Anti-Inflammation Diet

[SulaBlue]

Has anyone tried an "Anti-Inflammation Diet" for help with their fibromyalgia and/or arthritis/other issues? I'm looking at this as an option but wow, it'll be such a huge, radical change for me. The biggest problem is that I don't have a lot of freezer space (or even a lot of fridge space) as I live in an apartment so I have a smaller-than-usual fridge from probably sometime in the 90s before fridges started getting more and more massive. Cooking meals and freezing them ahead isn't a real option if I want to have any frozen veggies, ice, and any sort of frozen treat in there. Getting a separate chest freezer isn't an ption either as I have no uncarpeted area to put it on (or even a carpeted one really, for that matter!). I'm trying to figure out how to have more nutritious meals when there's days that we just resort to take out due to lack of time and/or utter fatigue. My husband is banned from the kitchen except to do the dishes - I swear, even on something that has directions on it, he'll ask me how to do it!

 

[candygirl]

Well, sometimes radical diet changes don't stick. If you see results from it though, it might. However, I know there are lots of good treatments for inflammation, many herbs and teas. I actually believe beans are also very strong anti-inflammatory foods. Of course they will make you gassy, but just like that effect can be strong, the other effects they provide are strong as well. I think you can eat about a cup or more a day and see some results. If you get tired of eating them as is, you can turn them into chocolate pudding with powdered chocolate, cream and sugar, and you won't know the difference unless you think about it too hard. So if you find the diet is hard to stick to, pinpoint some herbs and foods you can eat every day to reduce inflammation along with your regular diet.

 

[1sweed]

Sula,
I have not tried that diet other than avoiding foods that irrate my bladder. I would say to try to just eat healthier foods and smaller portions throughout the day. You might try a vegatrian diet by using more fruits and vegetables and less meat. Look for some recipes on line, and try ones that fit in with your normal diet. I have tried to maintain a vegatrian diet for the last two years. I still eat fish and wild game, but try to avoid too much red meat and mostly avoid GMO foods.

I might not be to much help for you in this department, but I do care about you and your health.

 

[SulaBlue]

Yeah, I can't really do the vegetarian thing. It gets rather complicated trying to do a lower-carb vegetarian thing, esp if you're avoiding soy. I'm sure it CAN be done, but!

I just got back from the grocery store. They had grass-fed ground beef on sale. I also bought oyster mushrooms and baby bellas, and I have some dried porcinis that I'm going to rehydrate and I'll saute it all up with the organic spinach I bought with some coconut oil (has a higher smoke point and doesn't turn to trans fat like cooking with olive oil does). My husband is off work tomorrow so we're going to the local seafood place tomorrow. They have wild-caught monkfish and cod on sale, so that'll be tomorrow's dinner.

 

[schizophreniatype]

dietary changes are very important in people suffering from fibromyalgia. Usually patients with this disease produce more damaging free radicals than do healthy individuals thus having a reduced antioxidant capacity. therefore, to keep these radicals in check patients are advised to keep a food journal for two weeks to monitor the type of food the patient is eating. As each and every individual is different, the type of food affecting the person will also differ. For eg: the caloric intake of person A will differ from the caloric intake of person B. Patients are also advised to slowly wean off caffeine(be careful not to cut off abruptly as this may cause more fatigue, headache, pain and so on). Smoking should be completely ceased. Alcohol should be avoided for at least 6 months until the symptoms are stabilized. Other stuffs that should be avoided are:

chemical-laden food (such as refined sugars, white flour, monosodium glutamate)
diet rich in carb and starch
junk food/too much sugar and salt

Green leafy veg, fish, and fiber are highly recommended. Plus, fruits should be chosen carefully because some are more glycemic than others. recommended ones are citrus fruits, apples, berries, cantaloupe and peaches.

I hope this helps! Good Luck people

 

[schizophreniatype]

I had a question..... Do therapeutic medicine (such as yoga) help with the pain of fibromyalgia?

