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what foods to stay away from?? help!!

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Posted 4/6/2009 3:08 AM (GMT 0)
well i went to the rheumy and it coulda went better. I had already been dx sle, and now he wrote a dx of nephritis to. Ughh, im waiting to be scheduled for a kidney biopsy.

ok so the lady in the front office was telling me how i need to try to take the best care of myself and signed me up for a free nutrtion evaluation. Lol my drs office pushes alot of healing and supplements and stuff. i never have been into that stuff, but maybe i need to see. Antways she was telling me that theres alot of things i shouldnt be eating, she told me no meat, no dairy no tomatos(yuck anyway) no white potatoes and something about peppers. Ive been told before processed meats are bad. So what can i eat? Does any of this hold true? oh and no caffiene!!! HELLO I WORK AT STARBUCKS!!!. lol but i have cut back on caffiene anyways cuz of sleeping problems.

can u help me please?

joan

 

Posted 4/6/2009 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
Hi JoJo. For me it makes a real difference to eat only certain foods. In my case allergies make my throat swell along with the lupus joint swelling, so avoiding certain foods is a must. Nightshades (tomato, potato, eggplant, green pepper) can cause additional swelling. And I am really good about my strict diet but I cannot drop the caffeine. Living without Coke has proven to be impossible. The drink, not the drug. LOL
Keep a journal and see if you notice a pattern when you eat certain foods. It really makes a difference. Good Luck!
Posted 4/6/2009 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
There is surely truth to the fact that we are what we eat, and that some things are much healthier than others for everyone. Lots of nutritionists and other people have found things that seem to work for them, and there are many many theories and types of diets. Specific to Lupus, it is suggested in the lupus bible (other wise known as "The Lupus Book" by Dr Daniel Wallace) that we avoid legumes (beans, peas, etc.), tomatoes, and other "nightshade" plants (eggplant,...). The other things the front office woman told you are debatable -- they all are true for a variety of medical conditions or personal choices -- but the only thing that I personally consider valid for Lupus are the items from The Lupus Book. The nutrition evaluation should provide you with guidelines about improving your eating in general - most of us do eat too much processed food, fried food, caffeine, fast food, etc. However, if it feels like they are "pushing" you to purchase supplements, etc. without labs tests to show you need the stuff...that is when I check into getting another opinion. I eat meat, diary, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers -- even some caffeine & sugar though I feel better without the last two, lol. I do avoid the legumes -- and avoid greasy, fatty, fried stuff or extra rich sauces & that kind of thing. If I get too lazy and eat poorly, I do feel it. Red meat should be lean and eaten sparingly -- not every day -- chicken, fish, non-fatty pork cuts.....the nutritionist should be able to help you out! Hope you get an eating plan that works for you soon!
Posted 4/6/2009 6:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Lynnwood,

I have MS & I was really interested in your comment about "staying away from legumes". I have read that legumes trigger auto immune responses so I have been avoiding them. Some researchers in Canberra has been doing research for several years into putting a gene from the bean into the pea to repel pests. When they reached the stage of trying it out on rats they all developed a reaction. As a result they have completely stopped the research. Is that why you say to avoid legumes or is there another reason?
Posted 4/6/2009 6:22 AM (GMT 0)
Legumes cause an allergic reaction in a very large number of lupus patients. Enough so that we are told to avoid them. I've never read that they affect all kinds of auto-immune diseases, such as MS, but that may be true as well. Not sure how putting a bean gene into a pea would make things worse, since they are both legumes? Something for the scientists to ponder, I guess.
Posted 4/6/2009 9:32 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think doctors should be selling products in their offices. That is taking advantage of the vulnerability of the patient and the physician's power over patients. In other situations that is called 'abuse' and exploitation.

In my view people with kidney disease should be getting advice from qualified dieticians not people at desks selling stuff.

Lynwood could you please give exact references for Dr Wallace saying people with lupus should avoid legumes and 'nightshades'. This would be very important evidence! Maybe it is something new since I can't find anything to that effect in my Edition of the Lupus Book which isn't the latest. He only says in the edition I have that alfalfa should be avoided because it contains particularly high levels of an amino acid L-Canavanine which is known to increase inflammation in patients with autoimmune disease. It is contained in all legumes but very high concentrations in alfalfa. It is generally agreed that large quantities of alfalfa would need to be eaten but all the same best avoided entirely
It is generally agreed that echinacea causes flares and should be avoided by people with lupus.

HTH
BB
Posted 4/6/2009 12:20 PM (GMT 0)
I will try and find the exact reference but will be traveling this week and probably won't get to it before I leave. Then I'm likely to forget it when I get home. But I am putting it on my list and do plan to get back to you.
Posted 4/6/2009 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Joan,

I have a good friend with kidney disease (not related to lupus) and one food she has to stay away from is red meat.

I did a search for lupus nephritis diet and came up several pages, the statement below came from one of them:

"You may need to limit protein, sodium, and potassium in your diet."

