Living with fibromyalgia on a daily basis can be both a physical and physiological challenging. The symptoms of fibromyalgia are so varied from patient to patient that is makes it difficult for diagnosis and even more difficult to cure. The syndromes main components of joint pain , fatigue, tender points, muscle pain, and difficulty concentrating are the main components of the syndrome that drive individuals to the doctor looking for answers. Many time people are discouraged as they walk away from the doctor’s office with a name for their condition, but no cure, and no real answers.
Treating fibromyalgia can become a one person crusade that may take years of your life to really get a handle on the symptoms, and how to treat them yourself. There are newer medications that are now being developed and used, as more men and women seek medical attention for a disease just 6-10 years back was thought to be physiological. Luckily newer technology is confirming that it is not in your head, and brain scans can prove it. Now, that’s all good, but it still comes down to the fact that there is no one size fits all fibromyalgia treatment plan. So, what can you do?
Let’s take a look to day at diets, particularly “A Gluten Free Diet”; can it help ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia? Gluten intolerance is becoming more prevalent with the advent of more, and more highly processed foods. How do you know if you are gluten intolerant. That is a whole article in itself. I highly recommend “Living Gluten free for dummies” this is an excellent resource book. This will explain gluten allergy symtoms, and suggest a plan of action to determine how to remove gluten from your diet, and thus eliminating your gluten allergy.
It is clinically proven that diets play a big role in many health problems, and conditions. Food allergies are abundant, and with more processed foods there are more people suffering from food allergies than ever. It is amazing what we put into our bodies that we do not even realize, and much of it is killing us slowly and for many painfully. Gluten allergies have been connected clinically to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, IBS, constipation, asthma, acne, and much more.
Where Can You Find Gluten?
In the diet Gluten is a fusion of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. It can be found in grains: barleycorn, corn, rye, and other grain compounds. It is very pre
Gluten is a protein compound found in wheat which is commonly found in grains as corn, rye and barleycorn. Gluten is cannot be completely removed from wheat and other grains, so when you buy something that is “gluten free”, but this is a misnomer, because as stated the FDA deems that if a certain percentage is removed it can still be labeled “Gluten Free”. If you have gluten allergy that little bit may still be toxic to your system. Gluten is make are bread sticky giving a nice chewy texture that is why bread dough is sticky and gummy in nature.
There are some fibromyalgia suffers that have “tagged” their fibromyalgia symptoms to poor digestion or an allergy to gluten. When using gluten free products which have become more prevalent on grocery store shelves be aware that you are as stated above not buying a 100% gluten free product. Removing food additives and highly processed foods should be high priority for everyone. What we are consuming on a daily basis is a poisonous concoction that is creating an unhealthy and toxic environment in our bodily system. Is gluten the cause of your fibromyalgia symptoms? No one can say; you will have to remove gluten from your diet for at least 60 days and then add it back slowly to see if you have a fibromyalgia flare up. If a flare up does occur it would be very beneficial to contact a dietician to learn how to live gluten free.
Naturally Gluten Free
You can discover more natural gluten free diet options that are very beneficial and helpful when you are trying to uncover the cause of your fibromyalgia symptoms. poo , poo are great resources for discovering how to incorporate this specialized diet into your everyday living.
Water is vital to our health, but still we never seem to drink enough of it. A little more than a third of fibromyalgia suffers drink the recommended minimum is 8 full glasses of water a day, but most of us never even come close.
I know people who never drink plain water, never! Instead they quench their thirst with sugary sodas, diet sodas, teas, coffee, energy drinks, and whatever else that is available that they can find. Is it any wonder that many of us suffer from chronic conditions that are brought on my food preservatives, additives, and other unhealthy ingredients that is offered up in the name of convenience.
Many people drink coffee, soda and tea, and I do too occasionally, but too much of it, and it removes water from your system due to its natural diuretic properties.
Another point to add is it’s stimulate effect that may give you a boost of energy, but you will feel worse later, and may have more difficulty sleeping later.
Water Helps Remove Toxins
We need to take in water to flush out harmful toxins that we not only intake, but are naturally created in our system. Flushing these toxins can help with a myriad of symptoms: decrease headaches, improve energy, improve fatigue, prevent constipation, help prevent hemorrhoids, and most importantly decrease pain and inflammation in the joints, tissues, and muscles. Many of these symptoms can be directly correlated with fibromyalgia syndrome.
