Healthy dietary pattern and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

We aimed to determine the degree to which a healthy dietary pattern is associated with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

We registered this systematic review and meta-analysis in PROSPERO (CRD42025645056). Inclusion criteria were validated diet (anti-inflammatory, Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and/or healthy eating index [HEI]); validated RA definition; dietary exposure preceding RA; and randomized controlled trial, cohort, or case-control design. We searched CENTRAL, Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and grey literature as of 2/3/2025. We assessed risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analyses combined adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) for incident RA using random effects models. For heterogeneity, we calculated I² and performed subgroup analyses. We assessed certainty of evidence using GRADE.

We included 12 case-control and cohort studies (8 of which were independent) in the review. Three studies were low risk of bias, 3 moderate, 3 high, and 3 very high. Healthy overall dietary pattern was associated with lower risk of incident RA (OR 0.54, 95 % CI 0.32-0.91, I²=81 %). Including only studies with the lowest risk of bias was also associated with lower RA risk (OR 0.84, 95 % CI 0.76-0.94, I²=0 %). Anti-inflammatory (OR 0.56, 95 % CI 0.31-0.99), Mediterranean (OR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.78-0.99), and HEI (OR 0.60, 95 % CI 0.25-1.47) patterns all showed lower point estimates for RA. Overall level of certainty in these results was moderate due to the studies' observational nature.

In observational studies, healthy dietary pattern is associated with reduced risk of incident RA.