Healthy Eating
Here is a recent article from our Guest Writer, Crystal Durham. Learn more about her on her personal page on this site! (Read Crystal’s Bio here: http://www.lupussurvivalguide.com/crystals-page)
Inflammation, Food, & You Part 1: Pro-Inflammation Foods
Odds are if you have been diagnosed with Lupus, or are a friend/loved one of someone with Lupus, you are all too familiar with inflammation. For those who aren’t familiar with it, inflammation typically occurs in response to an irritation or infection. The body will react with swelling or pain. It is the bodies way of repairing itself. For individuals with Lupus, heart issues, Alzheimer’s disease, certain cancers, or respiratory illnesses, inflammation can be a horrible problem.
Aside from injury or sickness, inflammation can also be caused by…drum roll please…the food we consume. (Shocked? I kind of was…) For my articles, food falls into two categories: pro- and anti-inflammatory. As I’m sure you have assumed, pro-inflammation foods are those that can cause inflammation to occur whereas anti-inflammation foods are ones that will encourage a healthier body. I will go into greater detail about anti-inflammation foods later but for now, I would like to discuss the types of food that will cause negative reactions within us.
First up to bat would be…sugars! That’s processed sugars and any other sugar-like products produced in a factory that are not natural.
What can sugars do to us? Aside from inflammation it contributes to diabetes, acne, obesity and other chronic diseases. None of the fun stuff you’d find written on a label of a Snickers bar.
How to avoid it? Abstain from consuming soft drinks, unhealthy fruit juices, pastries, desserts, candies, snacks, etc. Don’t trick yourself though, some things offer “diet” versions like many soft drinks HOWEVER (and that’s a big however) when you switch to diet all you’re doing is swapping out the problems. Here’s an example, say you own a manual Ford pickup (bear with me, I swear I have a point) but you get tired of the shifting and it’s causing your knee and shoulder pains constantly from jerking the gear stick and pushing in the clutch. So you go out and buy yourself a nice automatic Honda. After a while the knee and shoulder pain goes away but you notice your hips begin to hurt from sitting in such a small car. Yes, it’s more economical and environmentally friendly than your old pickup but it doesn’t have quite the same amount of room.
What point am I trying to make? Drinking regular soda is much like driving that pickup. The aches and pains of it become too much so you switch to a smaller, more user friendly vehicle (diet drinks). Over time though a different set of aches and pains begin to set in. My advice? Get a bike. (Har de har har)
Cut the carbonated drinks completely. Not only will you feel better but you will cut back the dangers that accompany drinking soda. I will step off my soap box now and get back to the point.
You wont always find “sugar” listed as such in the ingredients panel. Some other names are corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, maltose, and sucrose are the most common ones. An alias works just as well as any mask, but no matter how pretty or how colorful a food item may be, consuming something called “dextrose” is not quite appealing to me. (Here’s something you will hear me say often: check the ingredients list when you are buying things at the store to become more aware of what you are consuming. A good rule of thumb, “If you can’t pronounce it, odds are you shouldn’t be eating it.”)
You aren’t restricted to bland, non-sweet foods for the rest of your life though. Steria, honey, or natural sweeteners found in fruit work just as well as any factory sugars. (I like Truvia…but that’s just me.)
Sorry Bessie but dairy products are next on this hit list. Humans are the only mammals that consume milk beyond infancy. What does that tell you? I could throw a statistic at you like 60% of the world cannot properly digest milk but everyone knows statistics are bologna. Most people have issues with milk like constipation, diarrhea, stomach distress, acne, and a longer list of maladies that are not entertaining to read about. Why? Because it is an allergen that can actually trigger inflammation. (So something we are not genetically designed to consume would cause our bodies to attack itself when consuming those items? Go figure. Who would have thunk it?)
Dairy products are everywhere. Have you ever tried to cut dairy out of your diet? Not only is it a pain but nearly impossible if you shop at the mainstream grocery providers conveniently located everywhere. You’ll find that dairy is just as common as hydrogenated oils (to be discussed next). Your best bet? Read the ingredients label if you are going to avoid milk products.
What alternatives do they offer? More than you know. Not only are there soy and almond based options but you can also substitute a product called Kefir. Kefir is a “cultured, enzyme-rich food”. I myself have yet to try this product but can tell you it’s on my shopping list. For more information, visit the link offered at the end of the article and educate yourself on what Kefir is and exactly what it offers. Personally, I like almond milk. I enjoy the taste and not having stomach cramps.
Next up, we have cooking oils. No surprise there that frying things in unhealthy oils is bad for you. (I never saw that one coming…)
What can cooking oils do exactly? Diets consisting of high Omega-6 fatty acids and low Omega-3 create a type of breeding ground for heart disease and certain cancers. I’m sure I don’t need to mention obesity as a threat. (People who frequently eat at fast food restaurants aren’t exactly poster children for health.) In addition to those issues (as if they weren’t enough), you’d get a big heaping spoonful of inflammation too. Ever feel a little on the acidic side after a large basket of french fries? It’s not the sodium that’s causing that burning sensation.
How on earth can you avoid it? Simple, put down the onion rings. Processed and fast foods as well as vegetable cooking oils that are commonly used in the home are to be dodged like you would avoid phone calls from your psycho ex.
