lupus diet

There's been a lot of debate on diet in the past.
The main thing is a healthy diet and avoid any foods that make you feel worse.

Hi!

I'm from Romania and in my country we have a Lupus Blog (LupusRomania). Unfortunately, it is written in Romanian language.
There I've read something about Lupus diet. The main idea was that we must reduce the consumption of meat (especially beef meat) and dairy and to increase fruits, vegetables and fish meat. In the same article I have read that Flax Seed are very good reducing the Lupus symptoms.

Here is the article:

http://lupus.ro/lupus-si-un-mod-de-viata-sanatos/

Try to use Google translate for this :(

Hoping that it helps you,
Corina

I've found that eliminating gluten and eating more raw veggies and fruits has helped with my GI symptoms. It could be the gluten free or the raw foods or both, not sure lol. I also take an s load of vitamins and supplements. I think a healthy diet and taking supplements when needed will help improve some symptoms but it hasn't magically cured my conditions or enabled me to run a marathon.

We have to be mindful of what works and what doesn't work to help our bodies function better. A healthy diet certainly is going to help but I also think we have to have reasonable expectations. Not everything is going to work for every individual and I don't believe there is any one magic pill (vitamin, fad diet or pharmaceutical) that will make an autoimmune disease disappear. As with all things it is a matter of trial and error with the expectation that changes to diet and lifestyle will *improve* symptoms making them more manageable, not eliminate them entirely.

There are far too many snake oil salespeople out there toting the next natural cure for lupus or ms or cancer. I think it is cruel and irresponsible to play with the hopes of the chronically ill. There is no cure, but that being said yes diet will improve well being as will a positive mindset, stress management and proper rest. It's all part of taking good care of your body and finding what works best for each individual.

For sure, I may have come across as being negative in my last post and didn't mean to be a debbie downer lol. I just get really mad about some of the claims I see on tv and the internet promising the nest big cure for chronic illness.

I totally agree that eating right will help anyone. :) I just think that we have to have realistic expectations and keep things in perspective which it seems you do.

Just be sure to let your rheumy know what supplements you are taking.

If you have lactose intolerance (something driven by our genes) then a dairy free diet might make you feel better. Same for those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease...eliminate gluten and you will feel better. None of this has been shown to be related to lupus although some will argue about it like they do religion and politics.

Researchers I know at Northwestern told me that some lupus patients reported that a general anti inflammatory diet helped them but without broad, controlled studies could not say if it actually helped lupus or just corrected a poor diet.

Probably none of this can hurt and if you try something that makes you feel better that is a good diet for you. I do not have gluten sensitivity or lactose intolerance but try to eat a generally balanced diet and feel good. There is much disinformation about diet and most of it comes from someone trying to sell something. I would look at advice from recognized experts like Dr Weil before going off the diet deep end or see a nutritionist if you feel you really have a diet related problem.

Just my opinion.

Bill