What happened when topical olive oil was pitted against an ibuprofen-type drug for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis? Fifty million Americans suffer from arthritis, and osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common form, making it a leading cause of disability. Several inflammatory pathways underlie the onset and progression of the disease, and so, various anti-inflammatory foods have been put to the test. Strawberries decrease the levels circulating in the blood of an inflammatory mediator known as tumor necrosis factor, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into clinical improvement. For example, drinking cherry juice can lower a sign of inflammation known as C-reactive protein, but it failed to help with the disease. But wait, it says it “provided symptom relief.” Yeah, it did, but no better than placebo, meaning drinking it was essentially no better than doing nothing. Cherries may help with another kind of arthritis called gout, but they failed when it came to osteoarthritis….