Here is a link to the National Kidney foundation, the diet may be the same for all kidney problems. I hope some of this helps.

www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=95
Posted 4/6/2009 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
I knew about the nightshade family and alfalfa sprouts - but the legume connection to flare is a new one!  Peanuts don't agree with me, I don't eat white potatoes - try to limit peppers and tomatoes.... but...chick peas, cannelini and pintos are staples in my diet.  If anyone has specific info about this - I'd appreciate it.  I'm not finding much. Thanks - Lucy

Posted 4/6/2009 6:24 PM (GMT 0)
I thought I had it marked in my Lupus Book, but now am only finding the section BumbleBee excerpted above. I have several lupus books, I will check the othes when I get back in town on Friday.

I know somewhere I heard or read that lupus patients are often actually allergic to legumes -- unless in a lupus fog I made it up? Don't know, hope not, and don't know why I would've. Sorry, I guess I should have looked it up before I posted -- sometimes easy to forget my memory isn't as sharp as it was -- darn lupus!

Don't change your diet away from legumes if you eat them till we find out for sure. I don't want anyone missing out on protein sources.

I'm so sorry, I hope I haven't mislead anyone and can find where I got that from.
Lynnwood
Posted 4/6/2009 11:35 PM (GMT 0)
Lynwood, Bumblebee,

I have read that people with MS (also auto immune & inflammatory) should avoid clover & alfalfa (which are legumes) & I am allergic to peanuts so it makes sense to avoid the rest of the legumes too. Thanks Bumblebee, I have been trying to find out for years the reason why these should be avoided - "alfalfa should be avoided because it contains particularly high levels of an amino acid L-Canavanine which is known to increase inflammation in patients with autoimmune disease".

The red meat is a difficult one - for years I followed a mainly vegetarian diet (but with lots of legumes!?) then I had a severe flare & threw it in. Currently I see a dr who says you have to eat according to your nutritional type & I am a protein type so he says eat meat (claims that he has treated people with MS who have had a good response) but it must be ORGANIC. He is anti fish cos of mercury - says it is all contaminated. I actually feel better eating more (non legume) protein & find I have less hot flushes eating less fruit & no sugar. Every dr has a different theory maybe you need just to go with what suits you.
Posted 4/7/2009 12:59 AM (GMT 0)

This is an interesting and confusing topic.  I think you're right, Popsie, that we need to find what suits us.  Is anyone familiar with "Eat Right For Your Blood Type" - a book by D'Adamo? It's hard to do without the wheat - (for Type 0's)  but I find the rest is easy enough to follow and corresponds well with an anti-inflammatory diet (no nightshades, etc.)According to him (regarding legumes) certain legumes are to be avoided, but others can be beneficial depending on your blood type.  Alfalfa sprouts are also to be avoided for Type 0's.

There is a protocol for each of the blood types.

Lynwood - thanks for double checking on the legume thing.  I'm hoping it doesn't apply across the board.  I'm glad this subject came up.

Lucy

Posted 4/7/2009 1:16 AM (GMT 0)
You may need to limit protein, sodium, and potassium in your diet ONLY if you have kidney disease or kidney involvement from lupus.

see link: www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=95
Posted 4/7/2009 2:10 AM (GMT 0)

thanks guys for all the replys. yea its an interesting topic. im very curious, and will for sure start tracking what i eat and see if certain things seem to affect me or not. i found a cool symptom chart to print out and be able to put around the house. its just a chart where u wite the times and dates of symptoms of a flare, but its something i need help keeping track of, just to keep my doctor informed of everytime im flaring, and then to help myself establish any patterns in what im doing or eating. i will post the link if im allowed to, can i?

ill post and then mods, if its not ok u can edit it? thank u!     http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/lupus_checklist.htm

thanks again for all the replys. im glad its a subject alot of others are curious about to.

joan

Posted 4/7/2009 2:14 AM (GMT 0)
No problem to post the link that I can see. Thanks for asking.

Cheers,
Lynnwood
Posted 4/7/2009 2:56 AM (GMT 0)
On pg.186 of Dr. Wallace's newest book that came out in Dec. 2008 "The Lupus Book, A Guide for Patients and their Families" he states: " One food supplement to stay clear of is alfalfa sprouts. The contain an amino acid known as L-canavanine, which increases inflammation in patients wiht automimmune disease. All members of the legume family contain L-cananvanine, but highly concentrated in alfalfa sprounts. Well-documented flare-ups of lupus disease have been associated with increased consumption of alfalfa sprouts and have disappeared when sprouts are avoided. Alfalfa is an ingredient in many food products, and some agressively markedet "natural" vitamin remedies contain alfalfa. Such products should probably be avoided by patients with SLE.
Posted 4/7/2009 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
Yes Melissa, I've heard that we should avoid alfalfa spouts and soy. I miss my edamame.
Posted 4/9/2009 5:51 AM (GMT 0)
Lucy,

I too have read the Blood Type book and am O too. The dr who says I am a protein type dismisses the Blood Type book and yet came up with the same answer without asking what my blood type was. Am I confused? Totally.

Also, why do not people with MS not get told to follow the same diet as those with Lupus when the diseases are both inflammatory, auto immune and definately related??

I know of two men with MS who have daughters with Lupus, Diabetes 1, Chronic Fatigue & MS. I am pretty sure I have read that all these are auto immune diseases and are related.
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