What to watch for in those ingredients labels? (You know, the ones I mentioned that you should be checking regularly.) Industrial (polyunsaturated) vegetable oils are a no-no, they might be called grape seed, cottonseed, safflower, corn or sunflower oils.
Macademia oil is a great alternative especially since is has a really good ratio of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fats AND it’s rich in oleic acid which is a monounsaturated fatty acid that promotes good heart health. However, if you are anything like me, you’ll read macademia oil and think, “Ok, how much does that cost?” You can use extra virgin olive oil which is pretty popular and easier to find and better than your typical veggie oils. (Just don’t call it “EVOO”…that’s obnoxious.)
The next thing to avoid is kind of like a sub-category of the cooking oils, trans fats.
When I first got interested in nutrition, I heard of trans fats but had no clue as to what they were. Basically they lower good cholesterol while raising bad cholesterol. Much like cooking oils, they promote obesity and inflammation (see a theme going on here?) but they also create a resistance to insulin and help degenerative illnesses set up camp.
Avoiding deep fried foods (no more deep fried twinkies at the fair, sorry), fast foods, margarine, vegetable shortening, and commercial baked goods especially ones with partially hydrogenated oil is a good way to keep clear of trans fats.
Here’s a tricky little tid bit that it not exactly broadcasted for the general publics’ awareness. Even if something says “0 grams trans fats” it can still contain a small amount of toxic fats. “WHAT!?!” I hear you asking, well its true. The US government regulation states, “if the serving contains less than 0.5 gram [of trans fat], the content, when declared, shall be expressed as zero.” (See the trans fats link below for more information.)
Don’t buy food items with hydrogenated oil or vegetable shortening in the ingredients list. When in doubt, toss it out. If you aren’t sure if something is trans fat free then don’t buy it.
As if attacking milk and milk based products was not enough, I’m now going to describe how consuming meat can be counterproductive to a healthy body. I am not a vegetarian, however, I am partial to avoiding meat from time to time. Whether it is free range or factory produced, meat and meat byproducts can be just as harmful as the trans fats, vegetable oils, and processed sugars mentioned previously.
Something a lot of people neglect to realize is that not only are you consuming the creature but you are consuming what that creature consumes. (“Oooh…” being the appropriate response at this time.) If this next list does not encourage you to consume less meat I am not sure what will.
So…what do they eat? When an animal is confined at an “animal factory” they might be given any of the following as a means of sustenance: same species meat (Is cannibalism wrong if you’re a chicken?), diseased animals, feathers, hair, skin, hooves, and blood (Dracula cows…now that is a frightening image), manure and other animal waste (one word: gross), plastics, drugs and chemicals, and unhealthy amounts of grains are just a few things your next meal might have eaten. (For more information please refer to the UCSUSA link below). Additionally, if fed grains or allowed to roam free there is the potential that the animal might ingest pesticides or other chemicals that could have contaminated their food supply. For example, in Chernobyl and parts of Sweden, they found that the cows milk had been contaminated from the cows eating grass in areas that were still suffering from radiation poisoning.
I’m not saying that all free range animals have irradiated meat or milk, just making a point to be aware of what kind of meat or animal byproducts you are consuming.
Free range, organic is your best bet when it comes to purchasing and eating meat. Not only do they get to eat what they are supposed to (and not each other or their waste) but having the ability to roam allows them the exercise needed to reduce the amount of fat they might contain.
Back on the inflammation discussion, other items you should avoid at all costs are things you might be allergic to, which as mentioned in the very beginning is the original reason behind inflammation. Your body will not react kindly to peanuts if you are allergic to them. If you have even the slightest idea that you might be allergic to a food product because of how your body reacts when you eat or drink that item you should probably avoid it. Getting tested to see what you are allergic to is also not a bad idea. It’s better to know instead of taking a risk.
Last, but not least, are two things that I shouldn’t even have to list but I am just for the sake of listing them. Alcohol and cigarettes are, despite popular belief, not cool! Throw away the pack of slims and pour the whiskey down the drain. In moderation, certain things are okay. But not when you are smoking a cancer stick or binge drinking every weekend. This is an argument I shouldn’t have to address. Tobacco is not healthy no matter what way you use it. There is something to be said for an occasional glass of red wine for the antioxidant activity but regular consumption of any type of alcohol (especially for people with health problems) should be avoided.
Yes, it is easier to just eat what the masses compel you to consume, to buy what’s on the shelf because their labels are pretty and the commercials say so, but it takes physical, emotional, and mental effort to be healthy. There are many troubles when reconstructing your diet, but it is worth it in the end. (Ah, there’s that point I was talking about.)
There is nothing in this world that you should take great care of more than your body. You only get one and when the one you have already has problems like Lupus or heart distress, what you consume becomes all the more important. So, avoid bad eating habits and consuming plastic, chemical injected, factory products they have the nerve to call “food”. (Or as I like to call it fud.)
Believe me, your body will thank you.
Websites and Information was retreived from some of the following sources:
http://www.bantransfats.com/newlabeling.html
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/chernobyl/health_impacts.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/332010-list-of-pro-inflammatory-foods/
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400243/Cooking-to-Fight-Inflammation.html
