The Chinese have a great saying: Eat to Live, not Live to Eat.
We Americans live in a "Eat to Live" culture. We eat foods we like, rather than foods that are good for us. We think eating should be fun, and every meal should be a "treat." And there is often no eye open to the consequences of our eating habits. The when our arteries harden up or we get irritable Bowel Syndrome, no one tells us to stop drinking a 12-pack of soda every day. Our doctors tell us it's genetic. While it's tempting to just pop some pills and continue with our destructive lifestyles without having to suffer the consequences, wouldn't it make more sense to cooperate with nature? Because, as one who's had ot take a lot of pills, I can tell you, it's expensive and they all have side effects, some of them quite serious and potentially permanent. Like cataracts, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and oh yeah, death.
This segment of "That's inflammatory" deals with the sources of LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). Saturated fats and trans fats increase LDL ("bad" cholesterol) in the blood, and high LDL increases inflammation.
Avoid: full-fat animal products (fatty meats, cheeses, cream), commercial cakes, cookies, crackers, pies and breads.
Eat: extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil, fatty fish such as salmon and tuna, nuts and seeds—especially walnuts and flaxseed. Omega-3 fats, decrease inflammation. It's not wise to avoid consuming *all* fat, which would leave you constipated, but about eating the right kinds of fat.
Avoid: refined grains, white bread and potatoes, candy, soda, sugar, sugar, sugar. things that elevate blood sugar render LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) more dangerous.
Eat: fruits, vegetables, "real" bread (whole grain), beans, sweet potatoes, red wine, cocoa and turmeric.
If you're looking for a diet-type to follow, the Mediterranean Diet is a good model. When I first decided to avoid gluten (wheat products mostly), I discovered food such as hummus and babganoush were quite tasty.
There's also the biblical diet. apparently, God was quite specific about what to eat in the Old Testament. I'll post a summary of that diet in Part 4.
Monday, August 18, 2008
That's inflammatory! Part Two
Inflammatory? Not sure. toxic, yes.
Sodium Nitrate. This chemical is used in meat packing plants to preserve meat. Pretty much any meat you buy at your average grocery store or deli is going to have been preserved with sodium nitrate. I sincerely doubt that the guy behind the deli or meat counter wants to kill you by feeding you something toxic. But did you know that you *can* kill someone with a large enough dose of sodium nitrate? In fact, a woman who was in love with another woman's husband purposely dosed the wife with sodium nitrate (which she obtained from her job at the meat-packing plant). She gave her enough to make her sick, not kill her.
http://www.NaturalNews.com/023873.html
according to "How Stuff Works.com," Stuff like salami, hot dogs, pepperoni, bologna, ham, bacon and SPAM all normally contain sodium nitrate as one of the ingredients. Fresh meats generally do not contain any added chemicals.
The chemical is added to inhibit botulism and keep the pink color, so when you open a can of SPAM, it's pink instead of grey.
I don't know about you, but it really makes me think about whether I want to keep eating lunch meat.
Is it inflammatory? well, we know it's toxic. large quantities of sodium nitrate have caused cancer in animals. Meat itself can be inflammatory.
Sodium Nitrate. This chemical is used in meat packing plants to preserve meat. Pretty much any meat you buy at your average grocery store or deli is going to have been preserved with sodium nitrate. I sincerely doubt that the guy behind the deli or meat counter wants to kill you by feeding you something toxic. But did you know that you *can* kill someone with a large enough dose of sodium nitrate? In fact, a woman who was in love with another woman's husband purposely dosed the wife with sodium nitrate (which she obtained from her job at the meat-packing plant). She gave her enough to make her sick, not kill her.
http://www.NaturalNews.com/023873.html
according to "How Stuff Works.com," Stuff like salami, hot dogs, pepperoni, bologna, ham, bacon and SPAM all normally contain sodium nitrate as one of the ingredients. Fresh meats generally do not contain any added chemicals.
The chemical is added to inhibit botulism and keep the pink color, so when you open a can of SPAM, it's pink instead of grey.
I don't know about you, but it really makes me think about whether I want to keep eating lunch meat.
Is it inflammatory? well, we know it's toxic. large quantities of sodium nitrate have caused cancer in animals. Meat itself can be inflammatory.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
That's inflammatory! Part One: Diet soda
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
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Pick your poison
Wow. Comedian Bernie Mac, dead at 50. The papers say it was pneumonia. My husband said "Who dies of pneumonia anymore, especially at age 50?"
