Vegan Diet Improves Painful Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain | Ali DiGiacomo on The Exam Room Podcast
The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee
Physicians Committee
4.9 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2022
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
She tried everything to improve crippling pain from rheumatoid arthritis. Nothing worked nearly as well as eating a vegan diet.
Ali DiGiacomo began suffering from RA at a young age. It ruined a once promising swimming career. Doctors told her that her joints resembled those of someone 50 years older than she was. As the condition grew worse she could barely do much physically let alone compete in the pool.
For the next 10 years she suffered in silence and kept her diagnosis a secret despite having surgery and being put on medication. The invisible illness was all too embarrassing, and she didn't know how her friends would react.
By the age of 21 Ali's condition deteriorated to a point where she could no longer walk without using a cane or even a wheelchair.
Then her fortunes would change when she began exploring whether she could improve her condition by changing her diet. After a friend suggested she try eating a plant-based diet her inflammation levels plummeted.
Today, she is social media star and advocate for RA who shares her journey in hopes of inspiring others. And the one-time swimmer who was forced to abandon the pool due to intense pain is now working as a personal trainer!
Plus, Chuck is joined by Dr. Hana Kahleova who studied 44 RA sufferers who changed their diet for 16 weeks. Dr. Kahleova shares the promising results of the study. Spoiler: Most saw their symptoms significantly improve like Ali!
— — —
Studies
Vegan Diet and RA: https://bit.ly/ArthritisVeganStudy
Covid-19 and Spanish Flu: https://bit.ly/CovidSpanishFlu
— — —
Ali DiGiacomo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anotherdaywithra
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anotherdaywithra
— — —
Chuck Carroll
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ChuckCarrollWLC
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ChuckCarrollWLC
Facebook: http://wghtloss.cc/ChuckFacebook
— — —
21-Day Vegan Kickstart App
iOS: https://bit.ly/VegKStrt-iOS
Android: https://bit.ly/VegKStrtAndrd
Web: https://www.pcrm.org/kickstart
— — —
Barnard Medical Center
Appointments
202-527-7500
— — —
Share the Show
Please subscribe and give the show a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or many other podcast providers. Don't forget to share it with a friend for inspiration!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | She's one of my best friends, she was plant-based. |
| 0:03.5 | So I slowly leaned into it. |
| 0:04.9 | I noticed a big change when I went to my rheumatologist and we did last. |
| 0:09.4 | And she comes in the room and she's like, what are you doing different from your inflammation |
| 0:12.4 | levels are so low? |
| 0:13.4 | And then I was like, oh, I plant-based, could that be it? |
| 0:16.2 | And she shared... |
| 0:18.2 | Welcome to the Exam Room Podcast, brought to you by the Physicians Committee. |
| 0:26.0 | Hi, I am the Weight Loss Champion Chuck Carroll. |
| 0:29.4 | Thank you so very much for raising your health IQ with us in more than 130 countries and |
| 0:34.0 | healthy cities around the globe. |
| 0:36.4 | Canberra, Australia, South Paulo, Brazil, Frisco, Texas. |
| 0:41.6 | We appreciate you helping to make the world a healthier place. |
| 0:45.9 | This is episode 34 of season 5, number 333 overall. |
| 0:52.5 | And today's Exam Room menu is serving up a healthy dose of inspiration. |
| 0:59.0 | Allie DeJacamo, a social media star and personal trainer. |
| 1:04.1 | But she's not your ordinary talking head because she knows what she's talking about. |
| 1:09.6 | And what she's talking about is rheumatoid arthritis. |
| 1:14.1 | At one time Allie had a promising swimming career, but R.A. forced her out of the pool. |
| 1:20.4 | And she hid this painful diagnosis for years, embarrassed to share it at such a young age. |
| 1:26.3 | But eventually, she could barely walk. |
| 1:30.0 | She needed a cane and sometimes even a wheelchair. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Physicians Committee, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Physicians Committee and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.