living with lupus, day by day, moment by moment

I do not believe food alone can be my medicine.  I have serious life threatening diseases that require life saving drugs like immunosuppressants for my lupus, coreg for my myocarditis and synthroid for my athyroidism.  But medicine alone cannot maintain my well being.  In order to be the best I can be, despite my illnesses, I need to have a healthy and balanced diet. 

There is no single diet that has been proven to work for lupus (unlike a gluten free diet for celiac disease, for example).   And since I have multiple overlapping diseases, what works for one disease might not work for another.  Over the years, what I have found works for me and my body is to eat a healthy balanced diet, incorporating superfoods dense in nutrition as well as antiinflmmatory food, and also making sure to avoid high fat, high salt, high sugar, processed and known inflammatory food (e.g., alfalfa sprouts can lupus flares).  I am also learning to really listen to my body and how it reacts to the food I eat. 

At the core of a “balanced diet” is to give our body’s organs and tissues the proper nutrition to function effectively.  Basically, this calls for eating mostly fresh fruits and vegetables (eating local means more nutrient dense food since it’s fresher), whole grains, lean proteins (e.g., fish, lean meats, beans, nuts and tofu), healthy oil (e.g., olive, avocado and coconut) and healthy dairy (e.g., lowfat yogurt). It also means cutting out processed food and dramatically reducing your sugar, salt and fat intake. 

Under the umbrella of each food groups I should have daily, I try to incorporate superfood (e.g., spinach), antiinflmmatory food (e.g., salmon) and targeted food (e.g., fiber dense food like oatmeal to help with my constipation).  I also eat small portions but eat more frequently to aid in digestion.  Ultimately, you have to listen to your body and hear what it’s telling you.  And the body and what it needs changes often so it’s a daily journey to figure out how best to achieve a balanced diet fit for my body. 

What works for you?


2 thoughts on “My Balanced Diet

  1. Michele says:

    Just found your blog through Instagram.

    Love it. Keep it up.


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