Diet and Lyme Disease
Anti-inflammatory diet can help
02/14/09 16:50
Inflammation is an immune system response to stress and toxins. Our bodies deal with Lyme infection by sending more blood to the irritated areas. The main features of inflammation are redness, swelling and pain.
It's difficult to eliminate the borrelia bacteria, so inflammation results, causing pain and wrecking all sorts of other havoc. On top of that, we must deal with the psychological or physical stress caused by the pain. And aside from the toxins that accompany and make up the borrelia bacterial complex, dealing with environmental toxins is generally a daily effort.
Antibiotics and herbal protocols are excellent help, but what else can be done about inflammation? This is where some people with chronic illnesses turn a critical eye on their diet and nutrition. And many claim that an anti-inflammatory diet can be a huge help in maximizing their healing protocols and helping to alleviate the intensity of Lyme symptoms and flaring herxes.
So, you're starting to feel a little normal after such a long fight with Lyme. Don't surrender to that deep dish cheese pizza! (Of course, a little treat now and then does the body good.) Steam delicious veggies instead, such as Swiss chard, kale, or mustard greens. Fix organic brown rice or rice noodles to go with them. If you can tolerate it, a bite of organic dark chocolate can make a yummy dessert.
Watch this blog for interviews with nutritionists and herbalists who work with Lyme patients, and delectable recipes for an anti-inflammatory diet. Remember, you don't have to change the way you eat forever -- you just have to give your body a break for a while, so your immune system response can strengthen. Eliminating foods made with wheat and dairy -- or at least, limiting them -- may boost your energy and reduce inflammation and pain.
It's difficult to eliminate the borrelia bacteria, so inflammation results, causing pain and wrecking all sorts of other havoc. On top of that, we must deal with the psychological or physical stress caused by the pain. And aside from the toxins that accompany and make up the borrelia bacterial complex, dealing with environmental toxins is generally a daily effort.
Antibiotics and herbal protocols are excellent help, but what else can be done about inflammation? This is where some people with chronic illnesses turn a critical eye on their diet and nutrition. And many claim that an anti-inflammatory diet can be a huge help in maximizing their healing protocols and helping to alleviate the intensity of Lyme symptoms and flaring herxes.
So, you're starting to feel a little normal after such a long fight with Lyme. Don't surrender to that deep dish cheese pizza! (Of course, a little treat now and then does the body good.) Steam delicious veggies instead, such as Swiss chard, kale, or mustard greens. Fix organic brown rice or rice noodles to go with them. If you can tolerate it, a bite of organic dark chocolate can make a yummy dessert.
Watch this blog for interviews with nutritionists and herbalists who work with Lyme patients, and delectable recipes for an anti-inflammatory diet. Remember, you don't have to change the way you eat forever -- you just have to give your body a break for a while, so your immune system response can strengthen. Eliminating foods made with wheat and dairy -- or at least, limiting them -- may boost your energy and reduce inflammation and pain.
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Broccoli sprouts for healthy healing
07/12/08 17:59
Fresh organic vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds are good for you (have you heard?). Raw food diets have been used successfully in curing and easing the pain of many types of chronic illnesses. However, before you fill your plate with only raw ingredients, you should ask your doctor (or better yet, a nutritionist well-versed in Lyme disease) if you're at a stage where eating more raw foods could help boost your healing energy. One naturopath I spoke with advised that during an acute stage of Lyme, raw foods may be too hard for your body to digest. He did suggest that in later stages of Lyme, the enzyme rich foods would be quite beneficial. Sprouts, however, got a big 'thumbs up' at any stage of Lyme.
We're investigating the varying opinions on the benefits of raw food in a healthy healing diet. Since this is such a big subject, let's start small. Consider the lowly sprout. You know how tiny seeds, jammed with nutritious compounds, grow into scrumptious vegetables. Sprouted veggie seeds such as alfalfa, clover, and radish can contain many times the value of the mature veggie.
So which is better for you? Broccoli sprouts or mature broccoli? A study of the tiny, peppery-flavored broccoli sprouts done in 1997 at Johns Hopkins discovered that they contained 20 times more sulforaphane than mature broccoli. Both the sprouts and the fully-grown vegetable (which, by the way, we love steamed with a spot of Bragg's) contain high levels of sulforaphane, a long-lasting antioxidant with anti-bacterial and anti-cancer qualities. Be an organic gardener and grow your own baby veggies. Broccoli sprouts are easy to grow right in your own kitchen. Eat them around their peak of potency -- when they're about three days old.
Whether you go raw or not, it's always a good idea to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Eat more broccoli and other cruciferous veggies, in order to benefit from sulforaphane. Write these tasty foods on your grocery list: Bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, turnip, radish and watercress.
We're investigating the varying opinions on the benefits of raw food in a healthy healing diet. Since this is such a big subject, let's start small. Consider the lowly sprout. You know how tiny seeds, jammed with nutritious compounds, grow into scrumptious vegetables. Sprouted veggie seeds such as alfalfa, clover, and radish can contain many times the value of the mature veggie.
So which is better for you? Broccoli sprouts or mature broccoli? A study of the tiny, peppery-flavored broccoli sprouts done in 1997 at Johns Hopkins discovered that they contained 20 times more sulforaphane than mature broccoli. Both the sprouts and the fully-grown vegetable (which, by the way, we love steamed with a spot of Bragg's) contain high levels of sulforaphane, a long-lasting antioxidant with anti-bacterial and anti-cancer qualities. Be an organic gardener and grow your own baby veggies. Broccoli sprouts are easy to grow right in your own kitchen. Eat them around their peak of potency -- when they're about three days old.
Whether you go raw or not, it's always a good idea to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Eat more broccoli and other cruciferous veggies, in order to benefit from sulforaphane. Write these tasty foods on your grocery list: Bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, turnip, radish and watercress.