen your arthritis symptoms include:

• Choose fresh foods over packaged and processed products.
• Limit foods that are fried or cooked at high heat.
• Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids and reduce omega-6 fatty acids (found in cooking oils).
• Use oils with healthier fats, like avocado or olive oil.

Find Alternatives

If it’s hard for you to avoid certain triggers, such as sugar, you could try some alternatives. As one member shared, “Sugar is my worst enemy with my RA. Every time I go to eat anything with sugar, I have a flare. I have started replacing that craving with fruit.”

Everyone’s body reacts differently, but being aware of how certain foods affect your RA can help you make more confident choices at the table. Whether you’re fine-tuning your whole diet or just testing a few changes, small shifts can make a noticeable difference over time.

Talk to Others Who Understand

On myRAteam, the social network for people with rheumatoid arthritis and their loved ones, members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with rheumatoid arthritis.

What foods have you found trigger symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis? Have you made any changes to your diet that help you feel better? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.