The Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis can help people reverse their symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. This is by implementing important lifestyle changes centred on diet, exercise, stress reduction, and supplementation. The Paddison Program uses these lifestyle interventions to help rebuild health alongside the regular pharmaceutical care of your Rheumatologist.
The program is not against medication but is pro-health. By helping you to achieve a healthier body and make informed decisions along your health journey you can start to feel better. In this article, we take a look at a case study of Suzanne from Virginia. We see how this natural treatment for rheumatoid arthritis pain helped her feel better.
Before Joining the Paddison Program
Suzanne first noticed swelling in her left knuckle, which faded away after a few days but she then developed pain in her left knee. When her knees became larger than they should be, she consulted with her doctor who ran some tests for rheumatoid arthritis. These tests include anti-CCP antibodies test, rheumatoid factor, and inflammatory markers such as CRP and ESR.
The tests came back positive and it was suggested she should arrange to see a rheumatologist. Suzanne took some time to think about it and went home to research rheumatoid arthritis. She then signed up for the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis.
How Can the Paddison Program Help With Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Suzanne has made some tremendous improvements with her rheumatoid arthritis by following the Paddison Program and she wanted to share this with others. The finger swelling and pain she experienced are now minimal. She can now close her fist, the pain in her self-reported wrist pain has reduced from 9 to 3, on a 10-point scale. And she now has a reduced need for medication.
Before starting, Suzanne felt as though she was living a healthy lifestyle. However, the Paddison Program incorporates a variety of RA-specific lifestyle changes and Suzanne made progress from the very beginning. Thereafter, her progress was steady.
As Clint Paddison says, it takes a long time for our bodies to become ill. So reversing the symptoms is going to take time too.
So how did Suzanne start with the program? Suzanne began initially with the online course and found this to be a good start. But after a year began to feel like she needed some more support. So she joined Rheumatoid Support which she found to be hugely beneficial.
Exercise for Rheumatoid Arthritis on the Paddison Program
In this case study, we learn that Suzanne was already exercising regularly when her joints became inflamed. She felt as though she was doing many of the right things with her health. Her fitness regime already consisted of running, weights, and some high-intensity cardiovascular exercise.
However, with her knee and ankle symptoms, Suzanne felt she had to make changes to her exercise routine. This meant that she reduced the intensity of her workouts to a more gentle, low-intensity jog and yoga. Here is an example of some relaxing yoga poses
When Suzanne started the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis, she read about Bikram Yoga. Bikram Yoga has many health benefits [1] especially for Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. The postures do not load the wrists or other commonly-afflicted joints the same way common yoga classes can. Suzanne doesn’t go to a class as she likes to exercise at home because that is an important routine for her.
In the Paddison Program, Clint mentions the importance of a routine. So however you chose to exercise, whether it’s a walk, yoga, or a gentle swim in your local pool you need to do it every day. Daily exercise is key to reducing RA symptoms.
The exercise can fit your ability and comfort level. It can vary from a walk in nature to challenging yoga classes or lifting weights, with everything in between. The rule of thumb is that all exercise is helpful. But avoid any exercise that causes your joints to hurt more the following day. A little discomfort during a workout is usually OK, but pain the next day shows the exercise irritated the joint. Switch the exercise if this occurs.
The Paddison Program Encourages Personalisation
The Paddison Program encourages personalisation and adaptability. What is important is that you take the knowledge in the program and identify what works for you. Suzanne shares a wonderful message in that you shouldn’t let the changes you make to the activities deter you.
It doesn’t have to be Bikram in a gym class if you find that you gain improved joint flexibility from yoga on the beach, for example. And perhaps it’s because you can’t commit to a gym class and you find the serenity of the beach a peaceful place for yoga. It’s all about finding what works for you as an individual.
Suzanne has another great tip. She points to the many online fitness classes and videos available. So there are plenty of options for you to maintain a regular fitness routine. The main goal with the Paddison Program is to make the positive changes part of a routine, an established habit. And then the results will show.
Surprise Diet Changes
Before beginning the Paddison Program, many people, like Suzanne, already consider that they are eating healthily. As a vegan, Suzanne realised that she was eating a lot of nut butters and coconut oil. And she discovered that she can’t eat these foods because they directly affect her level of rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
Nut butters come up from time to time, and people ask about consuming nut butter. Clint advocates eating everything in the original whole food form. With the example of nuts, when the nut is crushed it is then immediately susceptible to oxidation. The oxidation increases with time, having a deleterious effect on health.
Instead, if you would like to try nuts, Clint suggests that you try whole dry roasted nuts in the order of pistachios, cashews, and then almonds. Or, cover and soak raw nuts such as macadamias or almonds for 12 hours, followed by rinsing them thoroughly before eating. They can be stored in the fridge.
Can you Drink Coffee with the Paddison Program for Rheumatoid Arthritis?
For many people, giving up coffee is quite a challenge, like Suzanne in this case study found. She did a coffee detox. When she re-introduced coffee she found her mood improved and for her and it didn’t cause any joint pain. Suzanne began to feel guilty drinking coffee and realised this was a stressor in itself.
