The Alternative Road - Diet

One of the major elements that has helped to manage my chronic illness is diet.  I began dieting back in 2006, when my father (also a physician) suggested that I might have Celiac Disease.  After eliminating gluten from my diet, I felt noticeable improvement but not complete relief - so my experiments with diet expanded.  After eight years, I have come to the conclusion that two specific diet modifications are worthy of attention for anyone traveling the alternative road.  The first modification entails eliminating any foods that caused inflammatory symptoms.  The second modification entails increasing the consumption of foods known to help the body deal with inflammation.      

REDUCING INFLAMMATION

Since 2006, I have dabbled in a number of fad diets and food restrictions. The fad diets included a Paleo Diet, a Vegan Diet, a Vegetarian Diet, a Raw Foods Diet, a Candida Diet, and the Grain Brain Diet.  Each of these diets have merit.  However, none of these diets eliminated all of the foods that I now consider inflammatory - in fact most of these diets emphasized many of the foods that I consider inflammatory.

The most useful tool in reducing inflammatory foods was a series of food restrictions that can be adequately described as an elimination diet - a modification of food habits with the intent of identifying foods that trigger inflammatory symptoms (headaches, night sweats, blurry eyes, brain fog, fatigue, etc.).  My elimination diet took eight years to develop, partly because I did not have a template to follow and partly because I didn't want to give up foods that I enjoyed eating.  It took years of ill-health to steer me away from some of my beloved foods.  Ultimately, my decision to minimize exposure to inflammatory foods opened my eyes to a world of food alternatives that are just as satisfying. 

INCREASING FOODS THAT FIGHT INFLAMMATION

To function properly, the human body needs vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fiber, and other items historically provided by food.  However, the modern western diet is largely a high-calorie, low nutrient diet, potentially resulting in nutrient and vitamin deficiency.  For thirty years, I was guilty of consuming many more simple carbohydrates and sugars than high nutrient foods like whole fruits and vegetables.  The result was a body ill-equipped to deal with inflammation.  Increasing consumption of whole fruits and vegetables is recommended by virtually every health care professional that I consulted with on my road.  And though I personally was unable to attribute specific improvement of symptoms to this modification, I do believe that my general level of health (energy level and ability to focus) improved as a result.          

IF YOU ARE SUFFERING

If you are suffering from symptoms that are attributed to inflammation (including headaches, night sweats, blurry eyes, brain fog, fatigue, etc.), I can't more highly recommend trying an elimination diet and increasing your consumption of whole fruits and vegetables.  Specifically, if you have any autoimmune disease (or symptoms that correlate to an autoimmune disease), I am confident that this diet will help alleviate some of the symptoms.  And I also believe (largely through anecdotal evidence - though in the case of neurological and heart disease there is scientific evidence) that this diet has the potential to help those suffering from other ailments that currently do not have a cure through western medicine including but not limited to Autism, Alzheimer, Dementia, ALS, Cancer, heart disease, and obesity.  I do not intend to imply diet can cure these items, only help alleviate some of the symptoms. I will provide guidance in a future post for those considering an elimination diet; and I will provide recipes and recommendations of resources in a series of future posts to help you feel satisfied while on the diet and beyond.

WHAT THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY SAYS

Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation