Trying to cut out inflammatory foods

[Faith1989]

So.. this week I have decided to start TRYING to cut out foods that promote inflammation. Examples include: sugar, yogert, wheat ect. It's really hard because obviously you must cut it out for a long period of time before you can decide whether it has an effect on you or not. Plus I LOVE wheat and do eat alot of it. I'm currently reading the book "Wheat Belly" to try and give me some encouragement! I'm already pretty thin so I don't want to end up losing weight but a lot of anti-inflammatory foods are also considered "diet" foods. I think it's important to think "what is this doing to my eyes?" before putting it in your mouth, you may decide not to eat it if you do! (I know I would) Eating foods that promote inflammation to me, just arent worth eating. It's hard to think about it because sometimes I think like "great, now I can't eat anything good, in addition to things I can no longer enjoy due to my ocular rosea" But, at least it will help clear up my eyes and skin, and to me that's worth fighting for!!!!! Can ppl please post on here what promotes inflammation to them?? For me sugar is a big one.

[eye_allergy-kids]

hi faith1989

Try this link read all articles and links . it will be helpful

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...stomach-linked

[Rebecca Petris]

I don't really know what specifically promotes inflammation for me, but I know what foods my body is just not happy with. (Doesn't make me want them less, unfortunately!) You know what helps me? The more information I have about the way commercial foods are grown/raised in this country, the less I want to go anywhere near them, and that includes a lot of things on common anti-inflammatory lists. There's a classic line from the documentary "Food, Inc" where the narrator describes the vast majority of packaged foods in grocery stores as an illusion of variety disguising the fact that they are all really just "clever rearrangments of corn and soybeans". Also I re-read the section on potatoes in Michael Pollen's "The Botany of Desire" (fascinating little book). Ugh. The interview with an Idaho potato farmer who described how many toxic chemicals they had to saturate their fields/plants with made me never want to eat a potato I didn't grow myself.

What kinds of wheat-based foods do you like eating most? Wonder if there might be some good substitutes. Do you bake? For me Pamela's mix has been great... in fact a member here put me onto that.... I get 3 4lb bags on Amazon dirt cheap (doing a quarterly ship). In most baking (except, of course, bread) I actually like that stuff better than wheat... For example I'll make banana bread with Pamela's instead of wheat and honey instead of sugar and it's to die for.

[lynnwiggers]

You can read The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan by Monica Reinagel and learn about what actually promotes inflammation and calculate inflammation factors from http://nutritiondata.self.com/. I was eating very close to the plan when I had my second RCE episode that lasted four months, so I'm very convinced that in my case that is not a solution.

[PotatoCakes]

I have heard that night shade veggies can be problematic. I haven't tried eliminating them yet but will probably do so eventually. It's tough for me because tomatoes and potatoes (2 of my very favorites) are on the list. Sigh.

More info on nightshade http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=62

[Lacrima]

sorry, made a mistake with posting, please see my comment below.

[Lacrima]

Interesting topic.. As well as cutting out dairy, sugar and gluten (almost completely), I have been trying to cut out inflammatory foods- but wasn't sure where to start. Thanks for mentioning Monica Reinagel. After looking her up I found her book's website:

www.inflammationfactor.com. It lists all vegetables and types of foods' inflammatory factor- very useful.

In the FAQ section, it emphasises that nightshades don't really need to be avoided unless the person has solanine sensitivity.

Like potatocakes I was worried about nightshades but I might try and find out if I have solanine sensitivity first, before going ahead and cutting out some of my favourite nightshades.

[farmgirl]

Perhaps it would be a good idea, besides cutting out the obvious like sugar, to have some allergy and food sensitivity testing done. As a rule any food that gives us a true allergy we usually avoid as the allergy is usually noticable in a very short time like hives or bloating or gas. Food sensitivities on the other hand can well be foods that appear to be tolerated but at a cellular level cause us problems. I recently had food sensitivity testing done because gluten is suspect in almost all autoimmune conditions. As a result if you are avoiding gluten we often turn to rice as an alternative grain. Well to my surprise, although I have Sjogren's wheat, no problem rice big problem. It was the thing I reacted to the most...go figure. Other grains were spelt and buckwheat. Add to the list cinnamon, dill, watermelon, almonds, pecans, cod, shrimp etc. and now I don't have to guess. Rather than guessing I advise spending the $$$ to get tested properly.

