These answers apply to inflammatory arthritis, gout and osteoarthritis in general. Your own doctor may have a specific reason to adjust your diet, for example a kidney problem or diabetes; follow that advice.
Curd, paneer and milk cause or worsen arthritis
Not true
They do not. Dairy is not an inflammatory food, and no study has linked curd, paneer or milk to joint inflammation or to flares of rheumatoid arthritis. Dairy is one of the best sources of calcium and protein in an Indian diet, and calcium matters more, not less, when you have arthritis, because the disease and steroid tablets both weaken bone. In gout, low-fat dairy is associated with lower uric acid, not higher.
What to do: Keep curd, milk and paneer in your diet. If milk upsets your stomach (lactose intolerance), curd and paneer are usually well tolerated.
Stopping milk helps joint pain
Not true
It does not help, and it does harm. People who give up milk lose their main source of calcium, and over months this weakens bone. The harm is greatest in women after menopause, in older people, and in anyone taking steroid tablets, where bone loss is already a risk. Joint pain and bone strength are separate problems, and milk affects only the second, in a good way.
What to do: Two to three servings of dairy a day (milk, curd, paneer, lassi) is a sensible target. If you have stopped milk, restart it.
Vegetables that grow under the ground (potato, onion, garlic, carrot, radish, beetroot) cause arthritis
Not true
There is no evidence for this. Where a vegetable grows has no bearing on joints. The related idea that 'nightshade' vegetables (potato, tomato, brinjal, capsicum) worsen arthritis has been looked at and has not held up; people who eat them have no more joint inflammation than people who avoid them. Onion and garlic, if anything, contain compounds with mild anti-inflammatory effects.
What to do: Eat all vegetables. The only sensible limit is on potato as a starch, for weight, and that is about quantity, not arthritis.
Rice causes or worsens joint pain
Not true
It does not. Rice is a carbohydrate, like roti, and neither one has any effect on joint inflammation. Patients in rice-eating regions do not have more arthritis than patients in wheat-eating regions. Swapping rice for roti changes nothing for the joints. What does matter is total calories and weight, because every extra kilogram loads the knees and hips, and that applies to rice and roti equally.
What to do: Eat rice if you like it. Watch the portion, not the grain.
Dal, chana, rajma and chhole raise uric acid and cause gout
Not true
They do not. This is the most common reason patients give up their best protein, and it is wrong. Large studies following tens of thousands of people found that purines from plants (pulses, legumes, vegetables) do not raise the risk of gout. The purines that matter come from red meat, organ meats (liver, kidney), certain seafood, beer and sugary drinks. For vegetarians, dal and legumes are the main protein source, and protein protects muscle around painful joints.
What to do: Keep dal, chana and rajma in your meals, even with gout or high uric acid. The uric acid target is reached with medicine, weight loss and less alcohol and sugar, not by cutting pulses.
Sour foods (lemon, pickle, tamarind, amla, tomato, curd) cause joint pain
Not true
They do not. Sourness is a taste, not a cause of inflammation. Lemon, amla and tomato are good sources of vitamin C, which the body needs to make the collagen in joints and bone. The one real caution is salt: pickles and papad carry a lot of it, and salt raises blood pressure, which matters more if you take steroids or have kidney disease. That is a reason to limit pickle, not to fear sourness.
What to do: Enjoy lemon, amla, tomato and curd. Keep pickle to a small amount because of the salt, not the sourness.
Cold foods, cold water, bananas or curd at night bring on joint pain
Not true
Food temperature has no effect on joints; whatever you swallow is at body temperature within minutes. Cold weather can make stiff joints feel worse, which is probably where this belief comes from, but that is about the weather, not the fridge. Bananas and curd at night are harmless; a banana is actually a reasonable potassium-rich snack.
What to do: Eat what suits you at any time of day. In winter, keep joints warm with clothing and keep moving.
Eggs and non-vegetarian food cause arthritis
Partly true
Eggs do not cause or worsen arthritis; they are a complete protein and fine to eat. Meat needs a more careful answer. No food causes rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. In gout, however, red meat, organ meats (liver, kidney, brain) and some seafood do raise uric acid and can trigger attacks, so those are limited. Chicken and fish in normal amounts are fine for most people with arthritis, and oily fish contains omega-3 fats with a mild anti-inflammatory effect.
What to do: Eggs: yes. Chicken and fish: yes, in moderation. Red meat and organ meats: limit, especially with gout.
Should I exercise if I have arthritis?
Yes
Yes. Exercise is part of the treatment, not something to avoid. Moving the joints reduces stiffness, strengthens the muscles that support them, keeps weight down and improves mood and sleep. Resting a joint for weeks makes it weaker and stiffer. The only time to rest a joint is during an acute flare, when it is hot, swollen and very painful, and even then the other joints should keep moving. Pain that settles within a day of exercising is normal; pain that is sharply worse for days means the activity was too much.
What to do: Walk, cycle, swim, do yoga or simple stretches most days. Start with 10 minutes and build up. Our exercise pages show routines for the spine, knees and hands.
The right diet alone can cure arthritis
Not true
No diet cures rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis or gout. Diet can help a little: a Mediterranean-style pattern (vegetables, fruit, pulses, nuts, olive or mustard oil, fish) modestly lowers inflammation, and weight loss takes real load off the knees. But inflammatory arthritis damages joints while you wait, and the people who do worst are those who tried diets and remedies for a year before starting treatment. Diet supports medicine; it does not replace it.
What to do: Eat well and take the prescribed treatment. If someone promises a cure through food alone, that promise is the warning sign.
Lemon water, alkaline water or soda bicarb lowers uric acid
Not true
They do not change blood uric acid in any meaningful way. The body keeps the blood at a fixed pH regardless of what you drink. Plain water does help a little in gout, by keeping the kidneys flushing uric acid out and reducing the chance of kidney stones, but that is water, not alkalinity. Bicarbonate in quantity adds a large salt load, which raises blood pressure.
What to do: Drink enough plain water (urine should be pale). Skip the bicarb and the alkaline-water machines.
Calcium tablets will fix joint pain
Partly true
Calcium strengthens bone, not joints. It does nothing for the inflammation of arthritis or the cartilage wear of osteoarthritis, so a calcium tablet will not reduce joint pain. It is still important for people at risk of weak bones: after menopause, on steroid tablets, with low vitamin D, or with osteoporosis. In those situations calcium with vitamin D is prescribed to prevent fractures, which is a different goal.
What to do: Take calcium and vitamin D if your doctor has prescribed them for bone protection. Do not expect them to treat the arthritis itself.
Ghee, oils or massages can cure arthritis from the outside
Not true
Massage and warm oil can ease stiffness and feel comforting, and there is nothing wrong with them. But nothing applied to the skin reaches the inflammation inside a joint or changes the course of rheumatoid arthritis, spondylitis or gout. Eating ghee has no effect on joints either way; its only relevance is calories. The risk is not the massage itself but the months lost while a treatable disease goes untreated.
What to do: Use warmth and massage for comfort. Treat the disease with the medicine that works on it.