Okay, so while everyone around me ate hummus for years, I thought I hated it! For some reason yesterday I turned the corner and discovered life! I LOVE HUMMUS! Wow! What the heck have I been missing all this time? Maybe it took turning vegan until I would give it a shot? Who knows, but I really like it, especially the Sabra hummus (I get it at Costco).
Anyways, RA peoples, how are you? It has been awhile. I have been struggling with painful hands and wrists (enough pain to make me curse like a drunken sailor! Hey that is it! Maybe if I actually become a drunken sailor my pain will go away?! lol). I have also had tons of stiffness and neck pain, yadda, yadda, yadda – just par for the course with RA.
As most of you know I have been a Raw Vegan girl for over 5 months. Well that changed about three weeks ago. The raw diet helped in so many ways – my cholesterol dropped 30 points, I am finally going to the bathroom on a regular basis and my skin got clearer. However, the one thing that got worse and I do mean WORSE was my RA. I have no idea why. How can NO processed foods, and a diet of raw vegetables and fruit NOT help my auto immune disease? I have no answers. But 5.5 months was enough and I just started to incorporate some lean protein into my diet. Very little mind you, maybe 2-3 oz a week. So I am still eating pretty healthy but I have indulged in some occasional crap like a few cheetos, non-vegan desserts, etc. So is my RA better since I incorporated some lean protein and a little processed stuff back into my diet? YES. Let me repeat, YES. I have not taken prednisone for at least two weeks when I had practically been living on it. Now, research shows that my RA should have improved with a plant-based diet, so maybe I am just a freak of nature. I still want and plan to eat a healthy and high plant-based diet because that will keep my cholesterol low. RA people have a higher incidence of heart disease *some research states that due to inflammation, we are at higher risk for cardiac issues. So I would like to combat that with a healthy diet.
So for the unveiling of my beautiful HUMMUS WRAP – just grab a tortilla (in my case a Trader Joe's Brown Rice Tortilla cuz they are chewy and I like em!) and spread your hummus all around, dump in a ton of veggies and voila! I used spinach, carrots, green and purple cabbage, and some avo. Next time I am gonna throw in some red bell peppers.
Hope everyone has a terrific, painless weekend! Now anyone out there know of a natural way to thicken your hair? Methotrexate (oh how I loathe you) makes me lose hair, and I cannot afford to lose a single strand!
12 comments:
so sorry the raw vegan diet is not the best for you. i have read that it helps some people with RA. but also that most of what helps is gluten-free and dairy-free, which sounds like what you are leaning towards. it takes awhile to figure it all out.
been cursing like a sailor at some of my pain too! hand pain sucks for blogging though...feel better.
ps: they make some good cheeto type things that are called TINGS. no dairy.
I support you no matter what you choose to eat. Having a disease sucks and it is already restrictive. The protein in chicken and fish significantly helps Ra/PsA patients. If after I have followed the raw vegan lifestyle and I do not see any results I will add them back into my diet and I will not feel bad about it a bit. I will stay away from dairy as it affects our autoimmune system though...
I am glad you posted about it!
Hi there, I love hummus!! Have you tried the red pepper infused kind? Soo good. Or with lemon and tarragon.
On the RA note.. at least you tried it, and now you know what works (or in this case doesn't) for you. You wont spend time wondering 'what if..'.
It is weird that the flares increased, isn't it? I experienced the exact same thing when following a non-processed, all organic meat/veggie diet. Of course other great things have come from the diet, but I was totally floored by the increase in RA flares. Did you eliminate the nightshades?
I am glad you are feeling better. It is nice to be able to indulge occassionally without wondering if what you are about to eat is causing the flare, isn't it?
After being diagnosed with RA last year, I followed a strict diet: all organic, non-processed foods that have anti-inflammatory properties - like cherries, berries, salmon, flax seed, mangosteen juice ($20 per bottle!), etc. While it did not worsen my RA symptoms it certainly did not alleviate them either. Now I follow a balanced diet.
As Squirrel said, at least you tried and found out what does (not) work for you. Indulging in some of your favorite foods and not having to feel guilty about it feels good, doesn't it?
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the understanding! It is weird...why would RA symptoms increase with a plant-based, organic, high-raw vegan diet? I don't know but 5.5 months was enough time to KNOW that it was not helping at all.
It is nice to be able to indulge a little and not be so strict about what I eat.
I did avoid the nightshades...I do not notice a difference though if I eat salsa or peppers.
I still need to eat a high plant based diet or I go right back on the constipation train! lol - seriously!
It's weird as I kind of felt trapped by the raw diet...not that I had intense cravings for junk or anything like that..just that I could NOT even have a bite of that stuff...kind of made me feel trapped. I'm just weird like that I guess!
I'm glad that you are finding what works for you :) I haven't done anything for as long as five months, but have certainly experimented, and balance seems to be the keyt for me.
Oh my gosh, I've always loved hummus but am getting obsessive lately. I'm a little freaked out if there isn't any in the house, lol!
I dont think that these diets help all that much with the RA. If it really worked every rheumatologist in the world would have you on them really.
I did read that ginger helps. And eat fish, lots of fish! All never helped me.
I did like the look of the smoothie though!
Agreed, that smoothie looked super delicious! Also, hummus is the best. It's super great with a little cheese on those new pretzel crackers.
Also, I just nominated you for the One Lovely Blog award: http://notstandingstillsdisease.blogspot.com/2010/07/one-lovely-blog.html
I have slowly begun to change my diet in drastic ways. I can't go meat free to be honest as I deal with a very arguable pernicious anemia mixed with a couple of other deficiency syndromes. But, I eat way less red meat than ever ( I no longer get constipated... i know right who wants to talk about that) and I don't feel as blogged (no pun intended) down after eating. I do love love love all things from the ground. I look forward to researching more about different foods to put in place of the meats safely. Hummus... I don't think i've ever had it to be honest. hmmmm... Tazzy
I would like to suggest you visit www.roadback.org and look into low dose, long term antibiotic therapy.
There is also a book you can read on the subject. "The New Arthritis Breakthrough, Including Dr. Brown's classic, The Road Back by Henry Scammell"
I can't offer much in the way of info, since I am new to it myself, but I sure wish someone would've told me about it years ago.
Take care,
Gina
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