There is a lab in one of the Carolinas, can't remember if it is N or S but I don't advise using them as I had a bad experience with my son when we used this lab years ago but Signet Diagnostic in Fl did these latest tests and I trust the results.

Good luck with finding those triggers, if it doesn't cure your dry eye you are sure to feel better regardless...cheers...F/G

[littlemermaid]

What reaction do they actually test for, Farmgirl? How do they test for food/chemical sensitivities? I'm really struggling with this. The food/flareup diary is helping us but not enough detail. Rice not wheat - who'd've thought? Signet look like radiology?

[farmgirl]

Technically I am not sure, the test is done with blood I know that, but there is a number here you can call and ask. 561-848-7111. The test I had done was only for sensitivities, not allergies - apparently that is something different. Scratch tests maybe??? I wasn't worried about allergies because anything that gives me immediate grief I avoid. Coffee and mushrooms are the only things that give me any grief at all and those are easy to avoid. Many of the things I was reactive to like almonds and pecans are things I eat on a very (almost daily) basis and I have no problems with my gut whatsoever. Those reactions were mild and I can reintroduce them slowly after 3 months...but rice???? that was a shocker.

[spmcc]

CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) printed an article in March 2012 entitled "Blood testing for sensitivity, allergy or intolerance to food" by Elana Lavine MD.

Here are some excerpts (I hope I'm allowed to do this!):

What is tested in blood assays for food sensitivity?

In testing for food sensitivity, drawn blood is exposed in vitro to a panel of foods and food components. The degree of total immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody binding to each food is quantified via enzyme- or fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assays. Alternatively, IgG subclass 4 (IgG4) binding may be measured in lieu of total IgG. Results of testing for food sensitivity may be reported to patients as a multipage document that itemizes foods by category. For example, under “dairy” may be listed cheddar cheese, cottage cheese and so on. This is inconsistent with current understanding of food allergy, which has identified substantial allergenic components of cows’ milk, for example, casein or β-lactoglobulin, in contrast to making distinctions between types of cheese made from cows’ milk.

Large numbers of foods are tested, many of which are ubiquitous, difficult to avoid or very rarely documented as food allergens (e.g., sugar, yeast). The degree of “sensitivity” or “allergy” is graded by a classification scale pertaining to the photometric measurement of the degree of IgG binding to each food.

That's just the beginning of the article. I'd like to post the entirety, but I don't think I'm allowed.

If you want to read some news reports about the article, see here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/...rgy-tests.html

http://drelainechin.com/dr-chins-blo...ime-and-money/

[farmgirl]

HI spmcc: I tried to access that article but you needed to be a member of CMAJ. You obviously have some ins that I don't are you a medical Doctor?...F/G

[spmcc]

No, I'm not a medical doctor. My area is epidemiology and I'm affiliated with a university which allows me access to medical (and other) journals.

I'll PM you.

[littlemermaid]

We are getting rosacea flareups eg premenstrual, under stress, with a virus, as well as some foods, and eye inflammation and intracranial hypertension with tiredness, and incapacitating intracranial hypertension with eg exam stress, plus some unidentified bowel cramping. So there's some inflammatory switches being flicked there but it's not just food.

You guys posting on autoimmune disorder is very interesting http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...mune#post73721

Faith, I'm thinking chemical sensitivities and probably allergens causing inflammation round the eyes is a big one for us. But definitely sugar and fats for the skin and resulting mgd (oils seem to be good). Gluten-free has been better although we think yeast might be a problem (as Rebecca says, gluten-free flours are delicious). It'll be different for people eg SAAG does well on meat but we're having to minimise red meat to 1/wk and eat more oily fish. Sometimes it's things we've had too much of - eg someone told me her son's acne rosacea triggers were orange juice, bananas and strawberries - if he avoided them his rosacea cleared - so it's personal. She will come home from school with the skin flared up and it will be clear by evening. Very interesting. I'm suspecting those horrible 'health' fruit juice drinks with additives from the vending machines.

[eye_allergy-kids]

try a google search "why we have to eat alkaline food"