Someone who is on immune suppressants, that's who. Bernie Mac had sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease, and it was being controlled by immune suppressants. The doctors declared his condition to be "in remission," but that remission came at the price of him not being able to fight off pneumonia.
This is frightening for those of us who have been given the choice between dying of kidney failure or having our immune suppressants squashed, leaving us vulnerable to death by pneumonia and other illnesses that would otherwise be life-threatening, were our immune systems not suppressed. What are we supposed to do? I know for a fact I would be dead if I hadn't finally given in and taken the damn prednisone. But I resisted taking it for 8 months because I read about all the side effects and those to me sounded worse than just being in pain. I didn't consider that my vital organs were being attacked.
But at age 25, I was not ready for osteoporosis, diabetes, hair loss, weight gain, mood swings, a giant moon-face, acne, cataracts, immune suppression (meaning, vulnerability to all diseases) and all the other garbage that goes along with long-term high-dose prednisone usage. In retrospect, I think there would be something wrong with me if I *didn't* find this idea objectionable! Who wants to be a fat, moody, moon-faced, blind, brittle-boned diabetic before age 30, if there is any other possible way to deal with their situation? I mean, I was still single. This is no condition to be in on the dating scene. Crap, it's just no way to go through life, especially when your condition is caused by medicine.
What are we supposed to do? Well, according to Mike Adams ("the Health Ranger")... "It's simple: Visit a naturopath, get off all the chemicals and medications, eliminate all the junk from his diet (processed foods, etc.) and transition to a mostly plant-based diet rich in superfoods and living foods. His lung condition would have disappeared and his immune system would have been strong enough to withstand common infections. (He also would have experienced increased energy and lost some excess body fat.)
This is a fine idea, in principle. But Mike Adams, I'm pretty sure, has never had to first-hand deal with either sarcoidosis or any other life-threatening chronic illness involving demoralizing chronic pain. I decided to try the naturopathic approach myself the first time i was ill, and let me tell you- when the disease is in attack mode, unless you have someone making your food for you, and coming to your house treating you, you won't have the energy to do the amount of work it takes to get better using naturopathy alone. There is a lot of shopping for fresh food, driving to appointments, food prep and cleanup. and when i was in the condition I was in in 1992, I had to spend a half-hour working up the gumption to get off the sofa to go to the bathroom.
As much as I detest being on drugs, I've found them to be a "necessary evil" for periods of time in my life. I go on the drugs to stop the disease from destroying my kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, and whatever else it may be attacking, then as soon as I start feeling a bit better, I start doing the things I know I should be doing: acupuncture, gentle exercise, eating less garbage and more real food (fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, filtered water, salmon), and doing things and being with people who make me happy. and reading plenty of comic books. The two approaches work together, and I taper off the drugs as my test results improve. I desperately want to be drug-free, but I more desperately want to have all my original vital organs intact. I am presently not on prednisone. I've never been on it for more than a year, even though my doctors would like to keep me on a "maintenance" dose. I am on cellcept right now (I was on both immune suppressants for 9 months after my last attack), and as long as my tests are OK, I figure one immune suppressant in my life is enough. It's the costlier of the 2 drugs by far, but i get to keep my bones and eyes. SO from that perspective, it's cheaper than cataract surgery and double hip adn knee replacements, both of which, of course, leave you open to staph infection...
Point being, it's our lives. If I don't want to take prednisone, I don't have to. They can't make me. If I were a child, they could probably force my parents to give it to me, but i'm not a child (at least not according to my drivers' license). However, I have to live with the consequences of my decisions, and sometimes taking prednisone for 9 months is better than being in chronic pain while lupus eats away at my vital organs.
Someone who is on immune suppressants, that's who. Bernie Mac had sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease, and it was being controlled by immune suppressants. The doctors declared his condition to be "in remission," but that remission came at the price of him not being able to fight off pneumonia.
This is frightening for those of us who have been given the choice between dying of kidney failure or having our immune suppressants squashed, leaving us vulnerable to death by pneumonia and other illnesses that would otherwise be life-threatening, were our immune systems not suppressed. What are we supposed to do? I know for a fact I would be dead if I hadn't finally given in and taken the damn prednisone. But I resisted taking it for 8 months because I read about all the side effects and those to me sounded worse than just being in pain. I didn't consider that my vital organs were being attacked.
