Interesting Article from About.com

Arthritis and Joint Pain with Thyroid...

This is the part that interested me:

More detailed information on Dr. Brownstein's perspectives can be found in this [link url=http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/brownste in.htm]detailed online interview.[/link].
 

Hi clairelaine,

I really like the title of this thread. It will be a great resource as it builds.

I read a lot about chronic pain illness. Healthy eating and a healthy weight are generally agreed upon as a major aid in pain reduction.

I have one book that is called the Diet for a Pain Free Life. It's a anti-inflammatory whole grain lots of specific fruits/veges/etc way to eat. I do not exactly follow the diet, but I have used many of the recipes and find them great. It goes along with Andrew Weil's anti-inflammatory diet and Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss quite nicely.

Food pain killers that have worked for me - fresh cut pineapple, fresh ginger root tea, and black cherries.

I have eaten these low calorie things, experienced a sated appetite, and had actual pain relief for about an hour or two depending on who knows what it is in the plant.

Has anyone else eaten something and found them to be anti-inflammatory?

I'm going to see if I can find a copy of that book in the library.  It sounds interesting.  I remember a friend being on a special diet that she said helped her arthritis.  Maybe it's this one.

Hi Clairelaine,

Because I am a visual person, the Picture Perfect Weight Loss book made the most impact on my new way of eating (filled with side by side calorie comparison shots that really help). He emphasizes the same foods that Diet for a Pain Free Life does, but with a slightly different way of viewing food in your life. Dr. Shapiro has written a couple other books, but I still prefer his first and if they have that one in the library check it out!

Have you tried eating a bunch of fresh cut pineapple yet? That's my favorite way to get a little more pain relief. Tasty, low cal, and my hands become distinctly more flexible and less painful.

Since I posted in March, I've lost more weight and now find that a lot of my arthritis symptoms are gone.  My joints don't hurt much at all.  That first thing in the morning stiffness is still there, but not the pain.  Some of it is my TempurPedic mattress, but a lot of it is diet and weight loss related.

I love my TempurPedic!

My knees are the happiest with me for losing weight. I have also noticed improvement in my hands and feet - not sure if the hand improvement is weight related or yoga, but either way getting healthy sure does help!

It was not always easy to move or do weight bearing exercise, but it is starting to pay off!

I did an archive search of Ask Mary and found this answer, with helpful links

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that causes joint inflammation. Dietary management of RA focuses on adding foods that fight inflammation and removing foods that promote inflammation.  To fight inflammation, add fish and the fish oil supplements, EPA and DHA, and foods high in the antioxidant nutrients, vitamins E, C and selenium.  Research shows that eliminating certain foods can bring relief. Benefits are linked to vegetarian diets, which eliminate animal fat and protein, to alcohol elimination, and to avoiding foods that cause arthritis to flare for an individual.  Individual intolerances are found by keeping a diary of food and symptoms, eliminating probable offenders, and then re-introducing those foods to see if symptoms change. Foods commonly implicated in RA are corn, cereals, and dairy products.  Read about  anti-inflammatory foods from the Nutrition Guide at About.com.

I eat anti-inflammatory foods throughout the day. I never really considered that some foods might cause the inflammation in the first place. Although gout is traditionally the disease of ease and excess of wine and meat.

Thanks for the article link I'll check it out!

This morning I added turmeric to my scrambled egg white and suddenly they were a pretty yellow. A side benefit to this anti-inflammatory.

It worked on my hands almost as long as pineapple and dark cherries do (they are often the mid-morning snack).

I am particularly interested in anti-inflammatory seasonings, maybe it's the practically zero calorie nature of herbs and spices. Do you have a spice or herb that is effective for you? It would be nice to know that I am helping my hands and feet when I season meals! LOL