A full 20 percent of the U.S. population suffers from doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Who knows how many more are just suffering in silence, undiagnosed?

The term “arthritis” is an umbrella that covers over 100 rheumatic disorders, including lupus, fibromyalgia, gout, and of course rheumatoid arthritis. All of these will make your life miserable to one degree or another through the stiffening of your joints.

The pain and stiffening in your arthritic joints can come from damage, wear and tear, muscle strains, or even fatigue. But the most common source for the agony is inflammation.

There is not much you can usually do to prevent the onset of arthritis, but you can sure make every effort to prevent the pain from getting any worse by eating the wrong foods.

If your consumption of omega-6 fatty acids trumps your consumption of omega-3 fatty acids by a factor of 10 to 1, your body will react with problems like asthma, cardiovascular disease and inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids are the “good” ones you have heard about, the ones you probably do not get enough of that are found in foods like salmon and walnuts. Its omega-6 brethren are the “bad” fatty acids found in corn, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, soy, peanut, and vegetable oil; mayonnaise; and many salad dressings. Because soybean oil is so prevalent in just about every packaged food you find in the grocery stores, its a rare American who can keep her omega-6 to omega-3 ratio below 25 to 1, let alone 10 to 1. Nevertheless, scientists suggest anyone with rheumatoid arthritis get their ratio down even lower, to 2 or 3 to 1, as this will actually suppress inflammation.

According to nutrition legends, nightshades contribute to arthritic inflammation. This family of botanicals includes tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and tobacco. However, not everyone with any form of arthritis needs to avoid nightshades. In fact, the antioxidants in tomatoes and capsaicin in peppers can actually alleviate some of the suffering. To determine whether or not you are someone who will benefit from nightshade abstention, take a break from them for two weeks. If your pain diminishes, you likely have a sensitivity to solanine, a low-level toxin found in nightshades. If you suffer from the arthritis form known as gout, however, know that nightshades are a non-starter for you. A study showed that eating tomatoes increases the levels of uric acid in the bloodstream, and high uric acid is is the major underlying cause of gout.

No one has any good reason to eat sugar, and arthritis sufferers even more so. The cytokines, proteins found in the sweetener, are will trigger inflammation in arthritic joints, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Diet soda is particularly problematic. One study showed that women who drank one soda or more daily had a 63 percent greater risk of arthritis than those who drank none at all.