My Journey to Decrease Inflammation
My journey in learning about the negative effects of inflammation and reducing that inflammation began with my husband’s illness. Chris, my husband was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder in 2017. He wasn’t able to sleep through the night, irritable and not thinking clearly. His doctor recommended The Autoimmune Solution by Amy Myers, MD. With the initial reading, I didn’t think we could do what the book recommended.
But wait, we ate healthy!
At the time, we were fish eating vegetarians. To follow the doctor’s recommendations, we needed to not eat dairy, dried beans and peas, both of which we ate every day. On two pages, the book listed foods to avoid. What not to eat took out entire categories of foods, like wheat, sugar, dairy, all processed foods, grains, corn, nuts, seeds, soy, eggs, legumes (dried beans and peas: beans, lentils, garbanzo, peas, snow peas), night shades (tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes; sweet potatoes okay), alcohol, coffee, chocolate.
Not Sleeping
After several more weeks of my husband’s inability to sleep well at night, we began to follow what Dr. Meyers suggested. No wheat, dairy, sugar and processed foods. After a few weeks, I was feeling better! As an adult, I developed asthma, which is another autoimmune disorder. My breathing became better! I no longer needed my inhalers, which I had been using every day. I still don’t need the inhalers unless the air quality is poor because of our California fires.
Still Not Sleeping and Irritable
Chris was still not sleeping, so on December 7, 2017, we began our 30-day commitment to following AutoImmune Protocol (AIP) diet: https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-here/the-autoimmune-protocol. It was then that we excluded all grains, corn, nuts, seeds, soy, eggs, legumes (dried beans and peas: beans, lentils, garbanzo, peas, snow peas), alcohol and coffee. We allowed 99-100% chocolate as well as nightshades, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes.
To purchase grass fed meats and even more organic vegetables, we began to go to the Farmer’s Market. Wild fish and seafood, we ate at least twice a week. I made broth from vegetables and bones from grass fed animals. Bone broth is encouraged on AIP for immune health.
I had been avoiding coconut for the past 20 years. Coconut is a saturated fat. I began to use it in everything. When vegetables were done cooking, I added coconut oil. For dessert, I found a way to add coconut oil. My eldest daughter found a recipe with three ingredients: dates, chocolate powder, shredded coconut and a few teaspoons of water. One cup of each goes in the food processor. Roll into balls. Then roll into coconut. I now make this recipe with plenty of coconut oil in place of the few teaspoons of water and include only 5 dates.
Improve Brain Function, Decrease Inflammation
I read how what we eats affects our body’s inflammation in The End of Alzheimer’s: The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline by Dale Bredesen, MD and Memory Rescue: Supercharge Your Brain, Reverse Memory Loss, and Remember What Matters Most by Daniel Amen, MD. They recommended the same type of diet as the AutoImmune Protocol!
After a few more weeks, my husband was sleeping and feeling better. His brain fog disappeared and his mood was better. Over the past year and with regular exercise, he has lost 35 pounds. I have lost about 8 pounds over the past year.
Decreasing inflammation has made a huge impact in our lives. Other ways to decrease inflammation is to get enough sleep, lower our stress and to move more.
