Fibromyalgia Diet

This condition is called fibromyalgia. It consists of a complex set of symptoms, widespread muscle and joint pain and overwhelming fatigue. And none of it goes away, no matter how much sleep you get.

Fibromyalgia affects up to 4% of the population – especially women. And there is no known cause or recognized treatment that works for everyone. That is one reason, experts say, that so many people have switched to a diet as a way to relieve some of the symptoms.

The fact is, there is little scientific evidence for a single meal plan as a way to help deal with fibromyalgia. Nevertheless, a trip around the Internet will show that dietary approaches to fibromyalgia are abound. The variety is so diverse, it’s hard to imagine they are all in treating the same disease.

Eat more whole grains. Do not eat whole grains. All fruit is good. Some fruits are bad. Tomatoes are healthy. Tomatoes are harmful. Sugar is bad. Sugar has no effect. Avoid meat. Eat. . . .

Be not confused. Experts say that diversity is another hallmark of fibromyalgia.

“This is because fibromyalgia is not a specific disease,” says Michael McNett, MD. McNett directs the Fibromyalgia Treatment Centers of America, based in Chicago. “Fibromyalgia is a symptom complex, and different people seem to have different reasons why they get this symptom complex,” he says. “So, what works for one person often does not work for another.”

And that, experts say, include dietary measures.

Kent Holtorf, MD, is medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group Center for Endocrinology, neurology and infectious diseases in Torrance, California. He says: “We are at the point now where we know diet plays a role in this disease – it’s just not the same diet for everyone. And not everyone is in the same way a lot. “

Fibromyalgia Diet: Can what you eat help you?

Rheumatology experts like Alex Shikhman, MD, discovered that the variety of dietary approaches can do less with the effects on fibromyalgia, and more to do with the treatment of a secondary, may not have diagnosed disease. “When patients are helped by a special dietary measure,” says Shikhman, director and founder of the Institute of Medicine in San Diego’s Special “, it is often because of the presence of a constraint that makes it a recognized response to a diet. And if you look around, you get some relief from all symptoms. You will feel better. “

There are a number of co-existing health conditions, a tendency that can occur in people with fibromyalgia. Many of these symptoms overlap. These include gluten intolerance, gout (a form of arthritis) and restless legs syndrome. Some doctors believe food sensitivity itself could sometimes responsible for some of the pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia.

Furthermore, points out that Holtorf, because each of these adverse conditions respond to a different dietary approach, it is not difficult to understand why “different diet recommendations are reported to work.”

Shikhman believes that fibromyalgia can sometimes even the wrong diagnosis. This is another reason, he says, we can sometimes see how dramatic and immediate reaction to so many different dietary measures.

“Sometimes when you consider exactly what foods a patient responds:” Shikhman says: “You can actually get a significant indication of the true nature of their underlying health problems. And it might not always be fibromyalgia. “

Although it is not a single set of dietary guidelines that are right for all fibromyalgia patients, there are certain foods or food groups, which make a difference for a large number of people. But remember, the avoidance of these foods is no guarantee that your symptoms will change. Also, the avoidance of a group benefit offer, while another can not make a difference. Nevertheless, the experts WebMD talked to agree that the elimination of at least some of these foods is worth a try.

First Aspartame (NutraSweet). All the experts WebMD talked to agree that a large majority of people with fibromyalgia, with aspartame sweetened foods may aggravate fibromyalgia symptoms.

“It’s a pain in the nervous system receptor known as NMDA,” said McNett. “When turning from acute to chronic pain, it’s about opening the NMDA receptor pain. Aspartame, which is classified as excitotoxin, is helping to stimulate this event. “He also says people with fibromyalgia already seems overly active NMDA pain receptors, so that they more susceptible to the stimulation.

In a study published in the Journal of Rheumatology in 2006, experts found patients with fibromyalgia have increased expression of NMDA receptors in the skin. This showed an overall increase in activity of the peripheral nerves.

Can Holtorf says aspartame a role in stimulating the nerves to play. Then he adds that for some people, “cutting it from their diet can have a dramatic effect on pain.”

That seemed the case for patients in a small study published in Pharmacotherapy in 2001 in the Annals of. The researchers found that patients with fibromyalgia avoided aspartame as well as the flavor enhancer MSG, they felt better overall.

