Your knees will feel better if you keep your waistline trim. When you drop those extra pounds, you'll put less stress on your joints. A good way to lower your calorie count: Take smaller portions, avoid sugary foods and drinks, and eat mostly plant-based foods.

2. Eat More Fruits and Veggies

Feel free to eat plenty of these. Many are loaded with antioxidants -- substances that can help protect your cells from damage.

Some antioxidants, found in fruits and veggies like apples, onions, shallots, and strawberries, may also help reduce joint inflammation and pain.

3. Add Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3s may help relieve your joint pain and decrease morning stiffness. They work by reducing inflammation in your body.

One easy way to add them to your diet is to eat two 3-ounce servings of fatty fish each week. Some of the best sources of omega-3s are trout, salmon, mackerel, herring, tuna, and sardines.

4. Use Olive Oil in Place of Other Fats

One study shows that a compound in olive oil, called oleocanthal, helps prevent inflammation. It works in much the same way that NSAIDs do. Olive oils with the strongest flavor have the highest amount.

About 3 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil offers the same relief as 200 milligrams of ibuprofen. But that much oil also gives you about 400 calories.

To add olive oil to your diet without extra calories, use it in place of other fats, such as butter.

5. Get Enough Vitamin C

A key element for joint health, vitamin C helps build collagen and connective tissue. A lot of tasty foods can give you this nutrient. Try citrus fruits, red peppers, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, and kale. Aim for the recommended amount of 75 milligrams a day for women or 90 milligrams a day for men.

6. Watch High Cooking Temperatures

Meat cooked at high temperatures makes compounds that can cause inflammation in your body. They're called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and they're linked to diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes.

You can reduce your levels of AGEs if you cut back on grilled, fried, broiled, and microwaved meats. It’s also helpful to limit processed foods, as they are often cooked at high temperatures.

6 Foods to Avoid If You Have Osteoarthritis

Diet and osteoarthritis

1. Sugar

Sugar-rich carbohydrates, such as processed cakes, cookies, and bakery items, may change your body’s immune response to disease, according to one study Trusted Source

. This reaction can worsen inflammation and leave your strained joints feeling even weaker.

Natural substitutes, such as pure maple syrup and honey, may appease your sweet tooth without contributing to OA symptoms.

2. Salt

Eating too much sodium causes your cells to retain water. This means they swell up.

Your body does need sodium to function. However, eating too much leads to an inflammatory reaction. This can contribute to joint damage.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most Americans

Trusted Source

consume too much sodium daily. To cut back on sodium, try swapping out salt for other spices, such as lemon zest, or flavored black peppers like garlic pepper, to enhance your food.

3. Fried food

The Arthritis Foundation points out that foods high in saturated fats, such as fries and doughnuts, can increase inflammation in the body and make OA pain worse.

The oils used to fry foods create chemical reaction in your body and can raise your cholesterol.

Stick with foods baked without any oil additives. When you need to use oil to cook with, opt for a small amount of olive or avocado oil instead.

4. White flour

Refined wheat products, like white bread, stimulate your body’s inflammatory response. That’s why eating a lot of refined pastas, cereals, and grain products might make your OA pain flare up.

To avoid this, choose whole grains whenever possible. Avoid heavily processed bread products. - Whole grains and yeast additives that contain gluten may also affect OA pain.

5. Omega-6 fatty acids

According to Harvard Medical School, you should limit your intake of foods containing omega-6 fatty acids, such as egg yolks and red meat. Saturated fats may increase levels of inflammation in the body, making OA pain worse.

Eating foods rich in omega-3s, such as salmon, walnuts, and soy, will give you the protein you need without worsening your OA symptoms.

6. Dairy

Some believe dairy products may cause inflammation in some people, which can lead to arthritis pain.

A studyTrusted Source

found that people with arthritis who avoided animal milks and other inflammatory triggers experienced a significant improvement in their symptoms.

Research exploring the link between dairy and inflammation is conflicting. But, it wouldn’t be harmful to try substituting dairy with a healthy nondairy alternative like almond milk, or an anti-inflammatory like flax milk, to see how your body responds.

Make sure to avoid carrageenan found in these milks. This is an additive derived from seaweed that can cause gastrointestinal symptoms and weaken intestinal permeability.

Osteoarthritis and alcohol

Most experts discourage drinking alcohol to excess when you have OA. Drinking alcohol, especially beer, can contribute to flare-ups because of high purine levels in commercial alcohol products.

Also, most arthritis medication will interact with alcohol, which affects the effectiveness of the drug and can be dangerous.

Takeaway

Many foods people with OA should avoid also happen to be foods that interfere with a healthy diet.

Limiting these foods can benefit your OA by reducing levels of inflammation in your body and even helping you lose weight.

Even small incremental weight loss can make a difference in OA symptom severity. For more information, speak to your doctor about how your diet might be affecting your arthritis symptoms.