Anti-inflammatory diet

[Nam2001]

I have a hunch that my diet is causing inflammation in my joints. (Or at least isn’t helping things)  I’m headed to the doctor next week. It hurts mostly in my elbows but overall most joints hurt. I’m 44. Any books or sites you’d recommend I take a look at while I’m waiting for my appointment? 

[Peso]

I'm in the same boat but with my knees (and I'm 10 years older than you are!).  I'd love to hear recommendations as well - and good luck at your appointment!

Edited March 20, 2019 by Peso

[Ellie]

The Autoimmune Protocol

I learned about it on the Hashimoto's 411 Facebook page after I was diagnosed with Hashi's. Happily for me, the only food I react to is dairy, although I can still have dairy products in small amounts. Cream in my hot tea several days in a row results in joint pain (inflammation).

[Pen]

I think it can be different for different people, with individual sensitivity reactions... but solanum family (tomato, potato (not sweet/yam type), eggplant) can be inflammatory for many.  Grains and / or Dairy are frequent culprits. Sugar.   Artificial flavorings, colors, preservatives, etc., can be a problem.  Hydrolyzed protein, soy, for some people.  A friend of mine has trouble with all legumes.  

OTOH turmeric, and ginger are often anti-inflammatory, so Indian curries incorporating those could be good.   Some people I know seem to find raw foods diet anti-inflammatory.  (ETA could be the raw aspect, could also be that when all is raw it also means all is mostly whole foods and quite natural). Some seem to find Keto or modified keto anti-inflammatory. 

Some vitamins/supplements tend to be anti-inflammatory.

ETA: probiotic  / fermented foods seem to help some people.

If you aren’t anti-Mercola, as many on WTM seem to be, I think his website has had some helpful articles on this subject.  

Joint inflammation in elbows or shoulders also tends in my mind due to personal experience, to raise question of possible Lyme ? Though usually that would give more general feeling sick, and perhaps foggy headed, not just joint inflammation 

Edited March 20, 2019 by Pen

[Pen]

For example: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/02/02/anti-inflammatory-foods-herbs-spices.aspx

there have been many on this topic

ps if you (anyone reading this) are a WTM anti-Mercola type please just ignore.  I’m trying to be helpful. “Use what helps and leave the rest.”

Edited March 20, 2019 by Pen

[mathnerd]

Turmeric with a pinch of black pepper to aid its absorption is a powerful anti inflammatory food that can be included with most dishes like salad dressings, stir fries, soups, rice and curries. A lot of Indian curries and rice dishes use turmeric. You can steep turmeric into milk or almond milk to make golden milk and drink it every day. Turmeric comes in the form of tea bags as well.

If  it is not possible to include it in al of the above forms, concentrated turmeric is sold in pill form. I try to include turmeric every day in my diet as it is a powerful antioxidant in addition to being a powerful anti inflammatory supplement. Good luck.

[BeachGal]

Photomedicine is worth investigating if you have arthritis. The expert to check out in the US is Michael Hamblin at Harvard. If you were to go that route, for arthritis you'd probably want a near infrared device. Joovv is considered a good brand but they're pricey. They sell a handheld device that would probably work and they're cheaper.

A pulsed electromagnetic frequency device, like the Sota, would work, too. Dr. Pawluk has a lot of information about these at his site.

Both take awhile to work depending on how your body responds and how much you use it. You'd probably want to use them for a few months but they do work.

[Pen]

3 hours ago, Ellie said:

The Autoimmune Protocol

I learned about it on the Hashimoto's 411 Facebook page after I was diagnosed with Hashi's. Happily for me, the only food I react to is dairy, although I can still have dairy products in small amounts. Cream in my hot tea several days in a row results in joint pain (inflammation).

 

One thing I like about the foods in link you posted is that they are...well... foods.  

I think I do better with modified “ keto” type eating than “paleo”— that is, higher emphasis on healthy fats, lower on healthy proteins and carbs, but anything that doesn’t specify healthy natural foods could likely be more harmful than healthy — if people just avoid a class of nutrients and substitute in the worst of what’s theoretically ok on a particular nutritional plan. 

 

[Pawz4me]

My rheumatologist says that of all the diets his patients try more seem to report good results from a vegetarian diet with the emphasis on whole foods. He also recommends supplementing with turmeric (500 mg. twice a day).

But like @Pen said--we're all different. I haven't found that dietary tweaks make any difference at all in my RA (or Hashi's), but my baseline diet for decades has been what the rheumy recommended--vegetarian, mostly whole foods. I of course have no way of knowing if I might be a lot worse if I hadn't already been eating that way for most of my life.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Pawz4me

[Pen]

14 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

My rheumatologist says that of all the diets his patients try more seem to report good results from a vegetarian diet with the emphasis on whole foods. He also recommends supplementing with turmeric (500 mg. twice a day).

But like @Pen said--we're all different. I haven't found that dietary tweaks make any difference at all in my RA (or Hashi's), but my baseline diet for decades has been what the rheumy recommended--vegetarian, mostly whole foods. I of course have no way of knowing if I might be a lot worse if I hadn't already been eating that way for most of my life.

