What not to eat if you have autoimmune disease: part one
I know for a fact that lupus is characterized by inflammation. I can only imagine other autoimmune diseases also have inflammation as a characteristic. So wouldn't it behoove us to avoid behaviors and situations that increase inflammation? There are many irritants out there that trigger an immune response.
I can't control the fact that planes fly over my house and pollute the air, or that corporations dump poisons in our water.
And I can't control the fact that much of our food supply is garbage. But I can control what I put in my mouth. I don't have to eat the garbage- that is a choice (though not always an easy one!). And some of the things that are touted as being good for you are actually garbage.
Have you tried to find something healthy to eat in your typical restaurant? Something *not* fried, or laden with fatty sauces, sugar, MSG, salt? I end up defaulting to what I call the "typical girl special": chicken caesar salad with the dressing on the side. To be a true "typical girl special," that would come with a large diet coke. But I have ended my decades- long romance with diet sodas. I tell you, it's like quitting cigarettes. I honestly can't tell you how many times I quit drinking diet soda before I finally succeeded, and I still live in fear I'll fall off the wagon. I just tell myself every time I look at a cold dripping tempting bottle of diet something, "poison." Some sources say that aspartame (a.k.a. "nutrasweet," a.k.a. "Equal," in the blue packet) turns into formaldehyde when it gets into your body. Some say it turns into formaldehyde *before* it enters the body, if the temperature is warm enough. Hawaii tried to ban aspartame (a.k.a nutrasweet) from its food supply, and the US federal government wouldn't let them! (Can you imagine how angry Americans would be if they got to paradise and there was no Diet Coke? "What kind of hellhole is this??! Honey take me home!") There are efforts in other countries to get this stuff out of their food supplies as well, including Ireland and New Zealand. Some theorize that it is a major contributor to Gulf War Syndrome. Others say it causes to birth defects in our children and, in a trial, an 86% *death* rate in monkeys. (http://maintainwealth.blogspot.com/2008/08/aspartame-murders-infants.html ). This "food" has no place in our diets, in our fridges, in our food chain, or in our stores.
I do believe this: there are no casual diet soda drinkers. People either don't drink it, or they chain-drink it like a crack addict, waking up with their first thought being "I gotta have me a hit of diet soda." i have ridden my bicycle to the store in my pajamas to get a diet coke before i would do anything else. It was ruling my day, every day.
I find that getting a monkey off your back is a little more doable if you can find some kind of replacement. I mean I wasn't going to go *caffeine* free on top of ditching the tyrannical nutrasweet. One vice at a time. So, about 9 months after giving up the junk, i am still doing fine drinking filtered or water green tea (which I brew at home) with stevia, a natural sweetener. If I really feel like partying, I have a regular Coke. But I don't do that too often, because it is made with high fructose corn syrup, which is genetically modified (and fattening). I may not be Elle MacPherson, but I am not ready to have my genes modified. And something tells me consuming genetically modified foods is not going to get me any closer to looking like Elle. I hear Mexican Coca Cola is still made with sugar, and there are some natural sodas out there as well, made with juice. And there's seltzer, which is great plain or with a splash of organic juice (read the seltzer bottle- some of it has nutrasweet!!). Of course mankind did pretty well for several eons without sodas to drink.
Many of us with a lupus diagnosis feel like we're being randomly attacked by some mysterious force. But there are some things we can do to limit the likelihood of attack, and one of them is to stop eating garbage.
read more about nutrasweet's dangers:
http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html
coming in part 2: sodium nitrate, vegan diets
I know for a fact that lupus is characterized by inflammation. I can only imagine other autoimmune diseases also have inflammation as a characteristic. So wouldn't it behoove us to avoid behaviors and situations that increase inflammation? There are many irritants out there that trigger an immune response.
I can't control the fact that planes fly over my house and pollute the air, or that corporations dump poisons in our water.
And I can't control the fact that much of our food supply is garbage. But I can control what I put in my mouth. I don't have to eat the garbage- that is a choice (though not always an easy one!). And some of the things that are touted as being good for you are actually garbage.
Have you tried to find something healthy to eat in your typical restaurant? Something *not* fried, or laden with fatty sauces, sugar, MSG, salt? I end up defaulting to what I call the "typical girl special": chicken caesar salad with the dressing on the side. To be a true "typical girl special," that would come with a large diet coke. But I have ended my decades- long romance with diet sodas. I tell you, it's like quitting cigarettes. I honestly can't tell you how many times I quit drinking diet soda before I finally succeeded, and I still live in fear I'll fall off the wagon. I just tell myself every time I look at a cold dripping tempting bottle of diet something, "poison." Some sources say that aspartame (a.k.a. "nutrasweet," a.k.a. "Equal," in the blue packet) turns into formaldehyde when it gets into your body. Some say it turns into formaldehyde *before* it enters the body, if the temperature is warm enough. Hawaii tried to ban aspartame (a.k.a nutrasweet) from its food supply, and the US federal government wouldn't let them! (Can you imagine how angry Americans would be if they got to paradise and there was no Diet Coke? "What kind of hellhole is this??! Honey take me home!") There are efforts in other countries to get this stuff out of their food supplies as well, including Ireland and New Zealand. Some theorize that it is a major contributor to Gulf War Syndrome. Others say it causes to birth defects in our children and, in a trial, an 86% *death* rate in monkeys. (http://maintainwealth.blogspot.com/2008/08/aspartame-murders-infants.html ). This "food" has no place in our diets, in our fridges, in our food chain, or in our stores.