Coffee is not a healing food. However, claiming that a cup of coffee will undermine progress when you’re doing all the other things correctly is far-fetched. It’s not in the same detrimental category as oils, meat, or dairy. So, if you’ve got 95% of the Program right and your little cheat isn’t undermining your progress then you should be achieving ongoing improvement towards your goals.
It could feel like a failure, as it did to Suzanne, but Clint advises that if it helps you stick with the rest of the program then you’re certainly ahead of the game. Sticking with the fundamental goals of the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis will help you with any challenges that you come across when you make the necessary changes to your diet and lifestyle to help you reduce the symptoms associated with your rheumatoid arthritis.
Is Coffee Detrimental to Rheumatoid Arthritis
So is coffee detrimental to rheumatoid arthritis? Drinking coffee is associated with an increased risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis onset [2]. So, Clint explains that coffee is out of the program to give everyone the best possible chance of success. Decaffeinated coffee is also associated with RA development. A study showed women who drank four or more cups of decaffeinated coffee daily doubled their risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis compared to those who drank no coffee at all. [3]
Although the Paddison program doesn’t promote it, there may be other benefits to drinking coffee. So, for example, if you find a cup of coffee helps you to have a regular, normal bowel movement then it would be better to drink coffee than suffer from constipation. Constipation is more detrimental than problems associated with caffeine consumption. This is assuming of course that the coffee doesn’t aggravate rheumatoid arthritis symptoms!
Coffee also stimulates stomach acid. If someone has low stomach acid, a cup of coffee may aid their digestion. Having sufficient stomach acid in the stomach is important because stomach acids are heavily required for protein digestion.
Juicing and Smoothies, are they on the Paddison Program for Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Many healthy people love their juicing and smoothies. The Paddison Program advocates plenty of salad, vegetables, and fruit. Clint recommends experimenting with a daily green smoothie as the more greens in your diet the better.
There is a recipe for a Green Goodness Juice on the website. This is a great way to alkalise and feel energised in the morning. Green veggies are fantastic for optimising your health. The Green Goodness Juice includes cucumbers which are known to have several health benefits. [4]
Suzanne has a great tip for green smoothies. She takes a bag of kale and puts it straight in the freezer. She then takes it out two days later and crunches it up into tiny powdery pieces. This just goes straight in scoops into her smoothie. This also works with leftover salad.
Fruit is also an amazing addition to your diet. You can read about the benefits of vitamin C in your diet when you have rheumatoid arthritis in this article here. Choose your favourites but oranges, cantaloupe, and blackberries are all great options.
Vitamin C in your diet is essential not only to help your body heal and fight infections but it has also been found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis have on average 50% less Vitamin C circulating in the body compared to those without.
When considering your rheumatoid arthritis diet it is important to understand the impact of bacteria in your digestive system and how they influence your immune system. Research [5] has found that a positive microbiome within your body is beneficial for your body’s recovery from the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. You can read all about the microbiome in the body and how this affects your joints by reading this blog article here.
Supplements with the Paddison Program
One question is often asked about supplements with the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis. There is a lot of advice on alternative supplements that you can find within Clint’s book that is available through the Paddison Program website.
Any decision you make about taking supplements with the Paddison Program should include objective advice, conducting your own research, and consultation with your medical professional.
Many people on the program have decided to take supplements like probiotics, EPA/DHA, hydrochloric acid supplements, and digestive enzymes. These members have also monitored how they’ve reacted to these supplements and the way they assist in introducing new foods in the reintroduction process. This can be best achieved through the use of a diet journal, which can include supplements also.
Some simple supplements, such as Vitamin C and turmeric, can be a great addition to support your health and symptom minimisation. Make sure you research any supplements carefully. There is a lot of guidance on these options throughout the Paddison Program or rheumatoid arthritis materials, where the scientific research is presented for you to consider.
You can get advice from your doctor and talk to people who are on the same journey inside Rheumatoid Support.
Using the Journal Section of the Paddison Program for Rheumatoid Arthritis
The Journal allows you to keep track of your diet and your general progress with the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis. A benefit of this is that you can look back and see where you might need to make tweaks so if you go slightly off track with your diet.
Evidence-based literature supports that people who regularly write down their problems with rheumatoid arthritis have a better health outcome than those people who don’t [6].
Keeping a journal will allow you to keep all your health information in one place. You can record your medical results, discussions, and notes from meetings with your doctor. Then, you can keep track of your dietary intake so to be able to confirm foods that are safe and focus on any foods that appear to exacerbate your symptoms. You can keep a record of your exercise and this can be rewarding.
By logging her exercise habits, one of the members of the Paddison Program amazingly got to 800 yoga sessions!
You can also use this diary to make goals so you can see what you’re trying to achieve. Anthony Robbins says that what we record improves and what we record and then share with others improves exponentially.
People who talk about their problems with others have a better health outcome. Talking about your problem and what you’re facing allows you to process the situation and gain clarity. Part of the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis support forum enables you to access a member’s journal where you can learn from others and help them with your opinions and experiences also.
