Does diet help?

[Bozzy]

Do anyone find that excluding gluten, dairy and sugar help your fibro pain?
Anyone on the paleo or ketogenic diet?
I find that adhering to a strict ketogenic diet does indeed lessen my joint and muscle pain.
Not sure about there science behind this, but I do suspect that it's gut related. Maybe fibromyalgia Is a collection of symptoms that Is caused by a leaky gut/dysbiosis of bacteria?

 

[VanGogh]

Do anyone find that excluding gluten, dairy and sugar help your fibro pain?
Anyone on the paleo or ketogenic diet?
I find that adhering to a strict ketogenic diet does indeed lessen my joint and muscle pain.
Not sure about there science behind this, but I do suspect that it's gut related. Maybe fibromyalgia Is a collection of symptoms that Is caused by a leaky gut/dysbiosis of bacteria?

I think DIET effects more illness's than will ever be realized. That said, I have found what may work for me may not work for others.

Along those same thought lines is the good old PLACEBO effect which has had some new studies in prestigious schools and institutions.

So, IMHO I think what works for one may work for another. The beauty of a forum like this is I can tell you what worked for me and if you chose to try it and if you chose to try it and it works for you we have self discovered one more things that helps one more thing and maybe some day soon SPICER will fix everything!

 

[Northernelf]

It's truly trial & error - what works for each individual. IMHO, diet and exercise are very important factors.

I work hard to eat a pretty clean diet - lots of vegetables, fruit, lean meats, grains. I just feel better all around that way (but it is no way a cure) - basically eat food that looks like it is supposed to (no processed stuff). It takes some planning but once you get your kitchen set up, your go to recipes, it's pretty simple. I avoid gluten and have for 15 years, longer than my fibro diagnosis by about 10 years, because it makes me really sick (think - flu). I limit dairy to occasional hard cheese & half & half in my coffee because it causes digestive issues.

I would stress exercise is important too - movement like walking and so forth but also stretching afterwards, full body stretching is so important.

I have not tried keto or paleo - I am fairly active and needs my carbs, I just try to eat complex carbs. It takes some experimentation to find what works for you.

 

[links56]

I think diet does play a roll in the fibro. Keep in mind this is my personal theory, I think that the pH of your body is a crucial thing. Most of our diets in modern society are very acidic, we eat fried and processed foods and many times we sacrifice nutrition for convenience. Your body tries to regulate its pH but can only remove so much acid at a time and the acidity becomes more than our body can keep up with. To combat this you can eat less acidic foods or put more Alkaline foods in your body, I for instance started drinking water with lemon juice in it a year in a half ago. Now most people say that doesn't make sense because lemons contain citric acid and we don't want to take in more acid, but once the citric acid hits your stomach it actually turns alkaline. The same thing is true for vinegar an acid but when it hits your stomach its alkaline. Something else to consider, In labs when they put cancer cells into a acidic environment the flourish and multiply, when they put those same cancer cells into an alkaline environment they cannot survive and it kills them off. I think that the increased amounts of acid that are in our modern diets are a big cause of the amount of cancer we see today. I mean think about it 60-70 years ago, there were hardly any supermarkets and fast food, most people had diets that were naturally balanced, because they grew most of what they consumed. 60-70 years isn't very long for our bodies to even begin to adapt to our new modern diets. Once I started drinking the lemon juice with my water I felt better and my digestion is better, I also noticed a small energy increase. You could also mix a spoon of baking soda with a glass of water to get the same effect, in some countries they have seen some success in treating cancer with baking soda.

 

[Pegleg84]

I think having a good healthy and balanced diet definitely helps. I've been gluten free for over 8 years (cause Celiac Disease) so can't say if that affects my Fibro or not (though I do have fibro-like symptoms if I accidentally ingest gluten), but I do know that dairy and soy (which I am intolerant to) can aggravate things somewhat. Nightshades and too many whole grains/beans are a problem for me too, but mostly trigger my IBS (which I know is likely a Fibro symptom) rather than causing widespread pain.

Also, our stomach is full of nerves too, so if they're working overtime and irritated, it's got to be just as bad as overworking any other muscle. Probiotics and other digestive aids can be a huge help if you have problems.

In general, though eating mostly whole foods and avoiding processed crap will help your overall health, therefore help with Fibro symptoms. Getting all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, etc that we need from our food is a good thing for everyone. Figure out what works for you. If eating a thing makes you feel off, avoid it. If eating another thing makes you feel great (and not just while you're eating it), work it into your diet regularly.

(I really don't think baking soda is going to treat/cure cancer, but lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in water is definitely good for your digestion)

 

[Marvis]

Like Pegleg said, I think it helps, but it's not a cure-all. A good balanced diet with as little packaged foods as you can manage is best. I find that a lot of gluten doesn't agree with me, but probably because I tend to crave things the more I eat them - so if I allow myself bread, it's like I'm giving myself liscence to chow down on cake, cookies, buns, etc. lol. I try to eat good quality gluten free bread, a quinoa based pasta, more because it's lighter, feels better in my stomach and keeps a better variety of healthy grains in my system, rather than just processed wheat. Lots of fruit and veg and good quality proteins. This all gets tricky the more tired I get - trying to balance picky palates in the house, my needs and my fatigue can be overwhelming. Simple grilled meats with raw veggies and a whole grain side keeps things simple, if not terribly exciting. Hardest thing I find is that it requires organization and my brain gets so tired and foggy. I used to have meals planned for the week. Now I look at the clock and think 'Oh, it's after 5. What on earth are we going to eat for supper?'

 

[Tipnatee N]

Potassium deficiency is another underlying cause for brain fog and unreasonable sleep stress ( possibly the causing of my non stop crazy dreams) . I often have what I call the physically " I'm freaking out!" Episode, where my heart fluttered, over heat and over cold feeling at the same time in different parts of body, tingling numbness , extreme sharp cramps attack randomly while my nerves have deep powerful buzzing I can hear in my spine like bees yet feeling like earthquake inside me, my eyes wide open like I'm on speed drugs without taking anything because I see the wall is moving, everything looks like a slow motion picture, my hearing is tunnelling like I'm under water, or felling like I'm drunk on a roller coaster without drinking any , while feeling dry mouth and constant thirsty no matter how much liquid I consumed , extremely heartburn with seriously shortness of breath mildly in and out of hyperventilating over and over. All because of vitamin and mineral deficiency. Fibromyalgia often strongly react to any problems way too strongly some are false alarm so getting minerals and vitamins that my body asking for by eating the right food as clean and high potency as I can are the safer way for me to do instead of constantly reaching out to medicine cabinet for supplements to prevent the accidental overdose since it's not so pretty when that happen.

 

[Sagey]

Hi Bozzy,

I think diet definitely helps.Most of us are weak at times or have poor appetites.Eating nutritionally not only strengthens our bodies it is fuel for energy.And energy is what is needed for our bodies to fight stress and pain on a daily basis.Look at the people who are anorexic there body organs eventually shutdown.So if we don't eat right our body can't fix itself and our immune systems can't function properly.Although it's not going to take all our pain away, it might give us more energy to get up and move and help us feel a little better.


Sagey