hi again, I was just searching the site for threads about diet, and you lovely people were talking about avoiding "nightshades" - sounds like these are certain vegetables?? Yes I could go and google it I guess ;)
Rheumy told me to eat fish oils. Any other foods to *include*?
You people who are cutting down on red meat may need to be careful that you are getting enough iron. In my humble experience you need to be getting enough iron in your diet. If you don't you will feel ..pretty awful, tired, lacking in energy. happened to me not so long ago.
Nightshades are a class of foods that can irritate people with autoimmune diseases: Some of them are: potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and I'm forgetting something major. Anyway, usually it is suggested to cut them out of your diet and see how you feel without. I do better without eating these foods, even though many are delicious. If I do eat them it is RARELY, with the exception of potatoes. I find that I react less to those than any of the other nightshades, and esp., if I eat other than white potatoes (gold, purple, etc.). I do potatoes about once a week at most.
Tomato sauce is one that usually gets many people. I found switching to pesto sauce was a good switch for me. My local pizza place will even do pesto on pizza instead of tomato sauce.
Peppers are delicious, but seem to be in EVERYTHING now, especially at restaurants, to add color and extra taste to foods. Many many prepared foods have peppers in, including as a paste. Check ingredients.
I find I flare if I eat red meat more than once every 2 weeks or so. I take a daily iron supplement from TwinLabs. It is very mild and doesn't cause nausea or constipation like many other supplements.
Anyway, everyone is different what they react to, some people find NO difference taking foods out of their diet, some find a dramatic difference. Regardless, diet will NOT cure you. It can sometimes help a lot though.
As a starting point, take out nightshades for a few months, and see if you feel better.
Folks, she's not schizophrenically answering herself here: we're both Louise!
Nightshades are a family of vegetables, including eggplant, tomatoes, and bell peppers. They have long been suspected of causing or adding to inflammation. Don't know if any empirical research has ever been done on this. People will tell you to eat or not eat all sorts of things. To the best of my knowledge, there are no absolutes. A healthy, varied diet is good for everyone, but there are no magic bullets.