Alongside the medication and treatments that your medical team may prescribe, there are other ways that you may be able to help manage your arthritis. 

Diet is one of these, although diet and supplements won't cure your condition, and its important that you don't stop taking your medication without talking to your doctor, you may find that it can help. 

The two main aspects of diet that can impact on your condition are: 

Vitamins and Minerals 
Having a balanced diet that includes the vitamins and minerals that you need can help your condition and also protect you against some of the possible side effects of your medication. You should try and make sure that your diet includes: 

• A balanced and varied diet that incudes vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients.
• A diet including fish, pulses, nuts, olive oil and lots of fruit and vegetables. 
• Increased omega-3 fatty acids, for example from oily fish.

Weight
If you are overweight you may find that a healthy diet and some weight loss can help reduce the strain on your joints and impact on the amount of painkillers you need to take. 

If you are prescribed certain medications such as steroids as a young person you might be worried about side effects such as weight gain. Although there is a very small chance that this could happen this usually only occurs when taking a high dose for a long time. As the steroids will help control inflammation you might find you are able to do more physically, including exercise, which will also help to prevent any weight gain. 

More information about diet and healthy eating can be found here.