Mindfulness and Celebrating Small Victories
With so many challenges that RA presents, we have to be mindful not to dwell on the negative aspects of life. If we ruminate on the problems in life then negativity can overrun our thoughts, and this can harm both us, and the people around us.
Suzanne highlights the potential prognosis for rheumatoid arthritis and how she feared for her future 10 years on. She has therefore chosen to visualise herself as healthy and to picture a future existence in which she is happy, strong, and in control of her symptoms.
To help with momentum, we can use positive reinforcement of daily successes. It’s important to celebrate small victories and to see where results are coming from to repeat them thereafter. These may include being able to reintroduce more healthy foods without pain, or achieving a new physical milestone like lifting a heavier weight or getting further into a yoga pose.
With effort, and mindfulness, you can then reflect on these achievements frequently, and with this deliberate focus on successful achievements, we train the brain as to what is important and more progress can follow.
Exercise is a way of reducing stress for free. As the body is engaged with the activity, the mind can be pulled away from miscellaneous thoughts and become reconnected to the activity. This is beneficial for the health of both the body and mind [7]. This is a great intervention if a day is particularly challenging.
Rather than sitting still and feeling frustrated in swirling thoughts, challenge yourself to do some exercise and improve your health and well-being. You may find that after exercising you have a more balanced emotional state and can handle the rest of the day with more optimism.
Every Small Achievement
With RA, every small achievement towards better health is crucial to protect against joint degradation and to reduce day-to-day pain. Every improvement made while part of the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis is progress. Even if you feel just 1% better early on, then you should keep going because the effect is cumulative.
Clint speaks in more detail about why you should be keeping with a course of action for that cumulative benefit in a video here. He also speaks in that case study about the importance of keeping positive while on the program, and how to achieve this.
Visualising Your Goal
Suzanne talks about how she initially worried about her prognosis for ten years, especially as she is now 55 years old. This is completely normal and expected. Having a systemic autoimmune condition can be overwhelming and reading about the potential progression of rheumatoid arthritis can be scary.
In this article, we talk about how rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease, and when we began to treat the body, it heals as a whole. So by focusing on treating the body as a whole, and addressing the underlying cause of the condition, then external symptoms will follow suit.
Visualising your goals is a great way to stay focused and achieve success. Suzanne shares with us how she visualises herself healthy and well. And this positive outlook enables her to enjoy life and feel more optimism and happiness.
Creative visualisation experts explain that whatever the mind focuses on in a repetitious way the more it recreates those experiences in life. This is true for both perceived negatives and perceived positives. For example, if there is a great emotional drama connected to every invoice to be paid in your email inbox, it does begin to appear over time that the entire inbox is full of bills.
In contrast, the things to focus on are joyful moments such as receiving a card from a relative or a letter from a friend. Those are certainly moments to share and celebrate and to recall often, as a mental programming strategy.
Suzanne advises that if you have something in your day that has bothered you then take five minutes to process your feelings and then put them aside and go and do something useful for your health with your day.
How the Paddison Program Podcast can Help
Suzanne also shares with us how beneficial she has found the Paddison Program podcasts (now called the Rheumatoid Solutions Podcast) to be. They have been a great support and encouragement to her, especially when feeling hopeless and helpless. The support from the Podcasts has helped Suzanne to focus on being healthy and well and have reassurance in all that she is doing.
The podcast episodes support everyone on the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis and are a great resource. They are full of useful information, evidence-based research, and the experience of others who are also reversing their symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by following a healthier lifestyle.
Conclusion
Suzanne came straight to the Paddison Program after her initial diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Suzanne has transformed her health by following the Paddison Program. The changes Suzanne has made have enabled her to define the odds by not having the number of symptoms that she could typically be experiencing at this stage.
You can use the Paddison Program for rheumatoid arthritis while working with your physician and can join at any time in your journey with arthritis. You can also read more members’ stories and hear from those who have reversed their symptoms, regained movement, and those that have managed to reduce or stop their medication.
Thanks to Suzanne, a member of Paddison Program Support for sharing her story and providing helpful hints.
[1] Hewett ZL, Cheema BS, Pumpa KL, Smith CA. The Effects of Bikram Yoga on Health: Critical Review and Clinical Trial Recommendations. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:428427. doi:10.1155/2015/428427
[2] Heliövaara M, Aho K, Knekt P, et al Coffee consumption, rheumatoid factor, and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 2000;59:631-635
[3] Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Jan;46(1):83-91. Coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Mikuls TR1
[4] Mukherjee PK, Nema NK, Maity N, Sarkar BK. Phytochemical and therapeutic potential of cucumber. Fitoterapia. 2013 Jan;84:227-36. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2012.10.003. Epub 2012 Oct 23. PMID: 23098877
[5] Bodkhe R, Balakrishnan B, Taneja V. The role of microbiome in rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 2019;11:1759720X19844632. Published 2019 Jul 30. doi:10.1177/1759720X19844632