Comments on: Inflammation and diet

By: Mary Titus

Mary Titus — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:21:20 +0000

Massimo, I would like to share my experience with joint pain. Before I changed my diet from a high carb/lowfat diet. I had pains in my knees and wrists. Soon after changing my diet to low carb/adequate protein/high fat, my joint pain dissipated by, I would say, 80%. Although I lost 30 lbs, I know that it wasn’t the weightloss that releived my pain because I gained the weight back. But my joint pain did not com back. That being said, I gained a little more weight than what I lost….but I continued to experience better joint health. Now, after learning about IF and it’s anti-inflamatory properties I began combining it with my low carb diet, implementing it as a part of my lifestyle. Not only did I lose the regained weight, I also experienced added pain relief. I would consider my joint pain as being 95% gone. Except for some ocasional twinges, I almost feel as painfree as when I was a teenager.

By: Massimo

Massimo — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:10:48 +0000

Thank You very much for your answer! I wasn’t suggesting that my pain could be due to inflammation only. As a software developer I use my fingers a lot, and my physician said that this pain could be due to the tendon sheat which is loosing flexibility.
I have been esperimenting this kind of joint problem several times in the last three years. I was wandering if this could be connected (in any way) to my weight problems

By: Massimo

Massimo — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:06:05 +0000

Most interesting!!!!
I would like to put you a question…in the last few months I gained 4 kilograms of eccess weight. At the sime time I couldn’t resolve an inflammation problem that’s affecting the pinky finger of my right hand.
Now your article is making me wandering: could the weght gain and the inflammation be related?
Massimo

My guess would be that it’s something other than the inflammation in your finger.

By: Clay Enos

Clay Enos — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:35:47 +0000

Bravo! Thank you for your generous and articulate voice.

By: Grace

Grace — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:47:57 +0000

What an interesting post! I’m just curious, would you disagree with those that recommend eating five small meals a day as opposed to three large meals? Also is it the calories in food that causes inflammation, or the mass/volume of the food. For example, would a diet that is very high in fresh fruits and vegetables and fiber be as inflammatory as a diet that takes up less space in the GI tract but has a higher calorie content?
Thanks for such a great topic!

By: Travis

Travis — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:17:21 +0000

I just wanna say that I find soured dough more digestible than regular bread, in my short experience with changing over. Maybe grains have always been healthy for us, but we got so good at keeping everything fresh, we started to tax our digestive systems.

Souring foods increase yeast content and subsequently Vitamin B. But the best thing about it is the extra flavor that comes from souring food.

I was on a high protein diet for five years, but I never ate for flavor, it was for health. The protein may have filled me up and left me full for a long time, but I never thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of various meats and protein all the time. Introducing soured grains, milk, and veggies have dramatically helped with my health.

The high protein diet weakened my digestive system because I took it to the extreme. I ask if sour foods can wreck my digestion in a different way? I dunno, but right now it feels right. However the high protein diet felt right at the time too. I wish I knew. Anyone been on a high sour foods diet for a long period of time.?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:08:37 +0000

I enjoyed reading your post. I am 40 years old and after many years of stomach problems have discovered I am gluten intolerant. My husband is a family practitioner and not a big believer in getting me tested. I went off gluten and saw an huge improvement in one day. After 2-3 days there was no doubt. I have also suffered from dry eyes and dry mouth for about 10 years now. The Sjogren’s testing several years ago came back negative. My rheumatoid factor was slighly positive about 3 yers ago..no testing since then. Anyway, I have discovered along the way that limiting carbs and pretty much cutting out all grains has improved the dry eye and mouth an incredible amount. Eating this way and being careful about my exercise but not overdoing it has also kept me from being fatigued. Also taking garlic and fish oil has helped tremendously. I no longer get the respiratory infections that were so frequent in my life and I sleep better–with my mouth closed–and wake up feeling rested. I just want to put my story out there in case it helps someone else. Thanks, jen.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:54:07 +0000

Thank you for a great topic and post! I am looking forward to more as you devolp your thinking on inflammation, including how insulin and various foods (e.g. grains, dairy) fit into the picture.

My motivation to change to a LC diet was strictly to avoid blood sugar spikes. Now I have eliminated grains and significantly reduced my 4x a week gym sessions (replaced with Slow Burn) and watched my allergies mostly disappear. I had swelling/puffiness in my legs, feet and face which is very rare now (still cannot pin down what brings it back – milk?). My skin is better and my muscles ache far less.

Although heart disease is rightly the focus of the discussion, I would love to learn more about other effects inflammtion has on us as well, and how to better recognize what might cause it in each of us individually.

By: Andr�

Andr� — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:45:35 +0000

P.s. Another argument : if insuline / infammatory foods cause inflammation in arteries, you would expect to find arterial plaque all around the vascular system. We both know that isn’t true. Only the pieces that get the most mechanical stress (like directly after the exit of the hart where the BP is highest,) devolop plaque. I once heard of somebody that thoughtlessly played with the artery in his neck for many years and developped arterial plaque there.

Not necessarily. If you have a process that damages an artery, the likeliest place for damage is that place that is under the most constant stress.

By: Andr�

Andr� — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:03:43 +0000

What about the CVD theory of the great Linus Pauling? Het states that the artery walls grow weak when not enough collagen is produced (=subclinical scurbia).

Next, the liver send lp(a) to heal the weak spot; cholesterol to the rescue!.

Now the free radicals start to oxidise this cholesterol, and that leads ultimately to inflammation.

Now, all this doesn’t have to happen if we make sure we produce enough collagen. How do we do this : make sure our ascorbate intakes are sufficient.

I think there is a lot of evidence that supports this theory. All the mamals that are able to produce their own ascorbate don’t seem to develop CVD, no matter how much they eat.

I have read quit a lot about the virtues of ascorbate, so you need to have some pretty good arguments to make me doubt Pauling

P.s. I know you take vitamin C as a supplement, so why not elaborate on this?