Other artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, saccharin and stevia does not seem to have the same effect as aspartame.

Second Food additives including MSG (monosodium glutamate) and nitrates. MSG is an additive or flavor enhancers that in many processed and frozen foods and is found in some Asian cuisine. Experts say it can intensify pain symptoms in many individuals. How is aspartame, MSG and classified as an excitotoxin has the same potential for affecting NMDA receptors.

The same is true, says McNett, for food, the preservatives such as nitrates, commonly found in lunch meats like ham or bacon or Bologna.

“A lot of people who may not have fibromyalgia not tolerate nitrates or MSG very well. But one of the hallmarks of this condition is that it reinforces unpleasant reactions, “said McNett. “As a stimulus to find that some people would be slightly uncomfortable very uncomfortable in those who have fibromyalgia.” Cutting these ingredients from the diet, he adds, helps most.

Third Glucose, fructose and simple carbohydrates. There is no clear evidence that cutting out simple carbohydrates – like sugar, white bread or cake – have an effect on fibromyalgia. What he can do is, however, the symptoms of chronic yeast infection – a fungus that lives on sugar and can contribute a constraint to the pain of fibromyalgia. This theory is still debated by experts.

“Cutting out sugary foods, can be especially high fructose corn syrup, to make a difference in these patients,” says Holtorf. “And that is independent of weight loss that occur when they could stop eating these foods.”

Shikhman adds that cutting out carbonated drinks sweetened with fructose can still achieve more noticeable results. This is because the carbon dioxide, he says, leads to a metabolic reaction. This reaction leads to a lot of sugar pouring into the blood much faster.

“It is this rapid rise in blood sugar,” says Shikhman: “followed by the subsequent fall that aggravated the fatigue element of fibromyalgia. This in turn creates more sugar cravings, fatigue, followed by even more -. In order to develop a vicious circle of “cutting out the sugar, as he says, especially soda can, a better result, even more so the control of blood sugar. Better control will contribute to fatigue and at least some of the associated pain.

4th Caffeine – including coffee, tea, cola and chocolate. Since it is considered a stimulant, to transform many fibromyalgia patients, caffeine-rich drinks as a source of energy. But McNett says the push you get is wrong – and can worsen quickly fatigue.

“The problem with caffeine is that the ‘up’ is relatively short and transient,” he says. “And it is much longer and deeper sedation followed.”

Because people are tired with fibromyalgia, McNett cautions, the sedative effect may be much more powerful. “They are starting from a point of exhaustion, the soothing qualities are reinforced – resulting in a much deeper and long-lasting feeling of tiredness.”

The good news is that cutting out caffeine can make a difference in less than a week. “Most patients begin to see a difference in their fatigue level almost immediately,” he says.

5th Yeast and gluten. Although these two separate food substances, they are often co-exist – especially in baked goods like cakes, donuts and bread. For this reason, cutting out a usually means that you cut both. This can actually result in two separate services for people with fibromyalgia.

In the case of yeast, some doctors say it promotes the overgrowth of yeast in the body. This overgrowth can cause or aggravate a lot of experience from the joint and muscle pain by people with fibromyalgia. Research has still to confirm this link.

Gluten can aggravate a condition known as gluten intolerance. Gluten intolerance, Shikhman says, often leads to a variety of gastrointestinal disorders and other digestive problems. It is also associated with fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia.

“I have seen people with and without fibromyalgia experience tremendous positive changes in their health by simply cutting out gluten products,” says Shikhman.

6th Dairy. Be it low-fat or fat-rich, some experts say dairy products – especially milk – are known to the symptoms of fibromyalgia drive. Avoid these products may help some people turn their health around.

On the other hand, if you, as if some milk does your body to feel good, keep chugging one or two glasses of skim milk per day. It has calcium build up in bones and protein to build muscles, and it is fat free.

7th Nightshade family: tomatoes, chillies and peppers, potatoes and eggplants. There are over 2,000 species of plants that can be listed under the category of “nightshade family”. Those that are edible include a group that some say may flares of different types of arthritis, including fibromyalgia trigger.

“I have patients who do much better if they cut these foods from your diet to see,” says Holtorf. We are not sure why, but it seems to be in a significant percentage of fibromyalgia patients to work. “At the same time these vegetables are among the most nutritious. So if they have not caused your fibro pain, do not they ban of your refrigerator.