Review shows lower risk with moderate alcohol consumption and eating fruits and cereals, with moderate certainty of evidence
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Moderate alcohol consumption and eating oily fish, fruits, and cereals may reduce the risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a review published online Nov. 26 in Nutrients.
Yuanyuan Dong, from the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess dietary factors and RA risk.
Based on 30 included studies (2.99 million participants; 9,677 RA cases), the researchers found that each two-unit increase per week in total alcohol intake was linked to a 4 percent risk reduction (moderate certainty), while beer consumption was associated with a 10 percent reduction per two-unit increase per week (very low certainty). A 3 percent decrease in seropositive RA risk was seen with each two-unit increase per week in total alcohol intake (moderate certainty). Reduced risk was also seen with increased intakes of fruit (per 80 g/day: 5 percent reduction; moderate certainty) and cereals (per 30 g/day: 3 percent reduction; moderate certainty). However, tea consumption was associated with a 4 percent increased risk for RA per additional cup/day (moderate certainty). There were nonlinear associations seen for total coffee, vegetables, oily fish, and vitamin D supplementation.
“Optimizing dietary intake of certain food components may reduce RA risk, despite moderate-quality evidence,” the authors write. “Further research is needed to confirm these associations and explore whether specific dietary patterns or nutrients could emerge as a viable strategy for RA prevention.”
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