If you ask your doctor about an arthritis diet, he may chuckle and just tell you any diet that helps you lose weight is good for your arthritis. This is true; one of the most significant contributors to you having arthritis later is obesity now. But it goes beyond this. Your food is the fuel you give your body. If it burns clean, your system is clean. If it doesn't burn well, your system suffers.

One thing to think about when you're seeking an arthritis diet is inflammation. There are certain foods that encourage inflammation, and others that help eliminate it. And then there are foods that are supposed to improve your arthritis symptoms, but with no evidence whether they do or not. Here's a guide that may help you decide what you want to eat, and what you want to eliminate.

1. Lose weight first. The one arthritis diet that is guaranteed to help you is the one that takes your weight from too much to just enough. And you'll feel better in a hundred other ways too, from your self-esteem to your energy level.

2. Many arthritis diets recommend the elimination of nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, and peppers) and acids (including sugar, coffee, many grains, nuts, citrus fruit, and red meat, among others). Neither of these has been ruled out as a helpful way to eliminate arthritis pain, but they haven't been proven to work either. You can try these if you like, but know that these diets may not do anything but make you cranky. One example of this type of diet is the dong diet, which is primarily vegetarian.

3. One anti inflammation diet recommended is a simple vegetarian diet. It's likely that improvements that have been reported are caused by one of two things: they lose weight, and they start using good fats. Still, in this arthritis diet some studies have shown significant improvement especially in rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, and one small study showed these improvements lasted for at least a year.

4. Start swapping omega-6 fatty acids for omega-3 fatty acid. The omega-6 fatty acids are known to increase inflammation, while the omega-3s reduce it. The main way to change these in your diet? Swap your red meat and poultry for lots of cold-water fish - salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout. Use canola oil for cooking, and use flaxseed and olive oil in your salad dressings; eliminate all other oils and fats as well as you can.

5. You've seen this in arthritis supplements: green tea. Whether this actually works as a supplement or extract is questionable. But green tea is pretty good once you get used to it, and three to four cups a day seem to significantly decrease symptoms and severity of rheumatoid arthritis, and may help all kinds of arthritis. Because of this and anecdotal support, adding green tea to your rheumatoid arthritis diet is a great idea.

6. If you grew up in the country or watching Beverly Hillbillies, you're probably familiar with this one: gin, whiskey, or corn liquor. Some people swear by gin-soaked raisins, while others say a hot toddy at night helps pain. While adding a little liquor probably does help pain, good arthritis care probably does not include alcohol, at least not internally. Just don't do this.

There is no one arthritis food that cures all your symptoms, though some people claim there is. Instead, eating sensibly, consuming a regulated amount of food to maintain a specific weight while paying attention to what nutritionists are telling us will fuel our bodies properly, is the best overall arthritis diet. As with a car, the right fuel solves most of your problems.