London: Vitamin C found in fruits and vegetables can help to protect against osteoarthitis. Therefore, scientists advise increased intake of these foods.

Researchers from the Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC), University of Manchester and the Institute of Public Health, at Cambridge University studied about 25,000 people over eight years to see the effect of diet on their arthritis risk, according to a report in British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

"We wanted to find out whether fruit and vegetable consumption, the main dietary source of Vitamin C could affect a person’s risk of developing inflammatory polyarthritis," research dietician Dorothy Pattison said.

They found that 73 cases of the condition and when they looked at their food diaries, they found that these people had a particularly low intake of fruit and vegetables.

However, Professor David Scott, president of the British Society for Rheumatology, said more research was now needed into the area.

ANI