Whole is well - Monaco
a complete approach to wellness
Diet for Fibromyalgia
Although there are no such thing as a specific type of food which can alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia, a healthy balanced diet (eating certain foods whilst avoiding others) will have an impact on your overall wellbeing and make you feel better. However, there’s no silver bullet and what may help one person may not necessarily have the same effects on another person.
​
My advice is to keep a food diary where you write down everything you eat and make notes of when symptoms disappear and when they flare up. This will help you ensure you’re only eating those foods that make you feel better.
Another recommendation is to eat a well-balanced diet. This is my advice not only to sufferers of fibromyalgia, it is useful for helping keeping weight under control. Ideally, eat organic produce, healthy fats (such as coconut oil, red palm oil, avocado and raw nuts), dairy from grass-fed cows and moderate amount of quality lean protein. Processed food is a big no-no because they are laden with sugar, transfats, and other synthetic additives and artificial sweeteners (especially aspartame) that cause inflammation.
Consuming omega 3s is very important because they help reduce inflammation and are good for cardiovascular health.
​
Avoid monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is contained in processed foods, frozen foods and Asian cousins. MSG is an excitotoxin that is capable of triggering or worsening your pain symptoms. Aspartame works in a similar way.
​
Reduce your yeast and gluten consumption to a minimum. These two are usually found together, especially in bread and baked goods. Yeast can nurture the overgrowth of yeast fungus, and may exacerbate joint and muscle pain. Whilst, gluten can lead to gluten intolerance, leading to stomach ailments and digestive problems.
​
Keep careful from nightshade plants such as aubergine, tomatoes, chilli and bell peppers. They can cause a flare up of fibromyalgia and other type of arthritis. But since these plants are also very nutritious, you should try to keep them in your diet if they don’t worsen your symptoms.
​
Caffeine and fibromyalgia is not a good combination. So if you’re thinking that coffee can help you feel less tired, think again because caffeine can make things worse for you as it can trigger headaches, mess up your sleep and make you feel even more tired.
One more thing on the issue of healthy diet. Excessive body fat can strain and add pressure on the joint which will make your symptoms worse. It can also cause depression. My advice is that if you’re overweight, losing weight is very likely to alleviate your symptoms and help you feel better about yourself.
