My Fibromyalgia Diet How the right Food can bring Fibromyalgia Relief

A 24 ounce bottle of one of the leading brands of Cola soft drinks contains, according to the Nutrition Facts on the label, 300 calories, and 82 grams of sugar. This is in addition to significant caffeine content.

The combination of sugar and caffeine has been demonstrated to be very addictive so many people consume much more than 24 ounces each day. In fact, by far the most popular size of cola at the fountain is the 32 ounce size, with many purchasing the 44 ounce size. If one consumes just 24 ounces per day for 365 days out of the year they will be consuming approximately 1/7th of their annual calorie requirement from a total of 65.93 pounds of refined sugar (cane, beet, or high fructose corn sugar) per year from this one dietary source. (The 32 ounce version would be roughly 88 pounds per year.)

When this is added to the other sources of refined sugar in the average U.S. diet we consume approximately 83 pounds of added sugar per person per year. This is in addition to the substantial intake of natural sugar we consume, and the sugar that our bodies metabolize from the starch and other components of our diet. Many of us consume significantly more than that of course, and there is significant debate as to how detrimental that is, and many questions remain unanswered.

The Health Impact of Refined Sugar

Several facts are indisputable; Consumption of processed sugar is a relatively recent addition to the human diet in terms of mans history. Other unarguable facts are:

• 1. overweight and obesity are major health problems in our culture.
• 2. The incidence of adult onset diabetes is increasing rapidly in the general population.
• 3. The age at which adult onset diabetes is being seen is decreasing.
• 4. There are some ethnic minorities where the incidence is well past the epidemic level.

I have spent much of the last 3 years among the Native American populations of 2 reservations. One of the most striking things observed during that experience has been the number of cases of diabetes, and the frequency of dialysis centers. Fifty years ago diabetes was almost unknown among these people, and refined sugar was a very occasional thing, that is no longer the case.

Why is Sugar in So Many Foods?

Sugar is a relatively cheap component for the food manufacturer or processor with the world price varying in a fairly narrow range in the $0.28-$0.35 per pound range. The next time you pick up some dried fruit, cereal, juice cocktail, or canned fruit notice in the ingredients section where sugar is. In many products it will be the second ingredient, and in some cases has turned what could have been a healthy food item into a questionable and potentially harmful item to consume.

For example, dried fruit, which should be a good healthy food category, is often 50% sugar. The no sugar added fruit may be $4 to $9 per pound, while added sugar is very cheap. Thus there is a huge profit margin to buying sugar for a fraction of a dollar and selling it for several dollars per pound.

Ridding Your System of Sugar

As I have aged, I have noticed that the way my body metabolizes sugar has changed and is changing. Part of that may be because I have not been careful to limit my sugar intake throughout my life. Now, in my late 60’s a little too much sugar, even a high starch intake will result in lower digestive discomfort and gas, and if I consume this type of a diet for very many days I will experience muscle aches, night sweats from my head, and my pillow will begin to smell like Juicy Fruit Gum.

Limiting my consumption of sugar and high starch foods for a couple of day will make the sweats and muscle aches diminish and after a week they will be gone. Sustained physical exercise will alleviate the symptoms rapidly.

If you have muscle or skeletal aches and pains, or hyper-sensitive skin try the things suggested in this series of articles, including the limiting of sugar consumption and see if your condition does not improve. I am convinced that in most cases they will and in many cases the improvement will be dramatic.

There are a few foods which you should test to see if they result in a decrease in the frequency or severity of your symptoms. Generally these foods fall into categories of foods with specific properties such as high fiber, low sugar content, and/or high anti-oxidant containing foods. These can be eaten as snacks or added to your smoothies.

I will discuss several here which have helped some people. We are all individuals and hence it is important that we observe our bodies responses as those may be different among different individuals. So add one to your diet for a few days, observe how your body responds and then continue to work it into your diet if you observe some benefit. The following are suggested.

Dried Tart Cherries and Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate:
No Sugar Added – available at Rowley www.southridgefarms.com

These products have provided significant relief of the muscle and skeletal pain for my daughter, and there are some very good reasons why. They are fairly expensive, but each pound of the dried, no sugar added product represents up to 8 pounds of fresh pitted fruit, so you only need 1 or 2 ounces of the dried product each day for maximum effect.

The tart cherry contains a number of bio-active chemical components, some of which are:

• A. A chemical which has significant anti-inflammatory properties and;
• B. This fruit is one of a very few natural sources of natural melatonin;
• C. The tart cherry has a very high level of several anti-oxidants.
• D. In addition there are other chemical components that are currently being investigated for a rather broad range of health benefits.

When the Tart Cherry is dried, the fiber, organic acids, and other beneficial components are concentrated by a factor of 7 or 8 times. That concentration effect also concentrates the anti-inflammatory and melatonin effects. Try these as additions to your efforts. You may find the results will be very rewarding.

Beyond just eating a basic healthy diet you can further narrow down which foods are helping and which foods are hurting you. It’s important to consult a doctor before making any changes to what you eat. With so much conflicting advice out there it’s also vital that you notice how everything you eat directly impacts your health. This is a proactive part of your treatment that you can take part in. Unlike most other things that have to deal with this disease it isn’t expensive. It’s just the cost of a paper and a pen.

Remember that pain isn’t your only symptom. If you have heavy fibro fog also known as brain fog then pay attention to if there were any big changes in your diet. Often I find that for me at least this just happens when I’ve been in a lot of pain or I haven’t been sleeping enough.

It might not just be fibro. You may need to be tested for a gluten intolerance or Celiac disease. This is why you need to work with a doctor especially if you find that certain foods make your symptoms worse.

Start keeping a food journal. I first heard about this recommendation for weight loss so people could track their calorie intake. It helped to see what they were really eating in a day. It can also help you to see patterns that form around the time of your flare.

I have tried some online graphs to get an overall bigger picture of my pain levels and food. However, I haven’t found them to be detailed enough so just a paper and pen works the best for me. While most doctors and patients will agree that the fibromyalgia and diet connection is important you also need to remember that it doesn’t solve the entire puzzle. It isn’t a cure but it can help to improve your overall health.