Anti-inflammatory diet

So I woke up today feeling a little lupy, as they say in the lupus community.   My joints are pretty achy and a bit swollen this morning, I feel pretty fatigued, and I have a mouth full of sores.  These are all symptoms of a lupus flare up.   My old self would have felt nothing but gloom and doom.  I would have started having visions of hospitalization or maybe even a panic attack.  However, all I can think about today is how blessed I am to have tools in my pocket to get through this.   I can remember many times where Clint, my mom, and I would just sit around trying to figure out what to do in times of bad lupus flare ups.   We really felt like we didn’t have any control.  I was in so much pain, and other than really strong medications, that came with many horrible side effects, we didn’t know how to control it.  The reason I bring this up is because I know that many of the people following my blog are in this situation.   Lupus can be scary and I know it can control your life, but it doesn’t have to.   I have the tools to control this and that gives me the power, not lupus.   Instead of thinking of this as a lupus flare up, I think of these symptoms as signals that my body needs a little TLC.   When I get these symptoms I really focus on the foods I am eating, I make sure I am getting plenty of water and rest, I do very restorative yoga, I keep a positive outlook, and I do healing guided imagery and meditation.  This month, my blog is focusing on food, so I want to spend some time talking about why it is so important during times like this to focus on diet.  Diet is very important for lupus symptoms because certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties and other foods can actually promote inflammation, which you definitely don’t want to be doing particularly during an illness.  An anti-inflammatory diet doesn’t just benefit people with lupus, it is beneficial in helping counteract chronic inflammation, a root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, many cancers, and other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.  The basics of an anti-inflammatory diet are similar to what I have been talking about in my other posts.  The diet focuses on eating “real food” and avoiding “edible food like substances” or processed foods and other foods that can actually cause inflammation in the body.   Eating an anti-inflammatory diet includes focusing on eating “real foods”, foods that actually have anti-inflammatory properties.  This diet gives you a healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Most people consume an excess of omega-6 fatty acids which actually promote inflammation. These inflammation promoting fats are found in almost all processed foods and fast foods. Omega-3 fatty acids have an anti-inflammatory effect and are found in oily fish, walnuts, flax, hemp, soy, canola oils and sea vegetables. The diet also focuses on eating more whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables which have anti-inflammatory properties. This diet encourages limiting or eliminating consumption of foods which promote inflammation.  These foods include meat, poultry, margarine, vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, bread, white potatoes, crackers, chips and other processed foods, pastries, and sweetened drinks.  The diet focuses on eating less refined and processed foods, and by avoiding fast foods and products made with high fructose corn syrup.  Dr. Andrew Weil has a wealth of information on his website about eating an anti-inflammatory diet.  A link to his website can be found under resources on the right side of my blog.  I hope you all have a great weekend; I will be spending my weekend healing with great food, yoga, meditation, and rest.  Namaste!