But at age 25, I was not ready for osteoporosis, diabetes, hair loss, weight gain, mood swings, a giant moon-face, acne, cataracts, immune suppression (meaning, vulnerability to all diseases) and all the other garbage that goes along with long-term high-dose prednisone usage. In retrospect, I think there would be something wrong with me if I *didn't* find this idea objectionable! Who wants to be a fat, moody, moon-faced, blind, brittle-boned diabetic before age 30, if there is any other possible way to deal with their situation? I mean, I was still single. This is no condition to be in on the dating scene. Crap, it's just no way to go through life, especially when your condition is caused by medicine.
What are we supposed to do? Well, according to Mike Adams ("the Health Ranger")... "It's simple: Visit a naturopath, get off all the chemicals and medications, eliminate all the junk from his diet (processed foods, etc.) and transition to a mostly plant-based diet rich in superfoods and living foods. His lung condition would have disappeared and his immune system would have been strong enough to withstand common infections. (He also would have experienced increased energy and lost some excess body fat.)
This is a fine idea, in principle. But Mike Adams, I'm pretty sure, has never had to first-hand deal with either sarcoidosis or any other life-threatening chronic illness involving demoralizing chronic pain. I decided to try the naturopathic approach myself the first time i was ill, and let me tell you- when the disease is in attack mode, unless you have someone making your food for you, and coming to your house treating you, you won't have the energy to do the amount of work it takes to get better using naturopathy alone. There is a lot of shopping for fresh food, driving to appointments, food prep and cleanup. and when i was in the condition I was in in 1992, I had to spend a half-hour working up the gumption to get off the sofa to go to the bathroom.
As much as I detest being on drugs, I've found them to be a "necessary evil" for periods of time in my life. I go on the drugs to stop the disease from destroying my kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, and whatever else it may be attacking, then as soon as I start feeling a bit better, I start doing the things I know I should be doing: acupuncture, gentle exercise, eating less garbage and more real food (fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, filtered water, salmon), and doing things and being with people who make me happy. and reading plenty of comic books. The two approaches work together, and I taper off the drugs as my test results improve. I desperately want to be drug-free, but I more desperately want to have all my original vital organs intact. I am presently not on prednisone. I've never been on it for more than a year, even though my doctors would like to keep me on a "maintenance" dose. I am on cellcept right now (I was on both immune suppressants for 9 months after my last attack), and as long as my tests are OK, I figure one immune suppressant in my life is enough. It's the costlier of the 2 drugs by far, but i get to keep my bones and eyes. SO from that perspective, it's cheaper than cataract surgery and double hip adn knee replacements, both of which, of course, leave you open to staph infection...
Point being, it's our lives. If I don't want to take prednisone, I don't have to. They can't make me. If I were a child, they could probably force my parents to give it to me, but i'm not a child (at least not according to my drivers' license). However, I have to live with the consequences of my decisions, and sometimes taking prednisone for 9 months is better than being in chronic pain while lupus eats away at my vital organs.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Attack of the Killer Kidneys
I've had kidney involvement with lupus since 1992. Or as the docs say, Lupus Nephritis. What it means is the lupus (immune system gone awry) is attacking the kidneys. Not so long ago, say 40-50 years ago, this was a death sentence.
But nowadays, this attack can be halted, and even reversed, with drugs. I've had my kidney function go down to somewhere around 25-30%, told it would never improve, and to be expecting a transplant/ dialysis within 5 years (that was 6 years ago).
In fact, my function has gone this low 3 times (with each lupus flare), and has always returned to normal after getting the lupus under control. The first time we used just prednisone. I also got chelation therapy from an alternative practitioner and went natural with my diet, avoiding gluten and making my own juices. I was on prednisone for about a year, starting at a high dose.