 

Underlying problems may also play a  role.  I may do better with higher fat because I need the fats to keep nerves better myelinated, for example.  

While some joint problems flare from too much protein.  

Every time I’ve tried vegetarian, my chronic fatigue issues have flared. It seems like I need to have some meat for any energy.  For me neurological and fatigue problems are worse than joint issues usually.  

I think the blood type diet was debunked, but there may also actually be something to the idea that certain nutritional plans will fit better or worse with how someone’s blood type, enzymes or ____ handle it.  Obviously so for lactose intolerance, but probably much more than just that.

 

[Ellie]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

My rheumatologist says that of all the diets his patients try more seem to report good results from a vegetarian diet with the emphasis on whole foods. He also recommends supplementing with turmeric (500 mg. twice a day).

But like @Pen said--we're all different. I haven't found that dietary tweaks make any difference at all in my RA (or Hashi's), but my baseline diet for decades has been what the rheumy recommended--vegetarian, mostly whole foods. I of course have no way of knowing if I might be a lot worse if I hadn't already been eating that way for most of my life.

A vegetarian diet could easily include foods that are known to cause problems for many people, hence the Autoimmune Protocol Diet, which eliminates all the likely culprits, then adds them back in one by one, so that someone can be sure which foods, if any, are causing problems.

[ScoutTN]

Avoiding sugar and grains helps me lots. 

[Slache]

Whole30.

[BlsdMama]

Didn't see if anyone recommended this or not, but I'd take a good hard look at the Wahl's Protocol.  The MS Association is taking her work pretty seriously.  There are many people seeing differences with the protocol.  She's a doctor from the University of Iowa was completely crippled by MS.  She still has MS, using some (though less) medicine to handle her disease, however, she was able to bring it under control and regain her ability to walk and bicycle.

[ktgrok]

If you do nothing else, cut out sugar. Sugar absolutely is inflammatory for me. So much so. 

[tdbates78]

I have SIBO, IBS-C, gastritis, fibromyalgia (I question that diagnosis) and I'm in midst of testing with my Rheumy as he thinks I may have Ankylosing Spondylitis.

I started Keto in January and it's been life changing for me. The super annoying 8-months pregnant SIBO belly is gone. The aches and pains are gone. The fatigue is mostly gone, and the mysterious rashes have all gone away. I've tried Low Fodmap, Paleo and AIP in the past and while I felt better it was never that drastic. Keto, for me, has been a game changer. I've learned along the way that sugars (I have a major sweet tooth) and carbs cause a lot of my problems. If I cheat on keto that becomes obvious immediately. The bloating is back and I deal with back and leg aches. 

It's frustrating because I miss baked goods (I love to bake) and donuts and french fries and pretty much all the things I can't eat. But feeling better makes it worthwhile. I don't have a lot of weight left to lose (I lost the 10 pounds I wanted to lose pretty quickly) so that will eventually be a concern. It's hard enough trying to get enough fat and protein in each day (I'm not a huge meat eater) so my calorie count is relatively low based on my activity level and daily gym visits. 

[shawthorne44]

6 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

Didn't see if anyone recommended this or not, but I'd take a good hard look at the Wahl's Protocol.  The MS Association is taking her work pretty seriously.  There are many people seeing differences with the protocol.  She's a doctor from the University of Iowa was completely crippled by MS.  She still has MS, using some (though less) medicine to handle her disease, however, she was able to bring it under control and regain her ability to walk and bicycle.

A friend of mine was diagnosed with MS.   She saw real improvement with Wahl's even though it was a miserable way to eat.   Then it turned out that she really had Chronic Lyme's Disease.   She described the diet as "not allowed anything that makes food taste good.  But must have X amount of organ meats."   

[GailV]

21 minutes ago, shawthorne44 said:

A friend of mine was diagnosed with MS.   She saw real improvement with Wahl's even though it was a miserable way to eat.   Then it turned out that she really had Chronic Lyme's Disease.   She described the diet as "not allowed anything that makes food taste good.  But must have X amount of organ meats."   

Dh was diagnosed with MS that turned out to be Chronic Lyme's.  He, too, follows an anti-inflamatory diet, but not Wahl's -- he's figured out what works for him.  He started with GAPS, and went from there.  He's more of an "eats to live, not lives to eat" sort of person, so the bit about food not tasting good isn't such an issue.

If I eat corn my joints will hurt.  Dh is fine with corn, but avoids all other grains.

If I take turmeric I itch.  I think if I took it several days in a row I'd break out in hives.

[BeachGal]

For MS, Valter Longo, researcher at USC, has been getting good results with MS patients using a fasting or fasting-mimicking diet (fmd).

Fasting or fmd for about five days kills off about 40% of the immune system. Then, after resuming eating, new stem cells appear along the spinal cord (IIRC) which replace the destroyed immune cells.

Longo thinks fasting or fmd is the body’s way of dealing with autoimmune problems. Helps with cancer, too.

His two interviews with researcher Rhonda Patrick discuss this in more detail. They’re on YouTube.