Low inflammation eating is a baseline practice to keep well with Lyme and other chronic illness. It can be a significant change if you are used to the standard American diet. Why? Most people have to switch things up eliminate staples that irritate digestion driving inflammation and then add anti-inflammatory foods. Right now, I need to tighten up on my food plan to support healthy metabolism and low inflammation. I am looking back at my favorite anti-inflammatory cookbook ideas to keep my rebel child happy and me healthy.
Anti Inflammatory Foods
I find it much easier to add an ingredient that is good for me than it is to take something out of my diet that I like. So adding green tea, ginger, turmeric, greens, wild caught fish, and lots of veggies was no big deal. I still love and enjoy these foods. But tell me I can’t have something and the rebel child in me puts up a stink.
When I first was diagnosed with Lyme disease, my body was buckling under the strain of out of control inflammation that was dislocating joints and impairing my mobility. I needed to cool off and reduce my pain load. It was very clear from everything I read and the advice of my health care team, specific ingredients and foods had to go for real. No pretending or sneaking inflammatory foods in after dark allowed. Cheating or an eighty-twenty approach just wouldn’t cut it. I was sick enough and so afraid that keeping my rebel child happy dropped below staying alive. Now that I am much better, she is causing problems again. So I need to get back to basics.
Food Allergens & Inflammation
Doctors often recommend getting a blood test to identify problem foods and take them off the menu. Many people have reactions to the top 8 food allergens. The FDA recognizes the top 8 as the foods that cause the most health problems, inflammation and allergic reaction.
What Are Major Food Allergens?
“While more than 160 foods can cause allergic reactions in people with food allergies, the law identifies the eight most common allergenic foods. These foods account for 90 percent of food allergic reactions, and are the food sources from which many other ingredients are derived.”
https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/what-you-need-know-about-food-allergies
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod)
- Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp)
- Tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans)
- Peanuts.
- Wheat
- Soybeans
Eliminating The Big Eight Left Holes In My Eating Fun
For me, this meant changing or eliminating a lot of favorite staple foods like spaghetti sauce, ice cream, pizza, chocolate, I needed to remove all gluten products from my diet, not just wheat. Many of boxed foods contain these ingredients, so most prepackaged food and any restaurant food was off my list. Because of joint pain, my doctors also suggested getting rid of sugar, chocolate, coffee, and nightshades, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers.
Some of this was a big blow. I was missing my favorite flavors in a big way. My relationship with food used to be far less about nourishment and far more about gratification than is balanced or healthy. The pain of Lyme put a lot of positive pressure on me to clean up the way I eat. I ate exceptionally cleanly for years. I firmly believe it helped me cool off raging inflammation and recover my health.
Now I am much improved, eating much more variety. Eggs and the occasional tomato or gluten-free grain are back in my diet. My big problem is with sugar and nuts; these foods are inflammatory for me and add non-nutrient calories, but I am struggling to stop eating them again. The challenge to eat only for nourishment and health is still a growing edge for me. But I know the power that food choice has to shape my health.
Cookbooks For Lyme Healing
I love food, cooking, and learning about flavor pallets in different cultures, so I am digging in and exploring anew alternative ways to put a ton of flavor in my food minus the inflammation-causing allergens. Boredom with food is a big issue for me. I have explored many sites online that can give you creative recipe ideas, and identified cookbooks with strong flavor healthy options. I have referred to these two books before and still stand by them as a source of ideas and new ways to combine foods. So I have pulled them off my shelf to use again.
The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescott, photography by Kiley Johnson
Mickey and Kiley joined forces to create recipes to support their health. The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook that has allergen-free recipes galore. It offers options to fill holes like tomato sauce, and barbecue sauce and desserts. Every recipe I have tried in this cookbook is delicious. Mickey’s website provides new ideas and resources.
Recipes For Repair, by Gail Piazza and Laura Piazza
Written by a mother and daughter who had the skills and desire to help Laura and other people on their recovery journey from chronic Lyme disease, Recipes For Repair delivers variety, flavor, and fun. Inspired by Dr. Kenneth Singleton’s book, the Lyme Inflammation Diet, this cookbook is packed with the means to make tasty satisfying food and keep away from inflammatory allergenic or ingredients.
Both of these books will give you ideas to get cooking with ingredients that will help you heal rather than keep you sick and inflamed. Always read all the ingredients in a recipe before you decide to prepare it. You want to check the constituents in each dish against your allergen elimination list. I hope theses books inspire me again. I want to honor and keep my rebel child happy with healthy choice and fun. It is a work in progress.
The purpose of this article is to share and educate on Lyme disease recovery strategies. The information provided is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment, or advice. All the material here is for information purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.