Possibly, but hard data are sketchy.

Nutritionists certainly agree that eating lots of fruits and vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids - from walnuts, flax seed, and oily fish, such as salmon - is a good idea.

But, "there's been nothing proved" about an anti-inflammatory diet reducing arthritis pain, said Dr. George Blackburn, a nutritionist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School. "So we really shouldn't suggest that you can improve arthritis this way. The best diet is an overall healthy one, in which you get most of your nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, from foods, not supplements."

Karen Collins, a nutrition adviser for the American Institute for Cancer Research, a not-for-profit group that studies diet and cancer, said there is tentative evidence that "a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce levels of CRP, or C-reactive protein, but more evidence is needed," she said. CRP is a marker of inflammation that is used as a key test for heart disease.

And, of course, weight control is key. Excess body fat, particularly in the abdomen, pumps out inflammatory proteins called cytokines that make inflammation worse.