Video showing dietary effects on my Rheumatoid Arthritis

Here is a video of a talk I gave recently to the Oxford Vegan Festival to help others understand the dramatic effect food can have on rheumatoid arthritis.  Some people who are cynical argue either I am a special case or some other excuse.  I am in no way special.  Also, apart from the fact I have so far had no surgery, my arthritis was as bad as it gets.  Had I accepted doctor's advice I would be in a mobility scooter today and probably be having changes made to my home to make it arthritis-friendly.

Other people argue that diets only work for some people, or that they have tried and failed - even tried the Paddison program and failed.  Well changing diet is not easy, that is a fact.  There are cultural reasons, family reasons, even your body is conditioned to sticking with the foods you have eaten regularly.

From people I have talked to, those who seem to fail on the Paddison program seem to have a particular medical history or a particular dietary history.  Beyond that doing the paddison program takes motivation, serious motivation.

The big question in my mind is, how much does someone want - and truly need - to get rid of their RA.  Some people are relatively happy on their medication, and that's fine by me.  For others who are very unhappy with medication, or have tried and failed on other diets then this fifteen minute video may be of interest.

Feeling Sorry...

I am very proud of my recovery from Rheumatoid Arthritis.  So very easily I could have simply taken the tablets, after all that was both my doctor and my rheumatologists recommendations. Taking the tablets is what most people do, so who am I to think I know any different?  After all I have no medical training, no nutrition training.  In fact I hardly even studied biology at school.

So who am I to dare that I can beat possibly the most debilitating disease on this planet.  I know it was debilitating because, like so many other people I suffered RA at its most vengeful.  At a recent meeting for people with RA, entitled "everything you always wanted to know about arthritis..." the word diet seemed like a dirty word.  Certainly the hosts of the meeting did not wish that word uttered.  In fact the first talk was a sideways attack on diet, arguing that anyone with any sense should treat dietary reports with total distrust.  I am exaggerating the point, but the audience was left in no doubt about the implications of daring to think that diet might help someone with RA.

The second talk was a showcase of what modern medicine was doing for RA.  "Aren't we lucky to be on the cusp of personal medication", was its main message.  Of course there was no mention of the fact that they had no actual solution to RA, just a promise of getting better at suppressing the symptoms.