If you have chronic pain, stiffness, or any type of inflammation or swelling including arthritis, there is a good chance that you can feel better by significantly decreasing the amount of grain, sugar, and similar carbohydrates in your diet. The changes don’t happen overnight, but slowly over weeks. Decreasing these foods in your diet will significantly decrease your pain and improve a number of other health factors.
Dietary carbohydrates are from three main sources:
- grains (wheat, corn, oats, including rice and potatoes)
- refined sugar
- fruits and vegetables
Insulin is produced by the pancreas any time we eat sugar and other carbohydrate such as grains. Fruits and vegetables do not have the same effect, so they are OK. In fact, for a number of reasons, fruits and vegetables are pain reducing foods.
The process of inflammation is at the core of much pain (especially chronic pain) and stiffness. Insulin changes molecules that fight inflammation into molecules that increase inflammation, hence increasing pain and stiffness. Many people eat too much sugar and grain-related foods. If there is pain, it will be increased by high levels of grains and sugars in the diet.
Even more important may be the “silent” disease processes that are enhanced by these insulin producing foods. These include heart disease, autoimmune disease, cancer and a whole series of other health issues referred to as “metabolic syndrome.” When you decrease the sugars and grains in your diet, you will notice pain reduction and you will also be decreasing risk factors for a number of other serious diseases.
Take a big step. Rate your pain from 1 to 10. Note the number on a piece of paper and put it in a drawer. Then totally stop all sugars, grains, and other carbohydrates such as potatoes and rice for ten days. You must completely stop all of these foods to make this a fair test. If you cheat just a little, it will negate the test results. Then after ten days, once again rate your pain from 1 to 10 and write it down on another piece of paper. Get the first piece of paper from where you put it and compare the two numbers.
Most people will observe a noticeable decrease in their pain… and many people will also feel better on other levels such as improved energy, mental clarity, better sleep, and a variety of other changes.
After ten days, the improvements will only be sustained by a continued restriction of sugars and grains. You can slowly increase these substances in your diet by adding a little each day. The minute you notice an increase in pain, or any other symptom, that is the maximum amount of these carbohydrates that you should consume.
So remember: no grain – no pain. It is a no brain-er.