Food for CRPS
 

I am trying to change my diet to help with my pain I am having with CRPS. I am having a hard time finding information or even where to start looking. I am not very smart when it comes to nutreitrion. lol I just want to find out what foods are good to eat and which are bad to eat. SO if anyone can help or point me in the right direction that would be great!

I know that certain foods can help with like inflammation or something??

Look up foods that help the cardiovascular system. If its one thing that helps crps, it's happy-flowing blood.

I changed my diet to follow the Four F's Diet which you can see here:

http://www.rsdrx.com/four_f's_diet.htm

Basically the Four F's are: Fish, Fowl, Fresh Fruit, Fresh Veggies

That link also shows you foods to avoid like coffee, caffeine, sugar, etc. This in an older website so it's not the most recent information. If you do a search for things like "inflammation diet" or similar you will probably find more current information.

But this has worked for me. It's only one of many things that I have done to help my RSD but it DOES make a difference. I am not 100% strict and do "cheat" from time to time...but on a regular basis I am pretty good about sticking to the four F's and avoiding the bad stuff. My biggest compromise is that I cannot drink straight water and things without sugar. I cut the pop out of my diet completely though and have switched to juice and vitamin water. Since I don't get sugar from much else that I eat...I think it's a good compromise.

And I can tell when I don't eat right. When I went to AZ to visit my grandma last month we didn't go to the grocery store the first day to get me food so all I had to drink was pop and all the food was processed junk (which used to be all I ate and drank before changing my diet). The next day my RSD was worse...the inflammation was worse...and I felt sort of like garbage. Once I got some veggies, something other than pop to drink, and stuff for dinner (I made a nice meal for my grandma...she was so impressed that I know how to COOK now...lol) I felt a lot better the next few days. This is just one example...but any time I have strayed from the plan more than just one thing here or there every couple weeks I can tell very quickly.

Good luck. It's not easy to change the way you eat but I definitely think it's worth it.

Another thing that I changed at my doctor's recommendation was that I eat much less sodium. When I season my food I generally don't use salt but other seasonings. I did this at the same time as changing to the Four F's diet so I don't know if it helps more or not...but I figure that it can't really hurt, right?

I had difficulty following the 4 F's diet that Catra linked until I discovered the Paleo food movement, which allowed me to incorporate the 4 F's diet more easily. There are various books and websites that offer additional info, but the one I used was Marksdailyapple.com and if you stick to the forums you can access all the info for free.

Like Catra, I can get away with a cheat day, once a week works for me, but I still try and make smart choices. I'm able to indulge in high quality, flavorful and filling food, without counting calories every day. The foods that set me off are carbs--some being worse than others. Flour based products are my kyrptonite, lol.

The 4 F's allows diet soda, which throws my blood sugar into a tailspin. Hooshmand's website is a bit outdated, and at the time he wrote the diet very few doctors recognized the relationship between artificial sweeteners and it's effects on insulin.

Processed food is filled with junk that healthy people shouldn't be consuming, but with those that have RSD/CRPS, I think many of the systems in our bodies are often dysfunctional. By eating foods that don't create additional stress to those systems, you can improve how you feel (in theory at least, but I feel a HUGE difference when I eat badly.)

Catra: I was a diet Coke junky as a youngin but kicked the habit long before developing RSD/CRPS. There are times when I do feel like drinking something sweet though. Regular soda is out because I won't consume corn syrup. A few times a year I'll get a high quality root beer or ginger beer made with sugar. At home, I make lemonade or Arnold Palmers with raw sugar or raw honey, and I make a sparkling limeaid or sparkling cranberry with no sugar added juice, sparkling water, and maple syrup (the real stuff). I can make it to my desired sweetness level for that particular day--sometimes hardly any, sometimes very! Once in a while I'll indulge in a small glass of fresh apple, lemon juice. I find that these are better tasting, and don't make me feel miserable (well--more miserable, lol!) ;)

My go to drinks these days are the Vitamin Water and Naked Juice (but that gets expensive so it's mostly vitamin water with maybe one Naked Juice every other day or so). I feel loads better since ditching the Coke...and don't even miss it anymore. I know Vitamin Water isn't "healthy" or at least not as healthy as some people think...but it is better than the Coke.

I've tried drinking straight water a couple of times where I cut out everything else but I get a terrible gag reflex with regular water. Even flavored water just doesn't taste good to me. When I've limited myself to just water I end up extremely dehydrated from not getting enough fluids. I know...I'm a freak...but it is what it is.

I might try some of your suggestions though...just to see how I like them. Nothing wrong with mixing things up a bit and giving myself some more options. :)

If you're going to drink juice, it's best to find a juice bar or juice yourself. Many of the nutrients in juice have a short life span, and juice is of course crazy high in natural sugar. Although naked juice is certainly one of the better options if you can't do fresh.

The spritzer option is really the easiest way to start. Simply mix your preferred juice with Perrier or whatever your preferred brand is. Adding lemon, lime, or 100% cranberry (trader joe's has a good one) for a little kicker can help as well. The more you get used to it, the more water you can add. If you've ever had Vietnamese food, their recipe for lemonade is lemon, sugar, and sparkling water. There are also some interesting ice teas that have fruit notes but no sugar or sugar substitutes as well.

Do you dislike all water? I know this sounds silly, but some do taste better than others. I have a filter system on my sink that does a good job, but my favorite designer water is Voss, and Fiji being a distant second. Nothing like encouraging an expensive new habit, but Voss is high in silica and so it's very smooth.

