“Lupus-Smart” Diet:

 

With lupus, you can have your health.

Reduce the inflammation.  Eating right and exercising mindfully, properly, and in a manner appropriate for your particular situation can help reduce stress and empower you with the skills to protect your body from the overproduction of auto-reactive (”auto” ) antibodies, thereby improving quality of life through decreased pain and increased energy.  Here is an established, confirmed strategy of eating to help reduce inflammation in the body.  Combined with exercise, following these principals can help you enjoy a full, satisfying and strength-filled life.

In fact, following these tips can help improve the overall quality of life for everyone, including those without chronic conditions.  These tips have been shown to increase energy levels, decrease pain, and improve overall quality of life, as shown by many references listed below. 

 

WHAT IT IS:

 

The following outlines and explains these techniques, shows the relationship between inflammation and pain, and describes how adopting a common-sense lifestyle can help reduce inflammation and the pain that can be associated with it.  I talk about the ways in which I have improved my quality of life, and provide technical explanations and details of how this has occurred.  As such, enclosed are lists of medical references, research, studies, and other publications that support and explain the ideas described within.  You may want to add these references to your bookshelf as well.  Stay tuned for further development of these concepts in a document I will provide shortly.

 

We are going to discuss two key concepts: 

1.  The proportional relationship between food [blood sugar] and inflammation

2.  The potentially proportional relationship between inflammation and pain

Introduction:

The foods we eat have can have an effect on the level of sugar in our blood.  By reducing our sugar intake, we can help stabilize our blood sugar levels throughout the day.  What I came to learn, which I feel is key to potentially decreasing pain through diet, is that as our blood sugar spikes, so does our level of cellular inflammation [National Institutes of Health:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16613757.  See also:  http://www.jbc.org/content/276/45/42077.abstract].  Therefore, a low-inflammatory, or anti-inflammatory diet can help reduce the intensity and frequency of spikes in our blood sugar, and spikes in pain, throughout the day.  As the sugar spikes normalize into a more stable pattern of regulated blood sugar, inflammation, on a cellular level, is also reduced.  Inflammation in the skin results in visible markers including redness and swelling.  Chronic disease includes inflammation unseen by the naked eye:  cellular inflammation [http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/b454.htm].  As inflammation decreases, the symptoms that can be associated with inflammation, including pain, can also drop [see the link between inflammation, pain, and chronic disease published by the National Institutes of Health:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16320856.  See also:  http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3979].  As such, eating an anti-inflammatory, or normalized/stabilized/regulated, low-sugar diet can help reduce the pain that is associated with inflammation.  Coming soon, a document will be provided for download that explores in depth the mechanism by which this process occurs.  We will do so through the examination of American Journal of Medicine findings and other reputable publications published by scientists around the world.

Summary:

The method of eating I use is an anti-inflammatory diet.  And here’s what it is:

Regulation of blood sugar by following the Glycemic index chart.  A good one is mendosa: http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm  by David Mendosa of Boulder, Colorado.  

For 30 days, I followed a low-glycemic index diet.  I stuck to foods that were in the “low” to “medium” range. 

This is what led to the reduction of my pain. 

I can’t explain how much this has changed my life.

Because after my pain went down, my stress and extreme anxiety decreased also.  I became more tolerant of the world around me and in general, a happier person.

Snowball:  then I simply started realizing that I should, and I deserved, to take care of myself. 

Hence, the exercise.  And that’s when my strength and capability really ramped up.  It brought out my power.

Check out Mizuno Moves TM, and start down the road of a healthier, happier life.

 

 

Further Explanation:

I came upon this finding by accident.  When my sister was about to get married and I was preparing to be her Maid of Honor, I had been feeling a lot of insecurity and emotional pain from having facial acne.  I was stressed until I learned about a doctor who discussed the positive effects that food can have on our skin.  Dr. Nicholas Perricone, author of “The Acne Prescription”, showed how acne can be a direct result of inflammation. 

The book details the process by which inflammation can be reduced through the way in which we eat as well as by the foods we consume.  He discusses the “cascade of inflammation” – how inflammation begins, builds, and then causes damage, and how by eating certain foods and avoiding others can help to reduce, or prevent dramatic spikes in, cellular inflammation.   

Here’s how it worked for me, and here’s why it is applicable to lupus. 

Shared by all auto-immune diseases is a common factor:  auto-immune disease, in all its forms, including lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, is an inflammatory condition.  An acceptable of autoreaction within the body is normal.  B cells are responsible for creating the sequence of events whereby autoreactive antibodies are produced.  B cells are also responsible for creating a protein called BlyS.  Certain levels of BlyS are acceptable and indeed necessary for regular healthy function.  od.  However, when too much BlyS is present, these autoreactive cells tend to live longer and proliferate more profusely.  The result is more, longer-living and stronger autoreactive cells.  And when the body attacks itself, inflammation, on a cellular and macro level, occurs.   

The approach of decreasing inflammatory foods can be helpful for other conditions as well.  Eating a low-sugar diet can help greatly contribute to a reduction in blood cholesterol levels.  When I began my anti-inflammatory diet, my cholesterol levels decreased by a third.   Of course, lowering one’s blood sugar levels can also significantly impact weight loss, another side benefit I was happy to experience.

There are many additional compelling reasons to reduce the inflammation in our bodies.  Inflammation is “linked to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arties), the principal cause of heart disease and stroke.  (Fat tissues also increase insulin resistance, leading to type 2 diabetes.  Ref.:  “the g.i. diet” by Gallop.  (p. 135).

 

Foods I eat and recommend:

quinoa and barley, in place of rice and pasta.

Rye bread, rye crackers instead of white or wheat bread.  Even whole grain bread can be high on the glycemic index scale.

Agave rather than white sugar.  Agave is not necessarily low on the glycemic index table, but it is lower than sugar.  So, if and when you have a sugar craving, go for the plant syrup.  It’s a much better alternative to sugar and, in my opinion, to artificial sweeteners.

turkey, to replace red meat which can contribute to blood cholesterol levels.

Buffalo meat, to replace red meat.

Oil – the heatlhy oils – Olive, Sunflower, and Grape Seed, in place of butter.

Lentils, a starchy food, also to replace pasta and potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are lower in glycemic index than white potatoes.  I replaced white potatoes with those, when I had a hankering for potatoes.

Blueberries, inplace of sugar on my oatmea.

Oatmeal, in place of typical (sugary) breakfast cereals.  Buy steel cut (lower in glycemic index than quick-oatmeal).

These are just some of the foods/methods I implemented.  Please refer back to this tab for more information – I will detail all of this in an enclosed doc.  Thanks, and take care.

 

  

References:

Examination of the relationship between sugar and inflammation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7267494?dopt=Abstract

Exploration of the relationship between foods [Omega 3 Fatty Acids] and reduction of inflammation and pain: http://www.omega3faq.com/omega-3-benefits.php#init/publisher=98ffdda2-f1c2-428e-a8bb-b78dd6adac8d/type=website/buttonText=Share%20This%20Page/sessionID=1271350761671.69851/fpc=7639673-126628d349a-5204e5b3-7/pUrl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.omega3faq.com%252Fomega-3-benefits.php

Chronic Inflammatory nature of lupus and the relationship between inflammation and pain:  http://www.ucop.edu/sciencetoday/article/1248.