Anti-inflammatory diet

Hi Wildstrawberry,
I was working on my diet before I found my prolapse because of severe peri menopausal symptoms.
It has only further benefited me with my prolapse symptoms. I started out by cutting out all processed food, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and anything with hormones in it. I started to get relief from my symptoms, but still had some inflammation and bloating issues. So I took the big plunge and cut out dairy. For me, after over fifty years of eating dairy, it was a big step. But , I noticed the inflammation as well as bloating went down dramatically.
Everyone is different in how their body responds to certain foods. I consider it a very personal journey for each of us in what works and what doesn't.
You can also Google anti inflammatory diets. That's how I started figuring mine out, as well as reading just about every diet book out there! Needless to say, I have been on my fair share of what someone else's idea of what a diet should be. I found that by listening to my body and how it reacted after eating certain foods was the best way to go about this.
Best wishes to you.

That's funny you should ask about the fruit. I had cut out most fruit when I was on the South Beach diet for 3 years. That diet left me tired and unfulfilled, but it also trained me to eat very little fruit.
I have actually been adding more fruit back into my diet, and find I feel just fine eating it. Not everyone does, and like everything, a personal discovery for each of us.
I also have a coffee or a drink on occasion now, but I know what my limitations are by my symptoms with the peri menopause. Checks and balances, always.

This is a subject close to my heart as I have arthritis and also depressive symptoms that have improved quite a bit through me trying to follow an anti-inflamatory diet.

I agree totally about dairy. That and gluten for me have been the two worst culprits. Sugar too - empty calories and disruptive to the sensitive insulin system in the body as well as inflammatory.

Fruit - I find citrus fruit inflammatory, especially oranges, but ymmv. Lemon in particular is meant to be anti-inflammatory. I think the jury is still out on fruit, from what I've read. Some sources think that berries are problematic. I eat a lot of bananas without a problem.

As for caffeine, tea in moderation is anti-inflammatory so I do still drink a fair amount of weak black tea. Ditto wine - alcohol has other problems of course but in moderation it is anti inflammatory.

I pour extra virgin olive oil on my salads and cooked veggies. Yum. Lots of veggies every day. Oily fish twice a week, and organic meat/chicken three times a week. We have our own eggs from our free range chickens. Rice and sweet potatoes are good.

Also I take a low-dose fish oil supplement every day. That, plus Vit. D in the winter, is all I take in the way of supplements.

It's taken me several years but I finally don't miss the sugary treats and creamy desserts that I used to love so much. As for pizza - who needs it?

Dear cherryblossom & Wildstrawberry,
I heard a tip yesterday that black cherries help with arthritis - even canned ones...
The person said they were arthritis free, from eating them daily, and they are about 80 yrs old, now.
I'm sure there are other contributing factors, however interesting all the same..

Aussie Soul Sister

Yes, I've heard that one too - and also drinking cherry juice, though I think it has to be a particular type.

Cherries are delicious so it's a great idea.

I was standing in the grocery line to check out when the man behind me noticed I had GF products. He stated that his daughter suffered from fibromyalgia for 5 years. The physician had suggested that she delete gluten [G.M.O.'s] from her diet. She followed his advice. At the following office visit three months later he stated; "You no longer have fibromyalgia".

Interesting story, salvage.

I hope you understand that GMOs are in more than just wheat products. GMOs have actually been on the rise in many other crops, especially corn and soy. When you are going gluten free, that doesn't necessarily mean you are going GMO free.
Going organic or even better local is probably best.

On another note, I would like to say that I don't discredit those of you who truly have gluten and/or wheat sensitivities, but not all of us are affected that way. And, some of these gluten free products are not really any better for you, with a lot of it still being processed junk. I went through my gluten free product stage and I found that these products weren't really all that healthy for you either, just read some of those labels! So I went to buying all the different flours, Garbonzo, rice, potato starch, etc, etc. In the end, I found it all just to be a lot of hype. If you really want a piece of bread and the gluten free does it for Ya, then great for you, but to those of you who think you should go gluten free because it is all the rage now, just stop and ask yourselves if you really are having these severe symptoms that people with these actual conditions have, or are you just buying into the hype. Not all of us are the same.

A conscientious gluten-free diet omits all of those other junk carbs as well. No one should be simply making those substitutions - if that's all they're doing, they need to educate themselves about healthy eating.

Gluten is highly inflammatory; there is a huge population that falls somewhere on a broad spectrum of sensitivity without even realizing it. Going off gluten is usually #1 on the list of dietary measures that can help manage chronic disease. I can easily imagine that fibromyalgia can be helped/reversed through clean eating!! - Surviving

According to Harvard Medical school, foods that fight inflammatory effectively include:
Tomatoes
Olive oil
Green leafy vegetables, such as pinach, kale, and collards
Nuts like almonds and walnuts
Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines
fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and oranges
I want to share a link here but afraid that I can be consider as a spammer.
So to reduce inflammation, you also need to avoid the following:
Refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pastries
French fries and other fried foods
Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages
Red meat (burgers, steaks) and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage)
Margarine, shortening, and lard

thanks @camryn for the list it's just what i am looking for....

Thank you all so much for this info.

At one point, I'd been seeing a Chirooractor for my sciatica and neck pain. He was a Holistic Chiro so he was also helping me on my diet...to reduce the inflammation. He suggested to go diary, gluten,soy,caffeine and wheat free. It was hard but I believe it did help. When money is funny, it's not easy to follow. Like mentioned before, it's hard to completely cur that stuff out because it's littered in almost everything! Eating organic isnt the most affordable way to go...food industry is meant to keep us sick...so of course it"s difficult to eat healthy on a tight budget.

I discovered a plant/veggie based shake that ive been using for awhile now. Its diary, gluten, soy free and its pretty good. I put applesauce,ice and frozen fruit in it to thicken it. Its about $20 @ Walmart. Can't think of what its called. Ill look it up and edit this post. Anyway, i believe its helpful. Finding what works for each individual can be frustrating. With the support of WW,we can get through this Ladies. So the brand is PurelyInspired Organic Protein. I prefer the vanilla.