Table 2.

Comparison of the effects (or lack thereof) of nutrients/dietary patterns in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus.

	Author, Ref	Dietary Pattern or Nutrient	Study Type	Follow Up	N Patients		Results
					Intervention	Control
RA	Gioxari et al. [36]	Mediterranean diet/PUFAs	Meta-analysis of RCTs	NA	NA	NA	Improvement of joint pain, acute phase reactants and physical function
	Elkan et al. [37]	Gluten-free and vegan diet *	RCT	12 m	38	28	Improvement of disease activity
	Hafstrom et al. [38]	Gluten-free and vegan diet *	RCT	12 m	38	28	Improvement of disease activity
	Muller et al. [39]	Fasting	Systematic literature review	NA	NA	NA	Improvement of pain, morning stiffness and inflammation
	Uden et al. [40]	Fasting	Longitudinal	3–6 w	4	9	Improvement of pain, morning stiffness and inflammation
SLE	Bello et al. [41]	PUFAs	RCT	12 w	42	45	No effect on disease activity No improvement of endothelial function
	Wright et al. [42]	PUFAs	RCT	24 w	30	30	Improvement of disease activity; improvement of endothelial function
	Curado Borges et al. [43]	PUFAs	RCT	12 w	22	27	No effect on serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10
	Pocovi-Gerardino et al. [44]	Mediterranean diet	Cross sectional, non-interventional	NA	SLE N = 280		Improvement of disease activity
	Elkan et al. [45]	Mediterranean diet	Cross sectional, non-interventional	NA	SLE N = 114 NC N = 122		Improvement of disease activity Improvement of endothelial function
	Goharifar et al. [46]	Fasting	Longitudinal	24 ± 5 d	21	19	No effect on disease activity

* no data available on systemic lupus erythematosus; d = days; w = weeks; m = months; NA = not applicable; NC = normal controls; PUFAs = polyunsaturated fatty acids; RCT = randomized controlled trial; SLE= systemic lupus erythematosus.