Inflammation and the Diet to Subdue It.

            In my blog post this past Sunday, Imentioned I had started an anti-inflammatory diet. Two of you commented thatyou’d like to hear more about that, so I would like to oblige you.

           I will try to keep the backgroundinformation to a minimum, but I need to share where this idea came from. Well,that’s easy, the internet, of course.

           Also, when I told my massagetherapist about all of my problems, she agreed that inflammation could be thesource. She gave me the name of a naturopathic provider two of her otherclients had seen. 

           Enough background. And a quickdisclaimer – none of what I will tell you is medical advice. Even though thispractitioner gave me most of this material, you can find it all on the internetas well.

           Inflammation starts out as yourbody’s way of fighting infection, injury, illness, etc. It’s supposed to swoopin and help your body heal from these things. But sometimes, for whateverreason, once that inflammation is roaming around inside of you, once it hasdone its job, it hangs around like a creeper in a bar who has been trying topick up women.

           However, there are certain foodsthat inflammation loves and certain foods that are like throwing a fire onit. 

           So, first, here are the foods onwhich inflammation thrives: anything with gluten, like wheat, rye, barley;anything that has been processed, such as white sugars, refined carbs,lunchmeats, and most anything out of a box; dairy, including cheese, yogurt,butter; fried foods; almost any snack you reach for while watching an episodeof Stranger Things, like potato chips, cookies, cakes, etc.; most anything thefamily served over Christmas, you know, like the cheese and sausage tray oranything made with gravy.

           Okay, so inflammation likes prettymuch every food which gives us a reason to live. And I mention the showStranger Things because I feel like the Demogorgon is crawling around inside ofme, and every time I eat anything on the bad list, he gets all excited andgrows more limbs.    

           Sorry for the warped and overactiveimagination.

           So, what can I eat? From the listabove, you may realize that this diet is gluten-free, dairy-free, andsugar-free.

           So, load me up with oatmeal,spinach, kale, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, chia seed, flax seed, almondmilk, almond yogurt, honey, maple syrup, olive oil, coconut oil, walnuts andmost other nuts except not peanuts, legumes, tomatoes, fruits especiallyberries, pineapple, and fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel.

            A few things like potatoes, eggs,and popcorn are kinda neutral, but you can’t put anything from the bad list onthem, such as butter or anything else which makes them palatable. (Remember theair poppers from the ‘80s? You can have that popcorn without the butter.)

            Oh, boy.

           I’ve been taking GlucosamineChondroitin with MSM for years but never really felt it was doing much. A fewmonths ago, I started a Joint Health and Mobility supplement which includesthose as well as Curcumin, Omega-3, Collagen precursors, Hyaluronic acid, andBioperine. I still haven’t noticed much difference on all of that.

           So, this naturopath started me on ahigher dose of Curcumin. She also has me on some anti-inflammatory drops, lowback pain drops, and a probiotic/prebiotic, which has all the good bacteriapeople talk about and then some.

           All of that is well and fine, albeitexpensive. Except for the apple cider vinegar she recommended I take. Thatstuff is the worst. Oh, my gosh, there are no words. But I mix it with somehoney and water, chase every sip with more water, and get it down.

           Lastly, every morning, I drink a cupof warm water with the juice from half a lemon in it. She recommended I drinklemon in my water all day, but I like my water plain. And, yes, of course, drink plenty of water. 

           Whether any of that is working ornot, I can’t tell. I have a few more good days than before, but there are stilltoo many bad days. Over the weekend, I had two full days where I needed to walkwith a cane, so those were bad days and were not acceptable to me at my age.When I’m pushing 80 and all of my hair is white, I’ll use that cane with pride,but not now.

           It’s been five weeks, so I thinkit’s reasonable to give it another week when I have another appointment withthe naturopath. Then I can either give her a piece of my mind or be over themoon happy that by then, my pain, stiffness, achiness, and shortness of breathwill magically be gone. 

            So there you have it.

 

Oh,and the picture is from when I was at Hell’s Gate in Kenya in 2017. That day, Ihiked for miles and climbed up and down treacherous terrain, something I couldnever do today. But that’s my goal, to go hiking and climbing again.