TREATMENT OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: CONSERVATIVE APPROACHTraditionally, medical therapy for RA was outlined according to a pyramid approach. Treatment options started at the base of the pyramid. Doctors would begin conservatively, by prescribing what was thought to be the safest medication. From the 1940s through the 1960s this first-line therapy took the form of large doses of aspirin. In the 1970s and 1980s many new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) became available. Because they are convenient and often well tolerated (patients notice few side effects), NSAIDs have gradually replaced aspirin as the first line of therapy.Also located on the base of the pyramid were other conservative forms of treatment such as rest, physical therapy, and diet. Because early RA was thought to be a purely inflammatory and reversible condition, doctors believed that anti-inflammatory therapy alone was justified. Before doctors moved up to the next tier of treatment and prescribed second-line therapy, actual damage would need to be apparent by physical examination or x-ray. This was consistent with the theory of the time which held that the early phase, the inflammatory phase, of RA was only infrequently followed by a more damaging proliferative phase. In this later phase, the synovium would become thicker and more destructive. Doctors often waited one to three years for evidence of this damaging phase before prescribing disease-modifying drugs (drugs that attempt to induce a remission by stopping the proliferative phase). These disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), or remittive (causing remission) drugs, were thought to be unnecessary and too dangerous for early use.*84/209/5*

ARTHRITIS: ACIDS IN FOOD LEAD TO SENSITIVITYNext to water (when you drink it at the wrong times), the most dangerous element in our food is acid. Almost everything we eat has some form of acid in it. Unless we carefully watch our “acid intake” at every meal, we can become victims of “gassy stomachs,” ulcers, nausea or many other bad reactions by our sensitive bodies.Therefore, now that we have examined foods to learn their water content it is equally important to learn the “acid content.” If water can harm lubricating oils needed by every arthritic, imagine how much more damage acids can do to those oils!Before we show how acids in foods actually injure the sensitive bodies of an arthritic, let’s see how scientists measure acidity. How they determine whether acid is present in our diet.In scientific laboratories, doctors and research technicians frequently use two types of specially treated paper to make their tests. Material known as litmus and nitrazine paper is used. When a strip of blue litmus is placed in any liquid containing acid, the litmus paper turns red. If the liquid is non-acid, the blue litmus keeps its blue colour.It has been found, for example, that approximately 10,000,000 quarts of water yield one gram of hydrogen ion “acid.” The degree of acidity depends upon the number of hydrogen ions in the solution. In mathematics, the logarithm of 10,000,000 is seven. For the purposes of simplicity, then, water is referred to as having a pH of 7. This figure “7″ is the basis for measuring acids in foods. Anything above 7 is alkaline, anything below 7 is acid.After litmus paper has shown there is some acid present, then the scientists use nitrazine paper to measure how much acid is there and how strong or caustic it is. Nitrazine paper in the presence of water, with a value of 7, does not turn a different colour, but remains a dusty greenish colour. Acid content in foods and liquids decline from 7 down through 4*0, and lower.Milk, when tested in this way, turns out to be slightly acid. It has a pH of 6’6. If milk were 7, it would have no acid at all. Therefore, we can see how very small the acidity of milk really is. That’s one reason why we recommend milk for arthritics, because of its extremely low acid content.To keep acids away from lubricating oils should be the main goal for anyone who has arthritis. No wonder we condemn fruit juices. Look at this chart and recall what you have learned about the number 7. Remember, the lower the pH, the more acid in the food.THE HIGH ACID CONTENT OF FRUIT JUICESFOOD pH LEVELLemon juice 2-29Grapefruit juice 2-98Grape juice 3-00Apple juice 3-24Orange juice 3-42Pineapple juice 3-42Prune juice 3-70Tomato juice 4-18

The above list speaks for itself … a plain warning to arthritics.Most of the above foods have also been found to etch teeth in experimental animals, and humans.If they can erode tough tooth enamel, no wonder these juices cause reactions in more sensitive organs of your body. Many arthritics give up juices voluntarily, when pains in their joints increase. We maintain that the pain results from oils being dried out by citric, phosphoric, or tannic acid.The Acid Content of Your BloodWe have been discussing the acid content of saliva and other fluids in your body. What about the most vital liquid of all? Is there acid in your blood?The answer is “No.” The pH of blood is always between 7 and 7-4, meaning it is non-acid. If your blood ever fell below 7, death would come immediately. When you eat acid foods, your blood and digestive juices must neutralise the acid. Your body must borrow mineral salts, etc., from your blood and tissues to counteract the increased acidity.Because basic properties are borrowed from the blood and tissues to combat the acids, you have robbed your tissues and they can begin to degenerate. Degeneration leads to dryness of tissues surrounding your joints, for example. Dryness leads to arthritic joints and the very disease we are trying to prevent.To protect the blood—keep it from falling below the fatal level of 7—many organs throughout your body “donate” neutralising salts. They give up their own minerals, even if they injure themselves by doing so. Your tissues make this sacrifice, at the risk of degenerating and becoming dry. The kidneys, lungs and liver all surrender parts of themselves to fight the acids.Our purpose is to save our bodies from this terrible toll. We have warned you about fruit juices and certain liquids. Now, let’s examine solid foods.Fortunately, we can honestly tell you that most meat, fish, cereals and vegetables do not disturb the “acidity level” in your body. All these foods are found in the menus recommended for arthritics later in this book.Briefly, to defeat arthritis, we want to eliminate acids and gain oils.*36\146\2*