A Question about Inflammation
 

So, I struggle a lot with inflammation that makes my weight vary by as much as 8 pounds, from week to week. But the worst part is the pain in my feet and sometimes other joints. I have other symptoms of this generalized inflammation. I recently read on a thread about someone dropping their last 15 pounds by simply cutting out foods that was causing inflammation. I think that member had a problem with dairy. I was wondering if anyone else has had that experience or other words of wisdom regarding this issue. Specific foods or food groups? Methods that were used to determine the offending food?

Are you still eating dairy? You may want to drop that, but take calcium supplements for you and the baby.

One possible culprit is nightshades - potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes and related veg. I read a couple of books about this, one quite rabid, and bought a book of nightshade free recipes.
My husband has some arthritis and we tried cutting them out for a while, but it didn't make a lot of difference. I guess you could try cutting them out for a while and see what happens.

Here is the doctor recommended Arthritis/Bursitis diet. It works for most other chronic inflammation problems too.

Try it for a month and see. Most people I recommend this to see great improvement in less than a month.

Me? My hip hurt so much I couldn't walk two blocks without sitting down, and to drive a car I needed a pack of blue-ice behind my hip to numb the pain of pressing the gas pedal. Now? Completely pain free and I walk 4 miles a day in about an hour.

Doc said try the diet first, and the diet worked. No more anti-inflammatory supplements for me.

The two biggest food triggers for me were egg yolks and chicken. I was already low carb so that wasn't a problem. I can eat nightshades without a problem, but my DW cannot. I'd advise eliminating them until you are pain free and then introducing foods one at a time to see if it bothers you.

And read labels, Mayo is full of egg yolks.

Try the dietary approach first, and if that doesn't work, take stronger action.

Foods that may contribute to chronic inflammation are foods with a high glycemic index (foods that convert to sugar quickly), such as fruit juices, sugars, simple starches, or rice cakes, foods heavy in polyunsaturated or saturated fats, and foods high in arachidonic acid. Some specific foods to avoid are:

* Fatty cuts of red meat (high in saturated fats)
* Organ meats: liver, kidney, and so forth (very high in arachidonic acid)
* Egg yolks (high in arachidonic acid) [my addition: fowl is even higher in AA than egg yolks]
* Pasta (high glycemic index)
* Juices (high glycemic index)
* Rice, especially rice cakes (high glycemic index)
* White bread (substitute whole grain breads such as rye or whole wheat)
* Nightshade Plants bother many people (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, paprika)

Glycemic index charts can be found on the Internet.

Better choices are foods with a low glycemic index and foods that are heavy in monounsaturated fats. Some specific good foods are:

* Salmon and other fish
* Oatmeal
* Fresh fruits and vegetables
* Olives and olive oil
* Peanuts and other nuts
* Whey proteins

Supplements:
* Nettle Leaf
* S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) 400-1200mg/day
* Nexrutine
* 5-Loxin
Boswellic acid (5-Loxin) is the active component of the
Boswellia serrata tree native to India
* Ginger
* Glucosamine Suflate
* Chondroitin Sulfate
* Willow Bark
* Omega-3-Oils (Omega-3-Fatty Acids) Fish Oil
* Antioxidants
* Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA)
* Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) 2,000-3,000mg/d

Ice it, support it.

Give it a month, and see. Let us know either way if you try it.

Bob

Hi Brandy,

The Paleo approach to determining which foods are causing the inflammation is an elimination diet, the most well known one probably Whole 30. http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/
Chris Kresser's book is good too, and he has a strict protocol for reintroducing foods to determine what might be causing the problem (hint, it will take way longer than 30 days if you do it right)

The other programs that also work on reducing inflammation are all the Auto-immune protocols. Dr Ballentynes's is good, the 'cliff notes' version of AIP right on her website:
http://www.thepaleomom.com/autoimmu...immune-protocol Other AIPs are Dr Wahls and Dr Amy Meyers. Because the proteins in dairy are similar in structure to those of grains, dairy is a very common culprits. http://whole30.com/2013/03/the-dairy-manifesto/ Many of the foods on Bob's list would not be included on a Paleo elimination diet, though the nightshades are out on an AIP.

And one last possibility...polyunsaturated oils. To quote Dr Fettke, "Sugar makes you hungry, carbohydrate make you fat, and polyunsaturated oils make you inflamed and sick". One reason Paleo diets do not allow any processed seed oils.

