People with knee arthritis in their 40s to 80s tend to eat foods that slightly spark inflammation, like processed meats and sugary snacks—but when you adjust for how much they eat overall, their diet is a bit less inflammatory than it first looks.

For older adults with knee arthritis, eating more inflammatory foods doesn’t seem to make their knee pain or function worse, but it does tend to go hand-in-hand with being heavier, having more other health problems, and feeling pain in more joints.

If you're overweight and have painful knees from arthritis, following a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet—like eating more whole foods and omega-3s while cutting back on sugary carbs—over 9 weeks might help reduce your knee pain, make it easier to move around, and improve how you feel overall.