Fibromyalgia -Six Food Items to Consider Avoiding

What is a subject I know a lot about and if I were giving my #1 best tip to someone new to the subject what would it be?  This is the challenge for the Ultimate Blog Challenge today.  Of course, my subject will be Fibromyalgia.  But what would be the #1 tip about it?

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There are so many things about Fibromyalgia that I wish I’d known sooner, like light exercise can help (if you’re careful), that staying as positive as possible mentally makes it all more bearable, that understanding Fibro as much as you can helps in making decisions, and diet actually does play a role for me.

With so many things to choose from, I’m going to focus on a specific segment of the diet portion and how it affects Fibromyalgia for me.  Today, I’m going to write about some of the foods that seem to exacerbate my Fibromyalgia symptoms. 

Diet is an important role for everyone, whether they have Fibromyalgia or not.  Unfortunately, there are not any great studies out there that pinpoint exactly what a diet for Fibromyalgia should be.  

However, in my experience there are some foods that affect me and some of my Fibro friends have mentioned some of the same foods affecting them, so I believe there may be some validity to avoiding or minimizing these foods in your diet.

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I am not a doctor.  If you are considering making a major change in diet, you should consult with your doctor first, especially if you have Fibromyalgia, because your body may react in an unexpected way and your doctor needs to be informed.  It can help if you keep a “Food Journal," where you keep track of what you are eating and how you feel afterwards so you can pinpoint anything diet-wise that might be affecting you.

Like everything with Fibromyalgia, some things work for some people and the same things may not work for others.  However, a healthy diet typically helps everyone and eliminating foods that may cause Fibro symptoms to worsen, seems like a good idea to me. Just check with your doctor before making any major diet changes.

This is a pretty large topic, so I’m just going to do a quick overview of the foods that tend to affect me the most.  Eventually, I will develop a more complete list.

The six food items to avoid:

1.     Soda- This is probably the hardest one to completely eliminate for me.  I’ve reduced my soda consumption a great deal and replaced it with water, but I still sneak in a Mountain Dew from time to time.  Because soda is very acidic, it tends to cause inflammation.

2.     Gluten – Many people have reactions to gluten without even realizing it.  It’s a good idea to try limiting glutens. Foods that contain glutens include wheat, kamut, rye, barley, oats (oats are actually gluten free, but they are contaminated with wheat so often that I recommend avoiding them if you have a reaction), spelt (which is not gluten free although many people think it is), and triticale (which is a cross between wheat and rye).

3.     Dairy – Luckily, I do not seem to have a major adverse reaction to dairy.  I love my cheeses and can’t imagine not being able to eat them.  However, if I eat too much cheese or drink too much milk, I do become a little bloated, so I try to limit the intake and make up the calcium in supplement form.  With dairy products, many people have lactose intolerance or casein sensitivity

4.     Soy- This is often considered a better choice than others (like soy milk), but for many women it can actually cause estrogen imbalances, which can increase pain levels as well.

5.     Trans Fat (partially hydrogenated oils/fats)-These are found in many fried foods, margarine, prepackaged cookies and so forth. These are difficult for most people’s bodies to process and leads to obesity, cardiac issues, high cholesterol, and more.

6.     Artificial Preservatives

a.     MSG-Studies have shown that MSG contains glutamate, which acts as a nerve impulse transmitter in the brain and some glutamate responsive tissues. The glutamate tricks your body into sending nerve impulses when it shouldn’t be. Also, it really doesn’t taste as good as people think!

b.     Artificial Coloring- Studies are showing that artificial coloring is linked to hyperactivity and mental issues.  Those of us with Fibro already struggle mentally to cope and often end up with depression, so the last thing we need is something else messing with our minds!

c.     Artificial Sweeteners- Artificial sweeteners like Saccharin (which was linked to bladder cancer in rats, but hasn’t been directly linked to humans yet, but why risk it?) and Aspartame (this is the ingredient in NutraSweet and Equal). Some artificial sweeteners have been linked to muscle spasms. I found eliminating Aspartame in particular has been helpful for me.

If you suspect you are sensitive to a particular food that might be increasing your pain, fatigue, or irritable bowel symptoms, then you should consider eliminating the food for about six weeks and then try adding it back in and see if it really does cause you issues.  It may be that you have a food allergy or that your body simply processes certain foods in a way that is not helping you.

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Truthfully, my diet didn’t really decrease the overall pain much, but it has helped me to improve the bloating and constipation and some of the muscle spasms.  Additionally, when I manage to stick to a healthier diet, I tend to have a little more energy.  

Everyone should have a balanced diet consisting of organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Unless, your doctor says otherwise.    

In short, my #1 tip for Fibromyalgia is to focus on your diet as a major component to your treatment of Fibromyalgia.  Try to discover what foods or preservatives affect you. Then try to eliminate or at least reduce your consumption of them.