If you can’t stomach the water out of your tap filter it, or try some sparkling mineral water. I drink it daily with a slice of lime, and you will get the added bonus of zinc, calcium magnesium, and vitamin C without popping another supplement. Natural is good!
Our bodies need water in one form or another, and yes some city water taste really bad. Another peeve of mine is all the chlorine that goes into our water supplies. If chlorine kills off algae and other organisms, what’s it doing to the inside of your body, especially your digestive tract?
Is The Fluoride In Tap Water Bad For Fibromyalgia?
Fluoride is another water additive that has some researchers rumbling that it may be linked to fibromyalgia syndrome, and if you do some research, and look up Jason A. Uttley you will find a paper he wrote that advocated eliminating tap water with fluoride for pure drinking water.
For many of us suffering from Fibromyalgia, working full time can be very difficult. Taking time off from work, or cutting back on your work schedule can really put a crimp in your pocket book, but you can find some pretty inexpensive water filters that can remove many toxins found in our tap water. Read the label carefully to see exactly what each filter removes, and replace it as recommended. I believe that we should all filter our water to remove the harmful chemicals, and to use chlorine filters in your showers as well. Two weeks after putting chlorine filters on our shower heads, my son’s dandruff disappeared, and the color in my hair lasts twice as long… That alone is worth the cost!
So, grab a big bottle of water from the store, and keep it handy, or fill up a pitcher of filtered water and pop it in the fridge, and remember to drink at least 6-8 glasses a day. You will feel much better, your will be flushing the toxins from your body naturally as nature intended. Sure you can have a soda, coffee, and tea, but everything in moderation. (Try one of my favorite drinks natural herb teas- hot or cold use filtered water)
You may discover that you feel really great, and eliminating caffeine drinks, and high sugar sodas help improve your fibromyalgia symptoms.
Probiotics For Fibromyalgia -IBS
I’ll throw it out there while I’m on the same tract of intestinal care, that if you are drinking a public water source with or without a filter you should be on a good Probiotic to help keep our sluggish fibromyalgia digestive tract in top working order. I know that you can get on supplement overload, but Probiotics should be top priority on your must take list. I watched Dr. Oz on Oprah a few years back, and everything he was saying really made a lot of sense, and I put my Mother, Aunts, myself, my Daughter on Probiotics and many of our family “genetic” bowel problem have decreased or been eliminated. I highly recommend you try it for yourself. I recommend Jarrow-dophilus EPS 60 ctbecause it does not require refrigeration, Puritan Pride has a very good selection, but you can also check with your local health food store for others.
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Nutrition plays a big role in our health and well being, so it should come as no surprise that eating the right foods may help you deal more effectively with your fibromyalgia as well. Proper Nutrition and digestion works on many cellular levels.
By avoiding foods laden with sugar, additives, and chemicals you can help improve nutrient absorption, boost your immune system, eliminate toxins from the body, optimized biochemical pathways, improve your energy level, maintain proper weight, decrease food sensitivities, and help improve or or correct irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Only you have the ability to control healthy diet choices, and as of now there is no clear indication that any special diet will cure fibromyalgia, but thousands of studies based on diabetes, food allergies, IBS, cardiovascular health, and thousands of other conditions prove that certain diets and exercise do work to decrease or eliminate many chronic conditions. You may find this to be true as well.
Fibromyalgia creates many conundrums due to the fact that it affects each individual differently. Finding which foods you should eliminate or add to your diet may take trial and error.
Fibromyalgia sufferers find that their metabolism slows, that they suffer from bouts of constipation, stomach bloating, indigestion, and other IBS symptoms.
A vegetarian diet that is low in carbs, is a popular treatment option to help relieve Fibromyalgia pain, and I follow this diet option, and it does help me personally.
Examples of Healthy Diet Choices For Fibromyalgia:
Carbonated beverages sugar or dietetic can aggravate gastric symptoms
Artificial sweeteners, MSG, Sodium
If you have not read this book by Dr. Mark J. Pellegrino, MD Fibromyalgia: Up Close and Personal (424pages,, paperback) I highly recommend that you do. It is clear, with valuable information that you will refer to again and again. It will open your eyes to questions you may want to ask your doctor, and treatment options that are available.
Naturally Gluten Free 
Fibromyalgia How Do You Cope?