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Inflammation and the vegan diet
Started
by Julie Atteberry
on October 27, 2010
Has anyone had a personal experience with the vegan diet and the inflammatory pain of Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, and Restless Leg Syndrome? I am so exhausted by the pain and lack of sleep. If someone can help me and get me started on The Kind Diet, I would greatly appreciate it, and be so very thankful. I have the book, but I have also read that night shade vegetables cause inflammation. 3 of them are my absolute favorite veggies, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. Is it true? Does anyone really know? Please help!!!!!
Julie in Tallahassee Fla.
There have been a few people that have mentioned help with arthritis and fibromyalgia. Also, if you go on PCRM's website, Dr. Neal Barnard has a book about pain and a vegan diet. You may find some much needed answers in that book too. Dairy is defnitely a big trigger for inflammation, and I have heard similar things about meat. Good luck.
It is true that the Kind Diet will help your inflammation, Julie. Nightshades can be culprits but for me it was corn and dairy! For me nightshades cause more of a digestive/allergy issue, because I have leaky gut syndrome.
Absolutely! If this diet had nothing to do with ethics and someone had just told me that the knee pain I've struggled with since adolescence would become completely manageable, I would do it. I eat eat nightshades (mostly just tomatoes), but for me cutting out dairy and meat and all that helped so much with inflammation. I am able to run and work on my feet again. I'm not really macrobiotic, but I try to stay away from processed foods and white sugar, and it has helped me so much.
I haven't cut out the nightshades yet, just cut back a bit as I really love them too. But right now my pain is a lot more manageable since starting a vegan diet. I am planning on trying to cut out the nightshades forawhile and see if that helps even more. But we're king of waiting for them to go totally out of season so it doesn't seem as hard. Right now I can't turn down a ripe red tomatoe from our garden.
Have you consulted with a registered vegan dietician?
B12 deficiency is associated with restless leg. B12, folate and other nutrients might help you. Inflammation is also trigged by stress which creates cortisol. You really need a vegan dietician. VeganHealth.org is, IMO, more informed and more pragmatic than PCRM. The RD there is more aware than the average vegan who has only anecdotal evidence since we all have different genetic make up and all have different intestinal flora and other differences which make modifications between plant based diets necessary. One plant based diet doesn't fit them all.
Julie,
The superhero plan is exceptionally suited for your needs. You can easily a avoid nightshade veggies as well. You will likely start to feel improvements in two weeks. The best thing to do is make a shopping list and jump right in.
The most common culprit is dairy. For most, just getting off all cheese and milk products results in remission. Superhero is the best way to get the process started. After you feel great for a bit you can start to experiment with tomatoes or potatoes.
Good luck and keep us informed!
Thanks to everyone who has given very informative help for my infammatory problems. It is really hard to give up nightshade veggies, but I am trying and I will add back after I see if it helps with some relief. I wil also seek out a vegan dietician, If anyone else has suggestions I would love to hear from you....
Julie
my mom went into total remission with sever rheumatoid arthritis for 15 years based on diet - not drugs! she omitted dairy and almost never ate meat (maybe fish once in a blue moon) and what really did it was getting rid of sugar and processed foods (additives, artificial anything). When she was in the hospital recently for something else the doctors and nurses kept coming in with looks of disbelief on their faces to see the 79 year old who was on not ONE medication.
Yes, its hard to do - but isn't it harder living with pain? You don't have to comitt for life - give it a whirl - comitt totally for a set period of time (whats a month in your life? a drop in the bucket!) and do it 100% - you can! What you eat is something you have total control over - and there is little we can say that about in life! after a month - see how you feel. No change? eat all the peppers and lard your heart desires! but if you notice improvement (and my guess is it will be dramatic)? Then make your choice - peppers or pain! And it might not even be the nightshades for you as much as things like dairy or sugar - get rid of it all and after a month eat one and see what happens - write it down. Then wait a few days, try another - its an experiment that is well worth it.
Good luck - it is a big endeavor but you and your health are important enough to give it a try!
I am interested in the book's comment on nightshade vegies. There is certainly discussion about it on the Internet, It would seem to me that the Italian population (tomatoes) and the Irish (potatoes) would suffer from inflammation problems. I quickly found a SCIENTIFIC study that indicated no such problems for the Italian population. Of course individuals may have problems just as some do with dairly products, but the general population appears not to.
I haven't the time to search the scientific litature in detail. Food ptroblems are difficult. Are tomatoes a problem or the acid in them or foods that people like to eat with tomatoes. Also, it sometimes happens that science takes time to catch up. Meanwhile I will enjoy my tomatoes and potatoes.
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