Inflammation and the Diet to Subdue It.

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

           I will try to keep the background information 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 massage therapist about all of my problems, she agreed that inflammation could be the source. She gave me the name of a naturopathic provider two of her other clients had seen. 

           Enough background. And a quick disclaimer – none of what I will tell you is medical advice. Even though this practitioner gave me most of this material, you can find it all on the internet as well.

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

           However, there are certain foods that inflammation loves and certain foods that are like throwing a fire on it. 

           So, first, here are the foods on which 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 episode of Stranger Things, like potato chips, cookies, cakes, etc.; most anything the family served over Christmas, you know, like the cheese and sausage tray or anything made with gravy.

           Okay, so inflammation likes pretty much every food which gives us a reason to live. And I mention the show Stranger Things because I feel like the Demogorgon is crawling around inside of me, and every time I eat anything on the bad list, he gets all excited and grows more limbs.    

           Sorry for the warped and overactive imagination.

           So, what can I eat? From the list above, you may realize that this diet is gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free.

           So, load me up with oatmeal, spinach, kale, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, chia seed, flax seed, almond milk, almond yogurt, honey, maple syrup, olive oil, coconut oil, walnuts and most other nuts except not peanuts, legumes, tomatoes, fruits especially berries, 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 on them, such as butter or anything else which makes them palatable. (Remember the air poppers from the ‘80s? You can have that popcorn without the butter.)

            Oh, boy.

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

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

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

           Lastly, every morning, I drink a cup of warm water with the juice from half a lemon in it. She recommended I drink lemon 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 or not, I can’t tell. I have a few more good days than before, but there are still too many bad days. Over the weekend, I had two full days where I needed to walk with 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 think it’s reasonable to give it another week when I have another appointment with the naturopath. Then I can either give her a piece of my mind or be over the moon happy that by then, my pain, stiffness, achiness, and shortness of breath will 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, I hiked for miles and climbed up and down treacherous terrain, something I could never do today. But that’s my goal, to go hiking and climbing again.