I was talking with someone recently who mentioned the IRD or Inflammation Reduction Diet. Since pain originates because of arthritis or any of a number of conditions, I decided to investigate further. Right here in our own Seattle's Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, a study was done to see if low glycemic, high fiber diets could reduce inflammation. Amazing results occurred even in obese people. You can read the synopsis of the article originally published in The Journal of Nutrition here.
The topic for today's posting came to me because I have been suffering more than usual from joint pain. I did a mental review of my diet over the last weeks and realized that I have been consuming more cheese and wheat, and refined sugars than I usually consume in my typical diet. In only 2 days of eliminating refined flour, even my favorite gluten free breakfast cereal and cutting cheese from my diet, I have much less joint pain. A side benefit is less bloat and gas.
Isn't it maddening to have to come back to this over and over again?! Our taste buds undermine our aversion to pain. The subtle build up of the offending foods catches us by surprise. We reach for the medicine chest.
Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Alert has just published a White Paper on Arthritis. I have my $19.95 copy in my hands. Their list of conditions/ diseases that cause pain interests me, because friends have rejected this blog as not having to do with them. They have fibromyalgia or Lyme's Disease and a blog about staying out of a wheel chair doesn't pertain to them. Or so they think.
Check out this list:
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Gout
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Bursitis
- Fibromyalgia
- Lupus
- Lyme disease
All of these conditions cause pain. In fact it is the pain that drives a person to the doctor for a diagnosis. And all of these conditions advancing to their extremes, could land you in a wheel chair.
My objective in these blog posts is to help anyone in pain figure out what causes it (a doctor is helpful here), learn about medical and surgical remedies and about alternative methods one could employ to reduce the pain. It is my hope that if you are a pain sufferer, you will see yourself in these articles and take hope. My goal is to help you be healthy. If you have suggestions that I have not offered as yet, I would appreciate your sharing them.
When I have had a chance to review the Arthritis White Paper, I'll recommend it to you. Or not. Johns Hopkins states at the onset that the more we can study and learn about our condition, the better able we are to manage it for a full, active life.
Be well, Do well and Keep Moving!
Betsy
BetsyBell'sHealth4U
206 933 1889
www.HiHoHealth.com
I have been a yoga instructor for years, engaging in a predominantly vegetarian diet. At 60, I wondered why I had increased pain, and couldn't lose weight, even when upping my exercise. Duh! I switched my diet to meat, vegetables...no carbs and sugars, and voila, the weight is dropping off and so is the pain. What is most astonishing is this: how we adopt a certain way of being or attitude for many years, thinking it is "the right way"...when in fact...things change. Red meat was the enemy, but now my paradigm has been blown! (I love when that happens). Thanks, Betsy. This couldn't have been a more timely post!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and for your support. It is amazing how our mind fits us into the current culture. It is really challenging to live in the world but not of the world. I'm a very convivial eater and drinker. It's lucky that I'm alone so much for my meals. Even then sometimes a thimble full of neat single malt Scotch can call to me. Betsy
Deleteboth your blog and the article make sense; eat well to avoid pain
ReplyDeleteSince I do not eat much of anything that I don't prepare, I can attest to the pain-producing effects of processed foods because it happens within an hour of my eating someone else's uncareful cooking. I have to load up on fresh greens to counteract. Tomorrow and next Saturday will be tough because I will be eating with others, their cooking. I will try to build up on the cleansing foods as I have done today. I have to remember to drink fresh fruit/veggie smoothies.
I'm putting in at least two organic gardens here in Kansas, so I'll have great food for the foreseeable future.
A friend of mine in Bolinas has an experimental garden where she grows several vegetables that are supposed to help our bodies regain healthful states.
There is something called ashitaba that bolsters immunity.
No preservatives, including salt for me, raw as often as possible, and exercise all help to make me feel healthy and pain-free. from Joanne
Hello Betsy
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that you've been struggling with more pain, too.
January and February were very difficult months for me. I couldn't get out of pain, especially in my right hip joint. I took prednisone, strong pain killers and still had to stay fairly quiet (no beach walks, no Zumba, no weight/strength training)... I could barely put pressure on my right leg and I hurt all over!
With green juicing, raw food diet, and acupuncture twice a week I have worked my way back to just taking Aleve at night, and normal activities including gentle yoga and aqua aerobics. It still seems that a hip replacement is in my future, but I'm postponing that with the hope that I can heal the damage in my hip.
You are absolutely right about how easy it is to let some of the wonderful, traditional, comfort foods creep back into the diet. So often, my treat to myself has taken the form of a sugary or salty snack, even knowing how I will suffer. I don't know how long I will continue on the raw food diet; I have worked my way through a cookbook and my dehydrator runs continuously, but there are very, very few recipes I look forward to eating. I've recently added my favorite cooked vegetables and that is a little better, but still occasionally crave cheese, cookies, chicken.
Thanks for doing your fine work, encouraging us all to be well and learn as much as we can about the healing process.
My friend Anne wrote this to me via gmail.
Hello Betsy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for keeping me on your mailing list. I love hearing from you and this particular set of information was very informative for me. I have still got a right knee problem that I have had since before we met on the Earthbound expeditions trip to Austria and Prague in Nov. of 2004! The cartilage is gone and I am moving with bone on bone. The inflammation is caused by some arthritis that has settled in there, but also with the friction. I need surgery, but want to avoid the down time with this knee replacement procedure that will take the better part of a year to restore full movement again. I am currently going to a physical therapist that has given me some muscle strengthening exercises that do help. I use ice and massage and IBU occasionally.
I still have some of the Joint and muscle pain cream I got from you years ago, but I would like to invest in 2 more tubes of that. It feels so good. I use it on my right hand too that has arthritis as well.
Carol