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Managing Fibromyalgia

Foods That Can Aggravate Fibromyalgia Pain Who would have thought that certain foods would aggravate your pain? But think about it. Your body is different now, both inside and out. So your body may very well react differently now to foods you’ve been eating all your life. For those with Fibromyalgia or any chronic illness, it is a well-known fact that certain foods can create inflammation and pain. What are some things to look out for as potential pain-makers?

1) Excess Sugar. Sugar in its natural state, i.e. within fruits and vegetables, is quite healthy. Sugar in these foods is combined with the natural fibers, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and so on, in order to help prevent insulin spikes in the body. When sugar is extracted from its natural state, and refined to within an inch of its life and has absolutely zero nutritional value, then used, willy nilly, in everything from cereal to ketchup, from crackers to packaged meats, from soups to pastries and everywhere in between, this is when it becomes hazardous to your pain threshold, not to mention your capacity for inflammation!

This refined sugar creates is its own addiction. The more you eat, the more you want. This is because sugar releases opioid-type chemicals in the brain that stimulates the desire for more sugar!

Nancy Appleton, PhD, author of no less than nine books on the effects of sugar on the human body, has listed 141 reasons why sugar ruins your health, complete with medical documentation. Check her website at: http://nancyappleton.com/141-reasons-sugar-ruins-your-health/

2) Aspartame and MSG. These two chemicals are excitotoxins. Excitotoxins are amino acids that serve as neurotransmitters in the brain. Our brains use minute amounts of excitotoxins for successful transmitting – one cell communicating with another. But when we input mega doses of these excitotoxins into our body - our brain – the cells actually become so overly excited and fire their impulses so rapidly that they can actually excite themselves to exhaustion and eventually die. Dead brain cells are not a good thing!

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~Aspartame (aka NutraSweet & Sweet N Low), a poor substitute for sugar, is found in diet drinks and diet or “low sugar” or “sugar-free” foods. It’s put into yogurt, instant breakfasts, multivitamins, instant tea, chewing gum, wine coolers, cocoa mixes and much more! See Dr. Mercola’s link to find out where else they put it! http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/hidden_dangers.htm

~MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a flavor enhancer found in all manner of soups and sauces like Worcestershire, soy, A-1 sauce, etc. But it is also injected into red meats and cheese. It’s in pureed tomatoes and many canned items, even “health bars” and medicines! But you may not find the name “MSG” on the label because it has up to forty different aliases! Look for words like autolyzed and hydrolyzed or caseinate and “natural flavoring” and yeast extract and 36 more. Accent is pure MSG. For more information on these and other dangerous excitotoxins visit http://www.mpwhi.com/main.htm .

3) Soft drinks. Soft drinks may very well rank number one as an aggravator of Fibromyalgia

pain. They also aggravate existing Arthritis and Osteoporosis and a number of other autoimmune conditions. The sugar factor and/or the aspartame factor have already been mentioned above, but the phosphates in soft drinks are among the worst aggravators of pain.

Regular intake of phosphorous (phosphoric acid) can result in, not only an excess of phosphorous which depletes calcium, but also creates a potassium deficiency. And when there is a deficiency of even one mineral, let alone two, this can render other minerals useless and inabsorbable! So what little minerals you have left become unusable – non-functioning. (See www.altmedangel.com/mineral.htm) This causes pain, both muscular pain and nerve pain. Your body really, really NEEDS magnesium…and calcium and potassium. You can see where, over time, if you continue to lose these minerals daily and don’t input enough to “match” the loss, your muscles, brain, bones, etc would slowly, but steadily become insufficient in these minerals, creating pain all the way. Here are quotes from 18 health professionals regarding soft drinks http://www.naturalnews.com/004416_soft_drinks_osteoporosis.html

4) Nightshades. Nightshades are a family of foods consisting of potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, bell peppers, hot peppers, chili peppers, eggplants, pimentos, paprika, cayenne and tobasco sauce (and tobacco- chewed or smoked). Nightshades contain certain chemicals called alkaloids that can negatively affect nerve and muscle function, especially in people who are sensitive to these chemicals. And as it turns out, after a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, many do become sensitive to these alkaloids! These chemicals can also create inflammation in joints. Some people can get along fine when they limit these foods to one per day, or per meal, and never combining any two at one time. Mark’s Daily Apple website has an excellent description of Nightshades and their effects. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/nightshades/#axzz2DZlY0xxA

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5) Excess hydrogenated and trans fatty foods, along with excess Omega 6s (specifically the processed veggie and seed oils that have turned hydrogenated in the processing). You may have heard already that hydrogenated foods and trans fats are not good for a body. But you need to know that they are especially hard on a body in pain. They add to inflammation. Deep fried foods cooked in over-heated, oxidized, oil are not good either; they add free radicals with every bite! All of these also add to your weight, which in turn can add to Fibromyalgia pain, not to mention depression. The problem is you will find these fats in nearly everything in a package or box or wrapper in the grocery store. Check the labels. You’ll also find them in the refrigerator section—check out your favorite margarine. (Actually a small amount of real butter is a lot healthier.) And the freezer section—check out the pizzas and frozen dinners. You’d have to look long and hard to avoid hydrogenated fats and trans fats (aka “partially hydrogenated”) in a regular grocery store.

