Does the elimination diet work for RA?

It's been one week since I started my experimentation with the nightshade diet plus minimizing the intake of acidic foods. I wanted to find out if it would make a difference in the level of inflammation and pain, with my RAD.

I eliminated all food with potato, tomato and paprika in it. I also stopped eating sugar (and anything that had lots of sugar in it), chocolate & red meat. I didn't drink any alcohol (I don't drink it much as it is, but for documentation purposes), milk or coffee (not even decaf). I didn't eat anything artificial either. To be honest, it would be easier to tell you what I ate, instead of what I eliminated ;-) I continued taking my Chinese herbs, which caused me to question the validity of my experimentation. They are herbs after all, and I'm not sure if some of them belong to the nightshade family of plants. But 1 week of experimentation is finished, and I gave it my best, considering circumstances.

How my body reacted

The first 2-3 days were rough. My willpower was strong and I knew I could get through it, but my body was responding like a body of an addict. By no means was I what anyone would consider an addict to any of the foods/drinks I eliminated. However, I did have a head ache until just a few days ago & the first days I was pretty sour with my mood. I also had some severe brain fog. Snappy & irritable. Tired with low energy. Scouring the kitchen for something to eat. Seeing all the foods I couldn't eat. I told my friend about my struggles and he said something thought provoking: "If your body is responding this strongly to the withdrawal of these foods, maybe there's your clue, you shouldn't eat them..." And then I turned a corner, my body started adjusting. I still desire coffee & chocolate, and all my other faves, but at least I don't have the physical withdrawal symptoms!

Long story short, I can't say I feel significantly any less pain/inflammation. If anything, I feel more stiff! Has this been a wonderful beginning to a healthier life? YES, YES, YES!

On a side note, if I had stayed on this elimination diet for a month, would the results have been different? I am allergic & sensitive to lots of foods, so excluding so many that I can eat, may not be something that's ultimately healthy for me. On top of that, I have some sensory issues with textures (complicated much? ;)) So my diet was very limited before my experimentation, and while on it, it was amazing I found anything to eat :D

Onwards & upwards, friends!

The F*** Arthritis Girl

Today was a perfect example of how a negative event can turn into a positive one.

A person whose Twitter name is reflected in the title of my post - got under my skin with her post today, to a dear Twitter friend, a respected blogger/RA activist. It was almost as if the F girl was trying to stir up something. Taking a very accusatory/presumptuous approach right from the start.

After responding to F girl, I explored her Tweets & found something I had come across previously. The theory behind "nightshade" plants/foods. A friend had told me about them just after my RA diagnosis, and I didn't really buy into it at the time. I think I had so much data to process about my new diagnosis, I let the nightshade theory slip out of my mind. I ate less beef (which is not a nightshade plant, obviously :D, but rather something I heard causes inflammation), but I didn't feel any different, so I let my diet slip back into normal beef consumption. But I researched the nightshade plant theory again, and I came to the conclusion that there might be something to this... so I decided, I'm going to try eliminating all nightshade foods out of my diet for a few days and see what comes. Nothing to lose, right? So I went grocery shopping this afternoon :) Toughest part will be avoiding sugar. Coffee is not nightshade, from what I gathered, but it's advisable to avoid it, decaf & regular. But I can commit to this for a few days, for sure! To be continued...

So F girl may have gotten under my skin... but she also reminded me of something I had forgotten to explore :)

P.S. I was going to post a picture of my favorite tomato dish - Mozarella Cheese w/ Tomato & basil, but I felt it would be too tempting to look at ;-)