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Has anyone had luck with their inflammation pain, by eliminating certain foods from your diet?
I have inflammation pain in my shoulders (severe arthritis) and don't want to take meds continuously. I have heard certain foods can be inflammatory: mainly sugars and grains that turn into sugar.
I love bread, so this is a tough one. Before I jump in, has anyone had success with their pain by altering diet?
You may try to make your own sourdough bread from Kamut grains- it may work for you. Sourdough is the key- catch your own wildyeast, not the bakers yeast from the store. https://www.kamut.com/
If you want pre-made bread made from grain, yea the sprouted grain breads probably best. Sprouting the grain converts lot of the starch as the baby plant uses that to grow. They are just horribly expensive at the store and because of that tend towards stale side. Thats whys some stores refrigerate them.
Low carb does help inflammation. I am T2 diabetic. I was determined to get off insulin and went low carb vegetarian. No more foot/ankle swelling as side effect. Meaning I gave up all grain and sugar/honey/etc and starchy veggies. I make a bread substitute using eggs and ground up flax or sunflower seed or chia. These are oily seeds rather than starchy seeds like grain. Bit oil and water in the batter too. Bake it in cast iron skillet on stove top. I like it, satisfies my desire for bread. It needs the eggs to bind it all together. I tried some other methods but the eggs work best. IMHO, the ground up sunflower seeds or ground chia make tastier hotcakes than the flax, but flax is ok and you can combine. The flax + sunnies is good.
I got rid of my inflammation by adding something to my diet. Turmeric.
I decided I could take the pills or I could try it in my diet. I ate one serving of Indian food a day for a month and my inflammation went bye bye.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike930
Something else I tried was turmeric supplements.
We're not into supplements or pills, but sometimes I have sinus inflammation and drink tea made from ground turmeric and unfiltered organic honey (got the tip from some Indian guy), and it clears up. Also if I ever have intestinal inflammation (which is rare nowadays, because I learned how to prevent it), I drink fresh ginger tea, tastes horrible but it helps. We grow fresh basil and my wife drinks tea from that, as well as other fresh herbs that we grow and ground turmeric, and it helps with her arthritis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nik4me
You may try to make your own sourdough bread from Kamut grains- it may work for you. Sourdough is the key- catch your own wildyeast, not the bakers yeast from the store.https://www.kamut.com/
I cultivate yeast from whole grain wheat, whole grain rye, and even millet. I still have a mason jar full of industrial yeast, but haven't touched it in months, leave it in the refrigerator.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HJ99
If you want pre-made bread made from grain, yea the sprouted grain breads probably best. Sprouting the grain converts lot of the starch as the baby plant uses that to grow. They are just horribly expensive at the store and because of that tend towards stale side. Thats whys some stores refrigerate them.
I know of a mill in North Carolina that cultivates sprouted grains (wheat, rye, einkorn, one or two others) and sells the flour directly via website.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike930
Yes. I eliminated as much refined sugar as possible and all coffee. It’s nearly impossible to eliminate all sugar considering how much is in our food, but you can reduce it significantly. From what I read, sugar from fruit doesn’t cause inflammation. Instead of sugary sweets, I replaced them with fresh or frozen fruit. I get frozen blueberries, which are supposed to be anti-inflammatory.
Well, there's "sugar" and artificial substitutes (processed junk) and there are sugars, some combination of C H O, naturally occurring in many plant-based and even dairy foods, and almost everywhere else on organic Earth. Yes, they are both hard to avoid, but with careful selection it is possible to avoid the former.
Coffee! Even decaf? Geez, this elimination is getting worse and worse, lol. I used to take tumeric but can't get it here. Once in awhile, the root itself shows up in the market but I am leery because it stains like the dickens.
If you are looking for turmeric powder, you should find it in any Indian grocery store.
I love dairy, used to eat some sort of dairy 5, 6 sometimes 7 days a week.
Well, it started to dawn on me that I would have flare-ups of joint inflammation after eating certain types of dairy.....aged cheeses are one of the worst. Cut way back on all dairy and it has helped a lot with the creaky, crackly joints.
Yeah, this simplifies it. Wheat and dairy are the 2 main problem foods for arthritis sufferers. Eating either one 5-7 days a week is a problem for most.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sand&Salt
Coffee! Even decaf? Geez, this elimination is getting worse and worse, lol. I used to take tumeric but can't get it here. Once in awhile, the root itself shows up in the market but I am leery because it stains like the dickens.