~Omega 6s are found everywhere, in practically everything. They are naturally found in whole real foods like nuts, beans and leafy greens, eggs, meats and cheeses. But they are put into boxed and packaged foods too in the form of corn, veggie and seed oils that have been processed, i.e. oxidized and hydrogenated in order to preserve them for the shelves. What has happened is that the Omega 6’s in our diets have shot up to monumental proportions, throwing that delicate balance of Omega 3s and 6s right out the window.

Why does that matter? Omega 6 is a pro-inflammatory, that is, it creates inflammation, whereas Omega 3 is an anti-inflammatory. You can see why a balance of the two is a GOOD thing here. If you are putting in a whole lot of inflammation-making foods, and not adding the anti-inflammation foods, then you are going to have inflammation all through your body! Is it any wonder that auto-immune conditions, now thought to be caused by cellular inflammation, has been on the rise in the past 50+ years? This article from Medscape shows that this imbalance has led to a huge number of conditions, including inflammation and depression and so much more: http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/555736 .These conditions literally support the medical community!

Consider shopping in health food stores—they go to great pains to keep the healthiest foods on their shelves. And most of them are very low or totally devoid of these hazardous fats. You will often find many foods on the shelves and the freezer section that are much more in balance. In any event, even if you can’t delete these bad fats totally from your diet, at least try to cut down on them and you may very well cut down on your pain.

6) Gluten. Gluten is a small protein found in wheat, barley and rye, which can wreak havoc on your body, and you’d never even guess that that was the problem. After all, you’ve been eating bread, pasta, grains and cereals of all kinds since you were a kid, right? But you have Fibromyalgia now; it might be a good idea to take a look at the possibility that you are sensitive to gluten now. The symptoms of gluten sensitivity are

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so very numerous, and appear so much like many other conditions, that it is rarely even checked by a physician, unless you request the tests. Although a sensitivity to gluten is not as serious a condition as its close cousin, Celiac Disease, it is thought to be one of the most under-diagnosed conditions around.

Symptoms range from bone pain to anxiety to constipation to migraines, muscle weakness, psoriasis and much more. Here’s a complete list of symptoms found: http://glutenfreeworks.com/gluten-disorders/celiac-disease/symptom-guide/ . The symptoms are tricky though; they may not show up until a day or two later, and they can be long-lasting because you don’t realize what is going on, and you keep adding more gluten-laden foods on top of the others. Although not an actual symptom of Fibromyalgia, a large number of us do indeed have a sensitivity to it. An elimination test that you can perform yourself, may tell if you have this sensitivity. It may help to check out www.glutenfreeworks.com , or any of the many gluten web sites, to find all the foods where gluten can hide. Hint: It’s everywhere!

Note: A small amount of Sourdough bread may be acceptable if the sensitivity is not to

extreme. http://realfoodforager.com/5-reasons-to-make-sourdough-your-only-bread/

Breads with no gluten can be found online, http://www.julianbakery.com/ , for example

and others, and in your local health food store you may find the brand UDI has excellent

gluten free products, breads, cookies, etc.

7) Lactose. Lactose intolerance is really very common. This is probably because a huge percentage of adults in the human race is lacking the enzyme lactase. And similar to gluten sensitivity, many may never even realize anything is wrong here. The symptoms, which usually occur within 30 minutes to two hours after ingesting milk or some milk products, are bloating, gas, lower intestinal cramps or pains, diarrhea or nausea. If the sensitivity is not severe, you may be able to use lactase capsules or drops to fend off those symptoms and still have ice cream (or milk) periodically. An Elimination Test will help here too. To find out more check out www.foodintol.com or any of the many lactose intolerance websites.

Note: Consider trying almond milk, rice milk or coconut milk in lieu of cow’s milk. These are all lactose free and delicious! I am especially fond of chocolate almond milk. I hesitate to recommend soy milk because so many of us have issues with the thyroid. Soy has been known to interfere with thyroid and estrogen hormones.

8) Caffeine. This is another one of those things that may have never bothered us before. So why would it make a difference now? All I know is that I used to drink coffee by the potful and never thought anything about it. But when I heard that it might make a difference in my Fibromyalgia pain, I cut back—I couldn’t bring myself to give it up all

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together. I gradually got down to two cups a day, one in the morning and one around 2: 00 pm. Then I cut back even more by making those two cups half hot water and half coffee. Wow! What a difference! I don’t know exactly the how or the why of it, but I won’t start drinking coffee again like I used to, that’s for sure! Some coffees have a lot more caffeine than others. Hey Latte! Ipso facto Espresso!

Note:

~Soft drinks contain about 30-50 mg of caffeine per can. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/07/09/soda-dangers-part-two.aspx

~Tea has caffeine also - about 15 mg per cup compared to 80–110 mg per cup of regular coffee.

Green tea has even fewer mg of caffeine than black tea. And of course, herbal tea has no

caffeine at all. http://www.excellent-tea.com/caffeine-and-tea.html

~Chocolate. Though there may be caffeine in chocolate, 5-15 mg, depending on the type of candy, hot chocolate, or chocolate drink, I rationalize that chocolate adds magnesium and helps build my serotonin levels, and a bit here and there may actually be GOOD for me. Right? All right, I’m a chocoholic. I am a work in progress, what can I say? And dark chocolate has an abundance of antioxidants (and magnesium). http://www.antioxidants-for-health-and-longevity.com/nutrients-in-chocolate.html

If you personally find other foods that can affect your pain, please e-mail me at

patichandler@yahoo.com and let me know. I’d love to share this information with

others. If a certain food affects YOU badly, chances are it may affect others also.

Thanks. We all have to look out for each other, right?

12-12-12