In 2010, the Masters winner and number 2 ranked golfer in the world Phil Mickelson announced that he was being treated for psoriatic arthritis. To counter the effects of the condition, Mickelson began to adopt a healthier overall lifestyle to deal with some of the symptoms, including following a vegetarian diet.
Arthritis, of course, is a very well-known condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It means the ‘inflammation of the joints’ and is characterised by stiffness, discomfort, pain and swelling around the affected area. But you might not know so much about the condition that Mickelson suffers with. Psoriatic arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects between six and 42 percent of people who suffer with psoriasis, a skin disease that causes itchy patches of thick, red skin with silvery scales.
According to a number of reports, Mickelson had first developed symptoms just before the US Open of 2010. He said that he woke up in so much pain he could not walk and then the symptoms continued to progress and get worse. Mickelson began a weekly treatment with the injectable medication Enbrel. However, he found that one of the most important aspects of his treatment was adopting to a vegetarian diet.
A vast majority of research linking the vegetarian diet and the relief of arthritic symptoms has been conducted on patients who suffer with rheumatoid arthritis. But while psoriatic arthritis is different from rheumatoid arthritis, they are similar in the fact that both are autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.
There are a number of ways that a vegetarian diet can help out people with arthritis. The first is that the diet helps you lose weight. The vegetarian diet is naturally low-calorie which makes it easier to shed the pounds as being vegetarian means you don’t eat red meat or other foods high in cholesterol and saturated fats.
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