Eating Out With Arthritis - Indian

·        Making the right choices is very important when choosing to eat Indian food. A very high proportion of people living in India suffer from arthritis and an extremely recent study sugested that "Arthritis has emerged as the most common ailment in the country and around 65% of the population will suffer from the disease by 2013". Indian cuisine has both exceptionally good and exceptionally bad elements for those choosing to follow the Arthritis Diet. 

     Here are some helpful points to follow:

 

      A great amount of ‘essential’ turmeric and ginger are used in all Indian dishes.

·     Tandoori or Tikka options (cooked in a tandoor) are great as main or starter portions as they are tasty, yet aren’t covered in cream or tomato sauces. They are simply dry portions of meat and fish that are pre-marinated and full of flavour, try Tandoori king prawns or Chicken Tikka. These dishes are often served with salad and a lemon wedge.

·         If you like a particular sauce (Rogan Josh, Tikka Massala, Korma) then a good tip is to order a side of this and have a small amount with your Tandoori dish – you will feel satisfied but won’t overdo it on the tomato/butter and cream.

·         Saag dishes are made with a thick spinach sauce but be sure that they don’t also include cream (some do and some don’t so ask your waiter for help). Do remember that most dished are cooked in either vegetable oil or ghee/butter so have all sauce-based dishes sparingly.

·         Opt for a chapatti over naan bread as this is made with wholemeal flour and has little, if any butter or ghee.

·         Any of the rice dishes are also fine but go for steamed rice if you want to avoid the oil or butter that pilau rice is cooked in.

·         Avoid onion bhaji’s or samosas for a starter as these are deep fried in vegetable oil. Some samosas are however baked in a very thin pastry similar to filo so these can be a good option but be sure to check with the waiter.

Eating Out With Arthritis - Japanese and Sushi

Japanese is often a great option for an anti-inflammatory diet, and a healthy diet in general! Sushi would be our cuisine of choice because of its clean, refreshing and very moorish flavours.

• Raw fish is fantastic for Omega-3 intake. Rice is a good starch alternative, but as it is white try to watch how much you are eating. Some sushi bars offer brown rice dishes and I do find brown rice to have a more nutty flavour. Where possible, opt for sashimi (simply sliced raw fish).
• ‘Essential’ Avocado is included in many sushi rolls and hand rolls.
• ‘Essential’ seaweed/nori is great to wrap sushi or eaten in salads. Hiyashi Wakame is a refreshing salad made from seaweed and sesame seeds with a sweet dressing – delicious and one of my favourites!
• Yakitori (grilled chicken) is a great hot starter as are soups such as Miso (especially with added seaweed and tofu).
• Chicken or seafood Laksa (spicy coconut/curry noodle soup) is extremely tasty and great as it is typically served with rice noodles/vermicelli. You can often request for a less spicy version if you would like to avoid chilli.
• Steamed Edamame Beans (or soy beans) are great as a snack/starter and are completely addictive! They also are recently reported to have great anti-inflammatory properties.
• Avoid anything fried or 'tempura' as vegetable oil is often used and is not ideal because of the high amounts of Omega-6.

Eating Out With Arthritis- Thai

After my post on Thai chicken soup I began to think about eating out and the best options for the Arthritis Diet. I thought it would be best to start with Thai cuisine and move on to others in following weeks, and start an ‘Eating Out’ series. 

I mentioned that Thai cookery incorporates many of our ‘essential’ ingredients and here is a list of dishes and options that work best on the diet:

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·     Phad Thai Noodles are perfect as they are made with flat rice noodles (not wheat) and are sweet, nutty, tangy and delicious. You may wish to ask for the dish to be prepared without egg. (Any other noodle dishes with the word ‘phad’ are likely to be flat rice noodles but double check with the person taking your order).

·     Any of the curries (green, red, Massaman) are ok to eat as they incorporate coconut milk (limited) with vegetables, herbs and spices. These curries also contain quite a bit of chilli so bear in mind that chilli is also a 'limited' ingredient. 

·     Steamed fish or barbecued chicken makes a regular appearance on Thai menus and are often served with Green Papaya salad (with dried shrimps and peanuts, but again can be spicy)

·     Soups such as Tom Yum and Tom Kha Gai (see our recipe) are great options for starters and full of flavour. 

·     Any griddled meat such as Satay chicken is another great starter option and is often not too spicy. 

·     Avoid starter platters, unless they contain Satay chicken as many of the nibbles are fried and contain wheat (e.g. sesame prawn toast, spring rolls, wontons/dumplings). 

When eating out at restaurants that offer food that is spicy and cooked with chilli, it is always a possibility to ask the waiter or waitress if the chilli can be taken out or reduced. I have found that most restaurants are happy to accommodate this request wherever possible. 

Chilli is only a 'limited' ingredient (from the nightshade plant family) and you might find that you are not effected by it, but I'm afraid that only trial and error will tell. Eating out at restaurants and at dinner parties are times when you are likely to eat 'limited' ingredients as you don't have total control of the ingredients and preparation.