I do believe this: there are no casual diet soda drinkers. People either don't drink it, or they chain-drink it like a crack addict, waking up with their first thought being "I gotta have me a hit of diet soda." i have ridden my bicycle to the store in my pajamas to get a diet coke before i would do anything else. It was ruling my day, every day.
I find that getting a monkey off your back is a little more doable if you can find some kind of replacement. I mean I wasn't going to go *caffeine* free on top of ditching the tyrannical nutrasweet. One vice at a time. So, about 9 months after giving up the junk, i am still doing fine drinking filtered or water green tea (which I brew at home) with stevia, a natural sweetener. If I really feel like partying, I have a regular Coke. But I don't do that too often, because it is made with high fructose corn syrup, which is genetically modified (and fattening). I may not be Elle MacPherson, but I am not ready to have my genes modified. And something tells me consuming genetically modified foods is not going to get me any closer to looking like Elle. I hear Mexican Coca Cola is still made with sugar, and there are some natural sodas out there as well, made with juice. And there's seltzer, which is great plain or with a splash of organic juice (read the seltzer bottle- some of it has nutrasweet!!). Of course mankind did pretty well for several eons without sodas to drink.
Many of us with a lupus diagnosis feel like we're being randomly attacked by some mysterious force. But there are some things we can do to limit the likelihood of attack, and one of them is to stop eating garbage.
read more about nutrasweet's dangers:
http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html
coming in part 2: sodium nitrate, vegan diets
6 comments:
I think I will find these series of posts interesting. I am a diet coke addict...I am better about not drinking it as often as I used to...but I still have one a day. I tried to give it up and my inner bratty child wouldn't let me. *sigh* Maybe this can help me come to the good side!
Carla, your blog and YouTube clips are the best natural, non-prescription adjunct to meds I've found yet. Completely non-toxic, pleasantly energizing and easy to digest. Addictive, though...
Sure am glad to see you back here. (Whew--been worrying for weeks.)
Glad to hear you're "on the wagon" and that it's helped. Aren't soft drinks deliberately engineered to heighten your craving for them? A big "hats off" to you for kicking the habit--it must not have been easy. My toxic foods list includes red meat, dairy (except good yogurt), corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, salt, MSG. . . i.e. most prepared foods and chain-restaurant meals. Not overly superstitious here, just reasonably prudent--right??
Please take good care, I really enjoy your posts.
it's so nice to be missed! i actually went on a real honest to God vacation. a week visiting family and a week at guitar camp- as a student! too much driving, but my lovemuffin did almost all the driving. my hero!
i wouldn't call you superstitious at all- more like well-read and smart. i found one really healthy meal at a restaurant about 5 miles from here, and it's always my first vote when hubby wants sot eat out. italian country salad (dressing on the side)- *real* greens (not iceberg, which has no value) with sliced pear, walnuts and bleu cheese (thankfully they're skimpy with the cheese).
otherwise, there's a mediterranean place, which i still find too salty, and then the old default chicken caesar. lord knows what's in the dressing. there id oil and vinegar on the table, but that's not so tasty on romaine.
yes i did hear that the government has allowed "food" manufacturers to include foods that make you crave more food in the food! i have no proof about whether soda mfrs are doing this, other than to stand in a grocery store and watch the number of overweight people carrying multiple *cases* of diet soda. and of course my other anecdotal evidence, having been addicted, and knowing soooo many other folks who struggle with diet soda addiction.
keep up the good choices! it's going against the -overly-refined-genetically-modified- grain in this culture, but worth it.
Well, there's nothing like prompt, affirming feedback! Sounds like you picked a peach of a love-muffin/chauffeur. Me too--mine cooks delicious healthy meals with home-grown vegetables out of "our" (his) garden. That Italian salad sounds delicious. Usually he cooks oriental stir-fry style, which is conveniently free-form. He has to do all the guitar-playing too. Terribly lop-sided relationship here.
Can't wait to see what comes of your week at guitar camp!
FYI LaCroix carbonated waters have no sugar or sodium. I depend on them to keep me off of sugared and diet sodas. Also I like perrier de pamplemousse. They all have just an essence of fruit. They do not try to be sweet but are very different from plain water.
great tip- i just googled them for the ingredients and there seems to be no artifical flavors (I'm always looking for that sneaky nutrasweet!)
I drink lots of seltzer.
Word ot the wise: if you are on blood pressure meds, avoid anything with real grapefruit in it. It lowers the effectiveness of the meds.
Here's someone's blog about laCroix which I found when googling the ingredients:
http://tinyurl.com/3hrt6f5
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