Several years ago I was diagnosed with lupus. I could barely get out of bed or walk, had a hard time holding a glass of juice due to joint pain, suffered from muscle aches all over my body, endured a constant low-grade fever, and itched uncontrollably on my arms with skin rashes. I knew that my life, as I knew it, was over. I was petrified.
On my first (and last) visit to the rheumatologist, I asked what I could do to maintain my health or prevent my lupus symptoms from getting worse. She casually replied ‘Come back when you’re worse and I’ll put you on steroids‘. Striving for some supporting information, I asked a question about diet and whether there were any foods I should eat or avoid. His response was, ‘keep eating what you want, it won’t make a difference’.
After one more try to get something useful to work with to help myself, I realized that I was dealing with lupus on my own. In an internal fit of anger at her cold and aloof attitude, I decided right then and there that I would cure my lupus (with the added bonus of never being around that ‘specialist’ again). I did. I no longer have lupus.
As someone who has cured lupus, I am often asked about the importance of diet. Many people tell me that their doctor also told them that diet doesn’t matter. To that I ask you to consider ‘Does it matter what you eat even when you’re healthy?‘? Of course you do, and it is much more important when you suffer from health problems!
In fact, diet is so important that there are many testimonials from other people who have been completely cured with lupus diet alone. Other common serious problems that diet has been responsible for reversing also include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, migraines, allergies, and asthma, to name just a few.
Your diet is a powerful foundation to work from to support your health, reduce inflammation and pain, and provide your body with what it needs to begin healing. (To learn more about my story and other healing modalities such as supplements and energy medicine, plus an essential diet for lupus, please visit my site listed below.)
Below are the top 7 lupus diet dos and don’ts you need to know to support your healing.
The 7 things that should not be done in the diet against lupus
- Do not drink alcohol, soft drinks (aka soda for Americans!), energy drinks, or other unhealthy ‘acidic’ beverages, including from public or treated drinking water facilities.
- Don’t eat processed foods or foods with unhealthy preservatives like MSG (which includes most foods in the middle islands of big food chains).
- Don’t eat red meat. Some fish like salmon is great, and chicken. For some, even these can trigger flare-ups, so keep in mind how you’re feeling.
- Avoid fatty foods (such as monosaturated fat, trans fat, saturated fat, and some polyunsaturated omega 6 fats) that are commonly found in baked, fried, and junk foods.
- Avoid the 4 white foods, which include salt, sugar, white flour (refined carbohydrates and starches), and dairy.
- Avoid spicy foods. Spices are known to trigger breakouts.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners. These are toxic and many believe they even induce disease (I agree). There is no viable reason to use this product and they do not help you lose weight.
The 7 Best Diets for Lupus
- Eat a diet that consists primarily of simple, natural whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables in their raw form.
- Eat easy-to-digest foods like soaked almonds, soups, fruit and vegetable smoothies, and salads made from raw, natural ingredients.
- Be sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water throughout the day. This supports the removal of toxic buildup in the body and a faulty digestive process common among lupus sufferers.
- Support your body by supplementing with digestive enzymes and probiotics. Most lupus patients are not absorbing their food and nutrients properly and need additional enzymes to support the healing process.
- You must consume enough essential fatty acids (EFA) or supplement them. This will help you reduce inflammation and thus reduce pain and prevent breakouts.
- Avoid foods that cause food sensitivities or allergies. You should have a test of this to be sure of your body’s specific needs. Some tests do not indicate sensitivities to foods (such as sugar, salt, etc.), so keep a journal of your body’s reactions to foods.
- Eat a varied diet, rich in alkaline, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory foods. Always clean your food well, (including organic food).
The lists above are the main principles your lupus diet should follow. There are many, many other specifics of a lupus diet and nutrition that can and will support your body’s homeostasis and healing process.
As you may have experienced, your doctor will not provide you with a healing regimen, so you must find a way to learn how to work with your body in a healing crisis. There are many, many answers that will help you reduce your lupus symptoms, even reverse them entirely. His lupus diet should be the first line of defense.
Some of the benefits you will soon experience on a lupus diet include:
- Reduction of inflammation, pain and swelling.
- Decreased muscle pain, tissue damage and stress on organs.
- Significant increase in energy and stamina
- increased mobility
- reduced body fat
- Relief of constipation, bloating and irregularities
- Improved memory and cognitive functioning.
…To name a few!
There is no question that what we eat affects how we feel physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and how well our immune systems work to help us heal. Support yourself with highly nutritious foods that work with your body and immune system, not against. A car can run on dirty oil for only so long before it burns out. Don’t let that happen to your body.
The body is best able to heal itself when you eat foods that support the immune system and the healing process, and avoid foods that interfere with it.
Remember, curing lupus is possible. Learn how to implement the proper lupus diet, supplements, and other natural modalities that will support the healing process by visiting my site listed below.