My approach to figuring out which foods cause inflammation for me is to weight twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. The evening weigh tells you if the foods you ate that day are causing you to retain excess bloat. They are the ones that lead to weight gain eventually and can be helpful to cut out. It's not scientific LOL but it's worked very well for me.

saturated fats are not a problem for me, it is the polyunsaturated that I need to avoid, as well as all grains, legumes (which include peanuts) and dairy proteins (I can handle a bit of butter and HWC)

Great advice! Thank you all so much. Some days I'm limping and can't even fake being well. Other times I barely notice it. Interestingly enough, last month, my family and my in-laws went on a four night trip. I was limping and embarrassed. It was awful. On the last night, we wnlent to one of those Korean BBQ places where the grill is built into the table. I ate so much fatty, beautiful meat. I also had a bone soup with pieces of marrow floating and I ate a load of kimchi. The next day, I was barely in any pain at all. I've noticed this is not the first time that's happened. The last time I went to one of those same types of restaurants with just my household, the next day was relatively pain free. Weird, right? I wonder if it cleans out the crystals in my blood or something. Lots of meat and organs and sometimes bone broth and I was much better...for a day or two.

I'm going to spend time reading about those elimination diets, although something so restrictive scares me. But the pain becomes unbearable at times, so the benefits do outweigh the trouble, I'm sure.

The gelatin and minerals in bone broth is supposedly very healing, though it would seem unlikely to work overnight...maybe it is just what you needed. Organ meats and Bone broth are encouraged on each diet I mentioned. If you are eating LC, eliminating all grains and sugar is SOP. Dairy has good substitutes like coconut milk. Use olive and coconut oils rather than vegetable oils. The websites have good recipes and ideas for what to eat and substitute. Good luck narrowing it down. If it is dairy, Kresser has you add only ONE product back, eat for three days, wait for three days. Then add ONE more product, and on. So Butter, then HWC, then yogurt...right there is 18 more days beyond the 30.

My DW makes gelatin treats from Knox every day. She puts things like organic lemon juice, coconut oil, stevia, and unsweetened coconut flakes in it (that's just one recipe).

I read that the protein l-glycene is good brain food and good for longevity. Besides, it tastes good, easy to make, and a low-carb non-frankenfood treat.

Here is one site:

http://aminoacidstudies.org/glycine/

I've read some things on pubmed.gov but searching that site is time consuming.

If it tastes good, is low carb, and has so many reported benefits, why not?

Bob

You all have me thinking about taking a systematic approach with this. I'm going to do the daily weighing thing and eat more cleanly. I'll start tracking on myfitnesspal.com again and note my swelling and pain. I'm also going to pick an autoimmune protocol and see this through. Thank you!

Ok...so it looks likes favorite food, eggs, might be a/the culprit. 😢. Three days ago, I didn't eat any and my pain level was way down. Then two days ago, I had four small eggs for brunch and yesterday, I could barely move without pain. I even had major joint pain in the joint where the thumb connects to the hand. I could barely turn my key ignition. I didn't eat any eggs yesterday and today, the pain is much better, but not gone yet. Something to consider...

Sadly, eggs are a very common allergy causing food..and one where overeating it on LC may actually cause an allergy to develop. In addition to some AIP protocols, there is a pop-version of an elimination diet that notably removes eggs...the JJ Virgin diet. She is selling her shakes, weird powders made with hemp and pea protein (no soy or whey allowed) but her simple elimination diet with real food works the same way and she has many meal ideas without any of her verboten "Seven Foods" http://www.jjvirgin.com/umag/Allerg...embly-Guide.pdf

I have read with eggs (since egg allergy happened to a friend I advised to go LC :-() that you might try avoiding all eggs including as an ingredient for something like 3-6 months, and then start reintroducing small amounts. Food allergies are sometimes not a forever thing, many of mine have changed or stopped and also sometimes are dose dependent.


A previous helpful thread on No dairy, No Eggs, AIP:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=463156

I eat no dairy, no eggs, no soy (or other legumes) as well as no gluten/grains. It has virtually eliminated all signs of arthritis (a little left in my hands) although I embarked on this diet to control severe gastro-intestinal symptoms not arthritis/pain. I used a lab called Enterolab to figure out my foods sensitivities but my symptoms were severe and keeping me house bound. An elimination diet can do the same thing. It has lead to a very simple meat and veggie diet with lots of added fat and has worked for both the intestinal issue and the arthritis. It has also got rid of dry eye which I was taking Restasis to control. I have reached the point that I no longer want to eat any of the foods that helped make me sick.

Jean

Janet, I checked that woman's plan and she has some good rationale for eliminating the 7 worst offenders. I was suprised about what she writes regarding corn. Of course we hear about issues with GMO and as low carbers, we know it's high on the glycemic index, but she gives some other good reasons for avoiding it.

A part of me is still hoping I'm wrong about the eggs. But like Jean wrote, I'd like to get to the point where I no longer desire foods that make me sick.