Food: Friend or Foe?
November 6, 2003
Food! The universal subject we all love and
hate. One aspect that I have seen over the
years in practice is that some foods can actually
help to increase aches and pain and even increase
inflammation and joint pain to a severe degree.
In other people, this may occur only to a mild
or moderate degree. How do we know? Many people
who are put on elimination diets experience
less general pain and then the pain returns
when they reintroduce the eliminated foods.
The type of foods can also vary from person
to person although some foods seem to be involved
more than others. Of course many of us have
heard of nightshade vegetables aggravating
arthritis (peppers, tomatoes and potatoes).
Although dietary management alone shouldn't
replace your standard medical evaluation and
appropriate care recommended by your physician,
any such relationship with diet and your symptoms
should be discussed with your doctor.
The possibility of less medication as monitored
by your doctor is always a plus given side
effects of many arthritic and pain medications.
A way to see if this may be the case is to
do a three week test with an elimination diet.
If you feel less pain and symptoms, then reintroduce
the eliminated foods and see what happens.
If a connection is apparent, you may be a good
candidate to add diet and nutrition as a way
to help manage your pain. This should be discussed
with your family physician and overseen by
a dietician or nutritionist to make sure you
follow a proper elimination diet to ensure
proper nutritional support. The approach described
above can help determine which foods for you
are "friend or foe".
For more specific questions, please call
or contact our office.
 Top of page
|
