Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease of unknown cause characterized by symmetrical, multiple, and recurrent joint pain affecting the small joints of the hands and feet; in advanced stages, it leads to joint destruction, deformity, and ankylosis. The diet should consist primarily of foods rich in protein and various vitamins. Patients with the “wind-heat” pattern should consume more cooling foods, such as mung beans, coix seeds, reed root, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, silver flower vine, and sea wind vine, as well as other foods that serve both medicinal and dietary purposes; Patients with the “wind-cold-dampness” pattern should choose warming foods, such as snake meat, dog meat, eel, mutton, beef, animal bones, chicken blood vine, processed aconite, cinnamon twig, and asarum, as well as other food-medicine combinations. Black-striped viper, centipede, whole scorpion, dried silkworm, and ants have shown some efficacy in treating joint deformities and stiffness in the late stages of this disease.
The following are clinically used, affordable, effective, and delicious proven recipes for teas, decoctions, and soups.
Mutton Soup with Prepared Epimedium，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Dispels wind and cold; transforms dampness and unblocks the meridians. Suitable for rheumatoid arthritis of the wind-cold-damp type. as the formula is predominantly warm, avoid prolonged use in those with yin deficiency, dry mouth, or restlessness with heat in the palms and … Read more
Cinnamon Twig and Lamb Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Dispels wind and cold; transforms dampness and unblocks the meridians. Suitable for rheumatoid arthritis of the wind-cold-damp type. the whole decoction leans warm; use with caution in those with yin deficiency and internal heat or lingering excess heat; in the absence of … Read more
Chuanwu Honey Decoction，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Dispels wind and cold; transforms dampness and unblocks the meridians. Suitable for wind-cold type rheumatoid arthritis, characterized by cold, painful, and swollen joints that feel cold to the touch, restricted joint movement, symptoms worsened by cold and alleviated by warmth, a pale tongue with … Read more
Five-Vine Honey Decoction，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Dispels wind, clears heat, transforms dampness, and unblocks the meridians. Suitable for rheumatoid arthritis of the wind-damp-heat pattern, characterized by swollen and painful joints that feel hot to the touch or are subjectively perceived as hot, stiffness in joint flexion and extension, no fever … Read more
Weilingxian, Coix Seed, and Mulberry Twig Decoction，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Dispels wind, clears heat, transforms dampness, and unblocks the meridians. Suitable for rheumatoid arthritis of the wind-damp-heat pattern.
Honeysuckle Vine and Mung Bean Porridge，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Dispels wind, clears heat, transforms dampness, and unblocks the meridians. Suitable for rheumatoid arthritis of the wind-damp-heat pattern.
