Straight from Greece, here's a healthy cooking tip on arthritis for ThirdAgers. Researchers at the University of Athens Medical School say a combination of olive oil and cooked vegetables may help prevent rheumatoid arthritis.
They say the development of arthritis was closely correlated with a much-less-than average consumption of common food items. Southern Mediterranean populations consume a diet very different from typical Western fare, much higher in both cooked and raw vegetables, fish and olive oil.
A lifetime retrospective dietary survey was done for participants. The results show those with the lowest olive oil consumption had a 2.5 times greater risk of developing arthritis than did folks in the highest category.
Researchers say those who ate the highest amount of cooked vegetables had a 75 percent lesser risk. They say there is a metabolic mechanism through which the olive oil, which has anti-inflammatory n-3 fatty acids, protects against a person's developing arthritis and inhibits the inflammation that comes with the disease.
Check out the free e-mail course from the ThirdAge Learning Center. You'll find out about Living Well with Arthritis.