Coffee could be a problem if you are sensitive to caffeine. I used to drink a lot of coffee but it became a problem. Now I drink one cup a day but occasionally have a second cup later in the day after a meal. Decaf should be ok. I find it lacking in flavor so I use a chicory and coffee blend, more flavorful, less caffeine and chicory is a good prebiotic.
What about curcumin, is it available? It's the star compound in turmeric and said to be more potent in isolated form. I don't like either form and have done well without them.
Omega 3 is important for fighting inflammation. I eat a lot of fatty fish but if you can't, fish oil could help if you also reduce omega 6 foods. Westerners typically consume more omega 6 foods than omega 3 and this is inflammatory. They have to be balanced.
You don't necessarily have to eliminate anything permanently. Temporary elimination of known problem foods like wheat and dairy brings down the inflammation faster. Then you might be able to add them back in to your diet in moderate portions with less frequency. Replace some of those former portions with anti-inflammatory foods, and generally increase anti-inflammatory foods in your diet.
It's not about deprivation. It's about balance. Inflammation is believed to be the root of chronic illnesses like arthritis, heart disease, autoimmune and others. Balancing the diet is healthier and benefits overall health.
Coffee! Even decaf? Geez, this elimination is getting worse and worse, lol. I used to take tumeric but can't get it here. Once in awhile, the root itself shows up in the market but I am leery because it stains like the dickens.
We don't eat sweets at all except for a home-made lime-coconut custard I make occasionally.
I wish we had matcha tea (I do like it) and coconut sugar here, but sigh. No mail or Amazon either. Def no Costco, lol.
Sorry, I didn’t realize you weren’t near the major US stores.
Coffee is tricky. I’ve heard decaf is ok, but I haven’t tested it out. I used to drink 4-5 cups a day. I can splurge and get one cup every six months or so and it didn’t bother me. I’ve lost my taste for it now and just don’t drink it. I had a friend that drank around 17 cups a day (not a typo) and had severe joint pain. He stopped and his pain went away.
I’ve had great success with arthritis inflammation receding with a diet change.
No wheat or grains, cereal, breads, crackers
No sugars of any kind except sugar free like erithitol and xylitol.
No fruit except berries.
No milk. But dairy cheese, butter, cream ok.
No corn, potatoes, peas, carrots or starchy veggies, but green and leafy and others fine.
Coffee and tea are fine, use with real cream though, no milk.
Basically can eat all meats, many veggies, berries, dairy minus milk. Very well rounded diet. So many recipes to make anything can be found on low carb sites, Wheat Belly books and Keto. Yes it sets the food pyramid on its head but it needs to be. The food pyramid is responsible for a large part of the ill health of many Americans, from diabetes to heart disease and everything in between.
Rarely feel deprived. When I slip and eat the inflammation foods I suffer greatly.
Give it a try and see for yourself. Just be smart and get enough salt daily to beat the withdrawal.
Supplements don’t heal the inflammation. They are a mere band aid. Treating inflammation and living that way will result in continuous problems. To heal the inflammation you have to stop eating what causes it.
There are so many recipes to make breads, not the same as wheat but pretty good. I make a focaccia flat bread with sun dried tomatoes, kalamate olives and herbs with parm cheese and olive oil. I make Carmel pecan rolls, chocolate muffins, cream cheese danish logs, English muffins, waffles and blueberry muffins. The list is endless.
Don’t be discouraged before you try it. Do some research on sites like Wheat Belly, buy some books. Or watch the movie “Fathead”. Yes many will tell you you can’t do this and that you shouldn’t, but it is worth trying to be pain free.
I know TURMERIC is supposed to be good & I've been taking both a capsule (containing powder) AND liquid form at the same time. Now it seemed to work better in the past than nowadays because I don't notice any difference currently. Maybe my body's getting too used to it, which I've heard someone else say that before too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nik4me
Suggestions for a sugar replacement: have you tried Swerve?
Yes, I don't eat any grains or starches (including starchy vegetables), sugar, fruit or legumes (these ones for many years now) and lately I've been off an on dairy (they say you need to be off all dairy for 6 months to really feel the difference regarding inflammation). I love them all but you can get used to anything and eventually not miss it.
Good luck!
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Even decaf? Geez, this elimination is getting worse and worse, lol. I used to take tumeric but can't get it here. Once in awhile, the root itself shows up in the market but I am leery because it stains like the dickens.
