Lupus & Diet

zolablue25

Hi all

Just wondering whether any Lupus sufferers out there have ever tried the 'Lupus Recovery Diet' Book by Jill Harrington? I saw it advertised on the net but am always sceptical about these things. If anyone has tried it, did it help?

Alternatively, does anyone have any other dietry suggestions for helping to cope with SLE and Fibromyalgia (why have one ailment when you can have 2!)

Cheers all.

LameWolf

I've heard of it but I'm afraid I'm very cynical about it.

After all, if there was a way to eat ourselves better, surely the medical bods would tell us!

I did actually mention diet to my rheumy when I last saw her, and she just said to make sure to eat healthily - didn't suggest anything to particularly include or avoid. I'm vegetarian anyway - don't know if this makes a difference or not.

Sorry, I'm not a lot of help really, am I?

Sandollar_2

I've recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and 2 other pain conditions. I asked my consultant if there was any alternative to medication, (I'm currently taking pregabalin) and he suggested a low Gi diet. I have gone on to a low GI Diet and although I haven't stuck rigidly to it I do feel more healthy and not so 'down'. I'm not up for running a marathon just yet but I don't get so tired so easily.

sleepless_saver

I don't know about the fibromyalgia, but I've never seen any really good evidence about what you can eat that will help with SLE. On the negative side, there have been studies which have shown alfalfa having a bad effect on people with SLE because of the way it stimulates the immune system.

Eating healthily seems like a good start .

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Much as I wish it were true, the likelihood of eating a healthy diet curing an immune system &*(&up seems about as likely as it curing HIV or cancer. Having said that, being as healthy and well nourished as possible makes sense as at least you know what's due to the disease and not from anaemia or hefting extra weight around!

zolablue25

Of course the title of the book is misleading, you can not cure SLE but it can go into remission and I just wondered what people's experiences with varying their diets were.

I have also read about alfalfa having a negative effect and also seen some reports of dairy being a problem. The main problem with reducing dairy is that Soya and particularly its high photoestragen levels is known to cause havoc with Lupus. Anyway, as has been found by many certain things can cause Lupus (and FM) to flare, so presumably, cutting down on these things will help. So, I'm fairly sure that diet can be a contributor for bad episodes with the condition although, of course, I am sceptical about the claims of the book.

Sandollar, you mention a low GI diet, are you refering to Gluten when you say GI

Thanks all for your input.

I should also mention at this point that I do not have either SLE or FM but my wife does, so I am really trying to research this on her behalf.

Cheers

Edit: Jojo, my wife does suffer from anaemia, but her specialist says (after trying various iron supplements) that this is just part and parcel of having Lupus.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

zolablue25 wrote: »

Edit: Jojo, my wife does suffer from anaemia, but her specialist says (after trying various iron supplements) that this is just part and parcel of having Lupus.

It's common with a lot of auto immune disorders, such us lupus, sjogrens, ra and others. Luckily, that's one thing that I haven't ended up with.

I sympathise with your wife, and she is lucky that you are so keen to help her. I did follow an elimination diet years ago through my rheumatologist, and i did have a considerable improvement in symptoms of RA as a result of an essentially oriental style diet - rice, all veggies, no dairy, fish and small amounts of meat.

However, cider vinegar diets, no nightshades, magic ingredients and the other easy 'secrets' appear to me to be simple cases of 'right, let's stick a load of disparate research and folklore into a recipe book, make out it's a secret cure to something which isn't on the face of it life threatening (cos if we say it's for cancer, we'll get sued - let's try a joint disease - they don't cause death if someone takes it seriously), if 3% of the sufferers buy this book, we're in the money'. :mad:

Which ignores the fact that these conditions are cruel and kill far too many people every year and make loads of others pure and simple miserable. If they were catching, they would make many diseases look like a broken fingernail.

(As you can guess, I've dealt with a fair few snake oil salesmen and women in my 30 odd years)

Anyway, vent over! You could always try amazon to get it second hand, or the local library, which would save money and avoid putting cash into the pockets of charlatans if that proves to be the case.:o

Oh, and I think low GI means low glycaemic index - slow release carbs and the like.

zolablue25

Thanks Jojo another interesting post. As I put in my original post I am sceptical of the claims for the book and I did think it may well be 'Snake Oil' but your information regarding the 'Oriental Style' diet is interesting. Maybe that would be worth a try.

Thanks also for the info on GI.

Sandollar_2

zolablue25 wrote: »

Sandollar, you mention a low GI diet, are you refering to Gluten when you say GI

GI = glycemic index
The link below might help explain a little about it.
http://www.lowgidiet.net/pages/lowgiwhy.shtml

As you can see it lists tiredness and lack of concentration as things which can be helped by a low GI diet which maybe why my consultant suggested I try it. Rosemary Conley does a low GI diet but I bought the Good Housekeeping 101 easy low GI recipes and there are lots of web sites with recipes. I find it easy to stick to, I already had a fairly healthy diet so for me it involves making little changes to what I eat. I would not say it is a 'cure' but simply an aid to helping me cope better. I'm starting to get through more and more days without needing to nap in the afternoon, my concentration is better and eating low GI I am actually eating more than on my normal diet but in 4 weeks have lost 2lbs without trying :j

hth