The second time I got sick (lupus flare as they say), I had prednisone, 4 blood pressure meds, chemotherapy (cytoxan) and some other drugs that were for other problems (no fun drugs like marijuana though- gotta move to California!), as well as chelation therapy, diet change (candida diet), herbs, and lots of acupuncture. Again on prednisone for about a year, the other drugs for 1-2 years.
the 3rd time, i refused the cytoxan because it made me so sick, and it has been controlled this time with prednisone (for about a year), cellcept (on this indefinitely- about 18 months so far. it can be very expensive, by the way, depending on your insurance), another blood pressure med, a few other unrelated drugs and acupuncture and diet change (low sugar, low salt, eliminate nutrasweet, avoid gluten). I always go back to my crappy diet. Will i ever learn?
I've had this disease since 1992, and I haven't had to go on diaysis or get a transplant yet.
I do know someone who had lupus, got a kidney transplant, is on some drugs to keep her from rejecting the organ, and hasn't had a recurrence of the lupus for over a decade! so, a transplant is not the worst thing that can happen to you. it was a new lease on life for her. meanwhile, I'm doing OK. I don't have the verve I did when i was completely healthy, but i've found a balance between doing stuff and resting, and hopefully will avoid a 4th "episode" as long as possible- maybe forever? It's possible (must not eat crap. must not eat crap.)
A note on the transplants, and this is really messed up. If you use medical marijuana, you may be refused for an organ transplant, even though the marijuana was prescribed by an M.D. The federal law trumps the state laws in this area. So, if you're in pain and also a candidate for an organ transplant, you're better off using Percocet (even though is causes constipation and is cut with Tylenol, which is toxic to your liver). SO, pop all the pills you want just don't smoke and plants.
So, anyway, if you've got lupus, and lupus nephritis, you'll be OK if you can get your hands on some prednisone (which believe me, they're happy to hand out. My cat and I were on prednisone at the same time once. His was cherry flavored. mine tasted like rat poison. or what i imagine rat poison would taste like). Prednisone sucks, but it works, and it's cheap, and you'll live to tell the tale.
But nowadays, this attack can be halted, and even reversed, with drugs. I've had my kidney function go down to somewhere around 25-30%, told it would never improve, and to be expecting a transplant/ dialysis within 5 years (that was 6 years ago).
In fact, my function has gone this low 3 times (with each lupus flare), and has always returned to normal after getting the lupus under control. The first time we used just prednisone. I also got chelation therapy from an alternative practitioner and went natural with my diet, avoiding gluten and making my own juices. I was on prednisone for about a year, starting at a high dose.
The second time I got sick (lupus flare as they say), I had prednisone, 4 blood pressure meds, chemotherapy (cytoxan) and some other drugs that were for other problems (no fun drugs like marijuana though- gotta move to California!), as well as chelation therapy, diet change (candida diet), herbs, and lots of acupuncture. Again on prednisone for about a year, the other drugs for 1-2 years.
the 3rd time, i refused the cytoxan because it made me so sick, and it has been controlled this time with prednisone (for about a year), cellcept (on this indefinitely- about 18 months so far. it can be very expensive, by the way, depending on your insurance), another blood pressure med, a few other unrelated drugs and acupuncture and diet change (low sugar, low salt, eliminate nutrasweet, avoid gluten). I always go back to my crappy diet. Will i ever learn?
I've had this disease since 1992, and I haven't had to go on diaysis or get a transplant yet.
I do know someone who had lupus, got a kidney transplant, is on some drugs to keep her from rejecting the organ, and hasn't had a recurrence of the lupus for over a decade! so, a transplant is not the worst thing that can happen to you. it was a new lease on life for her. meanwhile, I'm doing OK. I don't have the verve I did when i was completely healthy, but i've found a balance between doing stuff and resting, and hopefully will avoid a 4th "episode" as long as possible- maybe forever? It's possible (must not eat crap. must not eat crap.)
A note on the transplants, and this is really messed up. If you use medical marijuana, you may be refused for an organ transplant, even though the marijuana was prescribed by an M.D. The federal law trumps the state laws in this area. So, if you're in pain and also a candidate for an organ transplant, you're better off using Percocet (even though is causes constipation and is cut with Tylenol, which is toxic to your liver). SO, pop all the pills you want just don't smoke and plants.
So, anyway, if you've got lupus, and lupus nephritis, you'll be OK if you can get your hands on some prednisone (which believe me, they're happy to hand out. My cat and I were on prednisone at the same time once. His was cherry flavored. mine tasted like rat poison. or what i imagine rat poison would taste like). Prednisone sucks, but it works, and it's cheap, and you'll live to tell the tale.
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