Need help sorting through woo...

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CharlieICURN
CharlieICURN Posts: 89 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I'm looking to change my eating habits to sort of change to an anti-inflammatory diet, so-to-speak. I'm dealing with chronic inflammation, fibromyalgia, and chronic insomnia, as well as a possible autoimmune condition (I follow up with my doctor on Thursday for that).

For the past 30 days I've been making a greater effort to eat better and healthier, and I've been trying to incorporate exercise into my day. I'm limited in the amount of exercise I can tolerate due to pain, but I've been doing things like water aerobics, swimming, and going for walks (trying to hit 10,000 steps a day, I'd say it happens like 4 times a week).

I've had a few people suggest that I should look into eating an anti-inflammatory diet so I'm trying to look things up but I'm not sure what information I'm reading is really credible and what is just woo.
A lot of these sites that talk about antiinflammatory diets are trying to sell me things like vitamin packs and all that jazz which is usually a red flag for "lies, allllll lies" to me. Does anyone know of any credible information out there that they can refer me to? Does anyone have experience with eating to reduce inflammation?

Replies

  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    My friend has RA and she swears by turmeric and I read up there are a fair amount of studies out there you just have to get the organic brand. I just started taking it for my arthritis and I'm seeing a very mild improvement.

    As for sleep I use Olly Restful Sleep which is melatonin, google it and see if it would work for you. I also just started rubbing magnesium oil on my skin at night as that is suppose to help with sleep. I don't know which one is working but I have never slept better since I started both of these.

    As for the diet I will watch this thread to see because I need help with anti inflammatory foods as well!

    best,
    jo
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
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    Cleveland Clinic has an anti-inflammatory diet:

    my.clevelandclinic.org/health/transcripts/2748_the-anti-inflammatory-diet-a-way-to-manage-chronic-pain

    In general, look for information from websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in their domain name.

    I would avoid most .coms, especially if they are also selling any products.
  • rstebner
    rstebner Posts: 11 Member
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    This feels like beating the proverbial dead horse since this has been a hot topic recently... but eating a vegan diet has been shown to reduce inflammation. Animal products are highly acidic and that causes inflammation in our bodies. If going vegan seems out of the question at the moment there are diet plans that focus on eating an alkaline diet which would reduce inflammation. Hope that helps!
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    Anti inflammatory diet will usually tend to lean towards staying away from sugar or added sugars, refined carbs, trans fats....

    Not saying it works, but that's just what most articles will say. I don't follow an anti inflammatory diet but my diet naturally tends to lean towards it and I do notice differences when I stray
  • CharlieICURN
    CharlieICURN Posts: 89 Member
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    I guess in a way I've been kind of following a diet like this, just not very strict. I've increased my fruits and vegetable intake significantly and have been trying to stay away from simple carbs for the most part. I don't really eat dairy (besides greek yogurt) and I'm not a big red meat eater.

    I don't think a vegan diet would work for my family or myself right now. I can look into an alkaline diet though.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, has helped us, 2 caps per day. You're not going to get enough from just the spice alone in food.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    My google leans heavily towards scholarly articles. This is my third hit. This article has been cited 87 times.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2777480/
  • Ws2016
    Ws2016 Posts: 432 Member
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    rstebner wrote: »
    This feels like beating the proverbial dead horse since this has been a hot topic recently... but eating a vegan diet has been shown to reduce inflammation. Animal products are highly acidic and that causes inflammation in our bodies. If going vegan seems out of the question at the moment there are diet plans that focus on eating an alkaline diet which would reduce inflammation. Hope that helps!

    As long as the vegan diet doesn't include potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    While my ulcerative colitis is in remission, I still deal with overall body inflammation. I find avoiding anything with white sugar and any corn syrups is a great help. I don't eliminate those things all together but just keep it to occasional. Sugar from natural fruits and veggies are ok. In fact, fresh cherries and fresh pineapple were two things that greatly improved my ulcerative colitis and joint inflammation. Turmeric did work for me, but it had to be fresh, not in capsule. Also probiotics and prebiotics are good too. If you can handle fermented veggies or a quality kombucha, these might help too. I found that the more I kept my gut microbes in check, the better my inflammation levels are.
  • rstebner
    rstebner Posts: 11 Member
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    Ws2016 wrote: »
    rstebner wrote: »
    This feels like beating the proverbial dead horse since this has been a hot topic recently... but eating a vegan diet has been shown to reduce inflammation. Animal products are highly acidic and that causes inflammation in our bodies. If going vegan seems out of the question at the moment there are diet plans that focus on eating an alkaline diet which would reduce inflammation. Hope that helps!

    As long as the vegan diet doesn't include potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers.

    Of course there are things on a vegan diet that can be inflammatory, it's not just animal products that are inflammatory. But removing animal products from your diet will reduce inflammation provided you don't eat only potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. Realizing that a vegan diet doesn't seem reasonable to everyone, I suggested researching an alkaline diet to mimic the positive effects that I feel on my vegan diet.
  • ouryve
    ouryve Posts: 572 Member
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    I'm sceptical about many claims of "inflammation" but, while it's often derided, I think "clean" eating would put your mind most at rest. I'd look into avoiding nightshades, as well - see what happens - if no improvements then keep on with spuds and tomatoes!

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