It is with a very heavy heart that I write this entry. My mother-in-law recently messaged me about a connection of gluten and rheumatoid arthritis. For about the last two years, I have been experiencing growing pain and stiffness in my joints, mainly my hands and feet. My foot pain has improved due to custom orthotics from my podiatrist but there is still some pain there, especially when I walk around the house without my orthotics on. However, especially in the mornings, I am unable to move my hands until they have "warmed up." I have never experienced the common symptoms of a gluten intolerance and actually considered myself lucky because let's face it, carbs are delicious. But being only 28 years old and experiencing this much joint pain is a bit alarming. With that said, I am currently on a quest to eliminate both gluten AND arthritis triggering foods.
The real question is, what the heck am I supposed to eat? Am I expected to go from a pizza and ice cream laden diet to RAW VEGAN?! (Which basically covers all my bases...) Cutting out gluten is difficult enough: no bread, flour, oats, and beer (!!). Arthritis triggers include all meats (including eggs), dairy, bananas, potatoes (my absolute favorite), tomatoes and coffee. Doesn't leave many food options that I actually CAN eat.
Unfortunately my will is very weak and for breakfast I had egg whites and almonds (nuts are another no no). So you can say we're off to a rocky start. I think I am going to try gluten free first and see how that goes, I'm no superhuman. I have no willpower when it comes to food.
Fortunately, my little sis (sorority speak) Danielle has been gluten free for some time so you can bet I'll be asking her a lot of questions. My big sis (sorority) Jenna also maintains a gluten free blog, check her out here.
I know there are tons of gluten free bloggers out there. Care to share any recipes? Words of advice? Or just take a moment of silence with me to mourn the loss of my dearest foods.
I'm so sorry to read that you've been suffering from joint pain. I've done a stupid amount of research in this regard (which may or may not include harassing my acupuncturist...)...and it sounds like you've started down the right track to easing your pain through diet (or "lifestyle" as I like to call it..."Diet" sounds so terminal)! :) My two-cents is to consider eliminating nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers...) entirely from your diet as they tend to cause painful inflammation. On another note, I want to follow you and the link at the bottom isn't letting me!! :(
ReplyDeleteI don't know how this whole follow thing works. I wanted it to show on my sidebar of the blog but I think it only comes up on my reading page. Not sure! Yes, I've heard a lot about the nightshades. It contains my favorite food: Potatoes and my favorite spice: paprika. Why don't I just roll over and give up now?! Of course this change has been under the assumption that I am able to self diagnose my arthritis. Andrew insists I see a doctor but I don't believe in them! (Funny because I'm a nurse lol).
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