Therapeutic and preventive nutrition is not only a means of providing patients with essential nutrients to meet the metabolic demands of the body, but also an important non-pharmacological method for correcting multiple pathogenetic mechanisms of disease, enhancing the effects of pharmacotherapy, and normalizing adaptive-compensatory and regulatory components of sanogenesis. Based on contemporary literature data and own data, the authors analyze the therapeutic effects of dietary components on key mechanisms involved in the development of rheumatic diseases (RDs). Algorithms for individualizing therapeutic nutrition programs for patients with major RDs are presented. Principles of modern clinical dietetics that may be of interest to practicing physicians are also discussed. © 2026, Ima-Press Publishing House. All rights reserved.