Food / Arthritis Connection
When it comes to Holistic Nutrition there’s an age old saying you may be familiar with and has been used to emphasize the important role that food plays in preventing and curing disease.
Wise words from Hippocrates
This is one of the statements I heard while in Holistic Nutrition School that hooked me. By that time I had already been growing my own food for several years, which is what led me to seek education in this field.
While in school I didn’t choose a specific ‘niche’ to coach around. I feel like there are so many areas where food can prevent and/or heal the human body, so I opted for including this practice into my overall Holistic Health Practitioner career and do research on certain areas that clients, friends and families may bring to me as they come up.
I get enjoyment out of doing research on subjects that I am passionate about and food for health and healing is definitely one such subject! I hope you enjoy this as much as I have while making it and I hope that it may bring you some relief from your pain.
In keeping this simple, I have only placed focus on what I feel would be the most effective route when it comes to what foods to avoid and what foods to include in your eating lifestyle. (I don’t believe in diets…diets end. A relationship with food and having an eating lifestyle is what helps create sustainability and preventative maintenance.)
Let’s start with Fibrin. What is this? It is an insoluble protein in the blood that is involved with blood clotting. It creates matrices of plaque and is a powerful determinant in inflammatory joint disease. Fibrin plaques impair cartilage by building up and the goal with food is to dissolve this plaque!
This is where Proteolytic enzymes come in. These enzymes help dissolve fibrin clots/matrices. Fun fact some snake venoms do this too 😳. It sounds like using food would be a much more pleasurable route 🙂.
Now that the science part has been explained as simply as I know how, let's get to the lists of foods. Oh yeah, one important thing about eating lifestyles…. It’s best to take baby steps and only include/eliminate one food at a time over the course of several weeks to help determine the foods that are causing the inflammation. This is where ‘diets’ fail. People stop eating sugar or trans fats and refined carbs all at the same time and the addictive cravings go off the charts and the next thing you know…”what diet? I’m not on a diet!” The rapid release of inflammatory and addictive foods can cause a slight shock to the system and then it will be hard to stick to a “diet”. Think of these changes in food consumption as a change to your eating “lifestyle “.
GLUTEN IS THE #1 FOOD THAT
CAUSES FIBRIN BUILDUP (SCAR TISSUE IN JOINTS).
~Foods to Avoid~
INFLAMMATORY FOODS
Wheat Gluten
Soy Beans
Corn
Dairy
Canola oil
Preservatives (MSG is one of many)
Blackened, Charred & BBQed Meat
Fatty Meats
Sugar (refined). Use honey, maple or molasses if needed
Refined/simple carbs like bread, cakes, cookies, sugar.
Alcohol. Use sparingly if needed and use a journal to note if you are in pain after a night of drinking. No silly, not hangover pain 😜.
Fast Food/Fried Food
Bad Fats: Solid at room temp, like lard, animal fats, chicken skin, cheese, cream, butter. (Exception …coconut oil)
I know, there’s a lot on that list that's in the Standard American Diet! What a coincidence:
S.tandard
A.merican
D.iet
There’s hope! There are some
really yummy foods on the “Eat Plenty Of” list!
~Foods to Eat Plenty of!~
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FOODS
Proteolytic Enzymes:
Pineapple & Papaya
Citrus
Ginger & Turmeric
Boswellia Extract >>>> Herb*
Devils Claw Extract>>> Herb* always ask an Herbalist about drug interactions with herbs & communicate with your doctor.
Also Eat plenty of these:
Fish and Fish Oils
Lean protein
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Onions
Sweet Potatoes
Kale
Cherry Tomatoes
Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Peaches & Apricots
Colorful fruits and veggies. !EAT YOUR RAINBOW!
Vitamin B (especially B6, B9, B12)
Please note that you can buy Proteolytic Enzymes in pill form but may or may not damage the liver. Yikes! OPT FOR FOOD FORM
I hope this has helped you in some way! If you have any questions please reach out to me.
In much Love & Gratitude,
-Rose Velasco
Women’s Empowered Health Solutions
Rosesrfree@rosevelasco.com
