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Sugar and joint pain

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Replies

  • thatsyum
    thatsyum Posts: 34 Member
    The information provided by everyone will help me be more aware of the amount of sugar I eat. I have been suffering for about a month off and on with knee pain and inflammation. I never thought to link the two. My knee has been feeling better lately but I have also not eaten as much sugar or junk-like food. Thanks!!
  • toxicat
    toxicat Posts: 79
    get_fit2009 wrote: »
    I was wondering if anyone else has noticed a correlation between sugar consumption and aching joints. I was eating "clean" for quite a long time and working out with no joint pain. I had previously had knee and ankle issues, but they had subsided. For the last 2 months, my appetite has gone crazy and I have eaten whatever I want - which is not good. (This is why I am also back to this site. :smile: ) SInce starting to eat sugar and junk food again, a notice a tremendous difference in the aches and pains I am having. It is really surprising how big a difference it has made. Anyone else have anything similar happen?

    This is common and usually occurs because it is causing inflammation in your body. This happened to me and I stopped eating it.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    thyme4 wrote: »
    I see this topic has been around for a while, but felt like I wanted to add my experience. About 16 months ago I decided to restrict my overall sugar consumption in order to assess its impact on pain and stiffness in my feet. I take several dance and yoga classes a week, and had been reaching a point where I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to continue. I happened to meet a dance teacher who had been diagnosed with arthritis in her feet and as a result of that discussion, started doing some research.

    I started looking into connections between diet and inflammation and came up with a list of "likely suspects" and the one that stood out to me was sugar. Yes, I ate other things (potatoes, glutens, etc) on the list but the thing I ate the most of was sugar, so that was where I started.

    As many others have recounted, I found a direct link between sugar consumption and the pain in my feet. I experienced complete reversal of symptoms within a month, and on top of that found that my cravings for foods (of all types) were diminished as well. And it was so effective, I never even bothered eliminating the other items from my diet.

    There are lots of nay-sayers on the sugar issue here in MFP, but this is my one deviation from the IIFYM rule. I limit my consumption of sugar carbs from all sources to around 35g per day. I find at this level I don't experience joint pain, I don't have crazy cravings, and my blood sugar levels stay stable without having to eat every few hours. Wish I'd made this connection years ago.

    I wish I had made the connection 40 years ago but just did it a few months ago. In my case if I keep my remaining memory I am NOT going back to living on carbs again. I find coconut oil helps the pain some as well but I find it a good fat to replace the booted carbs as well.

    This past Aug the doctor suggested I read up on Enbrel for arthritic pain management because I was at an 8-9 pain level. The C word keep coming up as I researched Enbrel. Now off sugar and most carbs my pain level is more a 2-3 and has been or a couple months now.

    I just tell people who ask why I do not eat sweets (could eat 3000 cals of cake/pie after a big meal) that sugar is toxic to me. Well that is factual. I to find being off of sugar frees me from the cravings and sugar slumps. By the way Ankylosing Spondylitis is my arthritis.

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