I've never tried Vitamin Water because it's not terribly lower than soft drinks in it's sugar content. I also still perceive fizzy drinks as more of a special treat for some reason?

If you experiment, raw honey and pure maple syrup are sickeningly sweet, so a small amount goes along way.

I do dislike all water. Some are worse than others...but even the "better" ones were still too nasty for me. I'd go a whole day and have drunk only half a bottle...it wasn't good.

I will experiment a little though and try some of your suggestions.

Can you please clarify - so is jiuce not good for CRPS since it is naturally high in sugar? thx!

I was told to just not drink too much of it, because of all the natural sugars in it. I used to drink alot of orange juices, so I was told to but a couple of orange slices in my cup of water instead. But as far as I know drinking to much juice is not good. Having maybe a glass about every other day or maybe once a day might be ok, but I am not sure.

This is just what I was told. Hopefully this will be helpful. :)

It depends on the type of course. ;) Veggie would be better than fruit, and fresh is preferred.

There are two schools of thought on the best way to maintain blood sugar levels. 1) Eat small meals or snacks every 3 hours. 2) Don't eat foods that will cause blood sugar swings. Eating an orange won't wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels, but if you drink a large glass of on, you're consuming enough natural sugar, (let's say 4-6 oranges worth) to engage a whole chain of consequences, including releasing hormones that you're already dysfunctional body doesn't need. Add in the meds many of us take, and that complicates things further. So, by adding sparkling water with a spritzer you're reducing your sugar/carb intake.

Hey, I too have been trying to change my diet I have pretty much cut sugar out of my diet and dairy products, flour, tomatoes, and gluten so if you try a few of those you may start feeling better especially the sugar try cutting down on that it will help alot.

Did the diet change work? Could you feel results?

Thanks,
Brandon

Check out the Nutribullet , I started using it just after Thanksgiving and it has really made a difference for me, especially the swelling in my hands and migraines. You don't have to order over the phone or online. Bed Bath & Beyond carries it. The only difference is the Nutritional healing book doesn't come with it. I spent a little time online and found recipes that help me immensely.

An MS
 

An ms diet is what is closest to what one with inflammation should be eating. But its not the case with me, really what helps me is avoiding dark vegetables, aka potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes (those tomatoes RIP my mouth up and I get constant canker sores) The dairy, really it depends on what type you are eating. If you are eating whole dairy, not fake pregrated cheese with the keep good perservatives in in then you are fine. Pretty much a diet perservative free. If you buy something at the store make sure there isnt more than 5 TO 10 @ MAX ingredients inside the product. As far as frozen vegetables, they really always have some type of sodium added in there to keep the color and other things. Can you plant a garden where you live?? We have raised bed things and are able to grow tons of herbs potatoes, tomatoes, berries, lettuce.

Also, alot of us have high cholesterol, and apples and strawberries have a property in them that grabs all the gunk in our intestines and lowers your cholesterol.

It has been years since RSD and I still find foods I could eat one day and then few months later I am in the biggest flare alive. so just keep that known about what you eat and if it causes you to feel MORE lethargic than before.

I have 2 other diseases on top of RSD that I have to manage so it makes itchallenging especially because I never want to eat in the first place.

There is this one tv show called the FOOD HOSPITAL on the COOKING CHANNEL in the UK and they use food not medication to try to help people with headaches diabetes, more common type illnesses, and I hope someone reads this from the UK and possibly can go there and see what they say food wise. Nobody will convince me NO MEDICATION, because us long term RSD 1 or 2 bla bla its bad BAD pain, and seeming that nobody really knows about this and many of us suffer, maybe there can be food in addition to that.

I am taking some thyroid medication and i am a (excuse my wording 10000% ***** and angry on it. I am now off of it .I have only been taking it two weeks and i hate hate hate hate the way it makes me feel, and I dont even like myself right now, on top of the family issues in my house rightnow.

I just wish some bajilllionaire would come in and pay our medical bills off to this date for ALL OF us. They say keep stress down, wen you get 20 different bills in the mail daily phone calls, i mean it goes on and on and on and on and on and on about the stuff they want me to pay and im like ill pay you 1 penny a month. Thats how much I can afford, and sometimes, i might have to look on the floor in the parking lot for that penny.

Hope the food ideas helped you, and hope you are doing as well as you can be.

my best, H

totally agree adding citrus slices and fruit in water or sparkling water is way better and more appealing.. We have grapefruit, lime, tangerlemon, lemon, myerlemon, comquots, orange, and more but i cant think of them, oh and i grow mint to add to the water and mint clarifies the water and is great for indigestion. And you can have the water hot, or cold too. whole different taste. (we have those trees on our property, so anyone in Orange County CA feel free to contact me if you want organic off the tree fruit!!

Im already a strict Vegetarian and am also supposed to be on a gluten free diet. Over the past few months i have been quite lazy with the gluten free part. So after reading this post i have decided to get strict with my food. Strictly vego and GF so that my body isnt under attack from food and can heal without any other factors sabotaging me. I also have issues with dairy so i think i had better address that too.
i dont normally drink fizzy drinks and simply donot buy them, but have also been partial to the odd can of diet coke as i have access to it. I know the evils of aspartame, and preservatives, so i cant help but wonder if it has been a factor for me developing RSD. It never occured to me to make my own fizzy drinks.
Can i ask everyones oppinion of alcohol esp red wine, perhaps a glass once a week and spicey food for sufferers of RSD. Is moderation the key???? or is it a no go zone?