 

[SulaBlue]

Schizophreniatype - there's been suggestions/discussions of yoga helping, at least fr those wh can manage to actually do it. Many people with fibromyalgia can't do much physical exercise at all. There's days that something even as gentle as tai chi would be beyond me, for instance, and then other days I feel just fine.

 

[schizophreniatype]

Schizophreniatype - there's been suggestions/discussions of yoga helping, at least fr those wh can manage to actually do it. Many people with fibromyalgia can't do much physical exercise at all. There's days that something even as gentle as tai chi would be beyond me, for instance, and then other days I feel just fine.

Thank you for sharing. I am a health practitioner and I value your info as I can advise my patients the does and donts of fibromyalgias.

 

[SulaBlue]

Well, I don't know if the change in diet is helping or not, but I am feeling better lately. I'll grant that I started eating better just shortly after starting the gabapentin, so it's really hard to say if it's helping or not.

I've been drinking less soda (I still haven't totally given up my diet sodas, but I try to limit it to one a day) and instead I've been drinking hibiscus tea. I wasn't even aware, but apparently hibiscus tea is high in malic acid, which has been used as a treatment in fibromyalgia! So, not only am I reducing one thing that may aggravate my fibro (aspartame/sucralose), I've unwittingly added in something that could benefit it! Hibiscus tea has also been shown to help reduce blood pressure and I know it's had that effect on me in the past.

We've been eating a lot of "anti-inflammatory" foods lately. More fresh vegetables (I'm snacking on kale chips right now!), some fresh fish, grass-fed beef, and lots and lots of onions, garlic, ginger, tumeric, cayenne pepper and other spices reported to have anti-inflammatory properties. I've signed up for Dr. Weil's "recipe of the day" and get a free recipe (and one spam message to sign up for his program at $4 a week, but hey, nothing's truly free, right?) each day in the mail.

This also means that there's been less take out and fast food, which I honestly shouldn't have been eating ANYWAY due to my diabetes, but some days I just flat out didn't have the energy. I still need to find healthier options for those days.

 

[BrianWolfe]

I've cut out all soft drinks from my diet. I still drink green tea and herbal teas but have stopped drinking coffee. I've also started eating more fresh vegetables and seafood with lean chicken and some beef. I also use a lot of Indian spices in my cooking as they're full of turmeric, pepper, garlic, onions, fenugreek and coriander, foods that are anti-inflammatory.

 

[mariposa]

I'm finding this thread extremely informative. Thank you for all your posts here! I think that
switching to more anti-inflammatory diet is a good idea for everyone... and the fact that it
may help with the Fibro symptoms is an added bonus. I'll need to check into this further and
see what changes I can make in my family's diet for all kinds of health benefits and also
suggest it to my friends with Fibro and chronic pain. Makes sense on a number of levels.

 

[SulaBlue]

Tonight it's going to be pork chops from grass fed pork. I hope they're still good, actually. I found them at the back of the old freezer and I think they're over a year old. No date. derp! They're vacuum sealed from the meat processing plant that the local farm I bought them from and I see no signs of frostbite, so, here's to hoping when I open them in a little bit. Asparagus was on sale for 99 cents a pound and I had my husband pick up 4 pounds, and I'm going to blanch and freeze some of that. Green beans are currently only 88 cents, so going to just quick-wash, dry, and freeze some green beans as well. Nothing like freshly frozen produce that you know hasn't had weird stuff added to it. I'm loving having the much bigger freezer! I may even be able to go back to being in my local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and basically buying a "share" in the farm.

 

[mariposa]

Yes.. that's one of the things I like most about the summer months. I can go to the local farmer's market and buy produce knowing exactly what I'm getting and not have to worry about what additives, sprays, and things I can't even pronounce were added to the food I'll be putting on my family's plates. That peace of mind is worth a lot.

So how were those chops? Any freezer burn?

 

[SulaBlue]

No freezer burn, and they were quite tasty! Another benefit of high-quality, minimally processed meat.

 

[TheMagician007]

I think that sounds interesting. I have heard of various foods and supplements that might be helpful and have anti-inflammatory effects. I need to do some research on the topic and see which foods are included. I can only do the best I can, with the options available to me. But, it's worth a try.