Arthritis

"Either #paleo and #lowcarb works, or this is a world-wide conspiracy against grain."

ARTHRITIS & JOINT PAIN

"I love that I discovered this on my own, That I did it on my own, and that I know my body so well now. My back has improved, the arthritis in my hands has gone, my reflux and bloating gone. My lack of energy is gone. I want to exercise. I hated that previously. It's a miracle."

"Prior to last January, I was sick all the time, missed a lot of work, had a lot of arthritis pain, couldn't control my blood sugar levels even with 3 diabetes meds. One major change, just prior to this, was stopping all diet pop. I was drinking 8-10 cans a day. Switching to water and tea was like flipping a light switch--no longer sick all the time. The low carb has gotten me off of 2 diabetes meds, and lasix. My arthritis pain is much less, and I have SOOO much more energy."

"I wasn't losing weight and felt that was because I was doing what all the exercise experts were saying "carbo load" which mean't grains through pasta, breads, etc... I needed to do something, was reading Tim Ferriss book The 4 Hour Body and came across Paleo...Lost weight, feel better and never looked back! It's been a few months, lost weight, muscle tone has improved, mental well being has improved, brain fog gone and many of the above symptoms all but gone until I cheat or slip up and have bad carbs, then joint pain, brain fog, rashes, etc... come back."

"On March 4th of this year (2012) I stepped on the scale and much to my dismay weighed 213 lbs. I decided to commit to getting under 200 lbs by my 60th Birthday on the 16th of April. After some research I decided on the Paleo diet approach and have been amazed at the results. Not only did I reach my goal of getting under 200lbs by my 60th birthday I lost 44 lbs in 140 days and feel amazing. Blood pressure dropped from 130/90 when I started to 105/75 currently and my constant shoulder pain (probably arthritis) has completely disappeared."

"In the 7 months since then I have lost a full clothing size and my stomach has never been this flat. My acid reflux has almost disappeared, I can go more than 3 hours without crashing, and I generally feel great. I've been disappointed that I still struggle with sleeping the night through and still have arthritis issues, but I also accept that we are all a work in progress and that patience is important. There are still many tweaks that I plan to try."

"I cut carbohydrates as much as I could: no sugar, no grains, no starchy vegetables, no fruit. The first week, I felt like I had low grade virus or something...low energy, low grade headache. But after that my energy level was high, thinking clearer, no joint pain."

"I went to the library to look for a different book to help me lose weight and found the 'Idiot Proof Diet', a book based on Atkins which I started almost straight away. I felt so well immediately that I had very little trouble sticking to low carb. My arthritis disappeared and I love the food. I have researched since then and now eat mostly primal or LCHF. I continue to maintain the weight loss and the arthritis does not bother me."

"I can't see ANY reason to go back to the conventionally taught nutrition (eg, MyPlate). I think one of the reasons it's working is the focus on whole foods; removing the processed garbage removes so many non-food, potentially toxic things from the diet. More importantly, I feel fantastic! All arthritis symptoms are gone, my sleep is even better (shorter but deeper), and I look better than I have in, well, decades."

"Over a year lost lots of weight while gaining tons of muscle. It was slow but steady progress. After I'd been eating this way for about 10 months (and had dropped about 25 pounds) I had a rather extreme cheat week over Xmas (tons of bread, stuffing, pie, cookies, etc). No idea if it was related or not, but afterward I developed rheumatoid arthritis. This was the kick in the pants that I needed to try going fully Paleo...I now follow the Primal Blueprint diet, since I enjoy a glass of red wine in the evening with a square of dark chocolate - and I am not fanatical about re-enacting the Paleolithic. Nonetheless I feel that this evolutionary template is the most sensible way to eat. My arthritis symptoms are much improved, although not totally gone (I do take medication for it as well)."

"We kept the No Carb restriction. We started feeling healthier. The arthritis in my hands went away. During the 40 days I did a lot of research on diets and I found www.fathead-movie.com and through it, the LCHF movement. We stopped counting calories and just restricted carbs."

"Most of my health improvements came from going gluten free. Improvements in depression, peripheral neuropathy, arthritis, fatigue and so much more."

"I most closely followed the Primal Blueprint approach and never experienced either the emotional or hunger agonies associated with the kazillion other weight loss attempts I had tried before. I started exercising consistently for the first time in years and years, and discovered I actually enjoyed it. In addition, blood pressure and arthritis pain decreased."

"Then I read Gary Taubes and eliminated all grains (including a daily large dose of wheat germ) and started consuming much more fat, esp. animal and dairy fat. Amazed myself by reducing to 115 pounds (what I weighed as a 15-year-old) in less than a month. After a year, I am still at that weight, and my BMI is about 19. I used to have terrible arthritis pain in my wrists, but the pain is now completely gone. (I credit giving up wheat germ for that.) One of the down-sides is that I realize exercise does not help keep my weight down."

"I am a middle aged woman who bought the low fat thing entirely. I was always hungry! I got interested in eating locally for political reasons, then a friend told me about paleo. Though I'd give it a try. It certainly cured the "always hungry" problem and I've been slowly losing fat, about a pants size in 6 months. I've also mainly kicked my antacid habit. I've NOT had any miraculous recession of arthritis or disappearance of sleep issues, yet I don't feel like giving up the way of eating."

"My first intro to the paleo diet was from nutrition presentation given at an ADHD counseling center that my older daughter goes to. Thought it was a bit crazy but made sense in a lot of ways so was willing to research further. My research led me to realize that this may be the perfect diet for my younger daughter who was suffering from chronic debilitating headaches that I strongly suspected related to food sensitivites. While both girls were at overnight camp, I tried the diet on myself. Almost immediately I had more energy, arthritis was gone and year round allergies gone. I was gone."

"At the age of 30 my doctor was telling me that I had arthritis in both knees and if I didn't lose weight I was headed for the same heart disease that plagued my father's family...I spent the next couple of years trying everything I knew to lose weight, eating "healthy" - three meals a day following the almighty food pyramid, cutting out sweets, restricting calories to the point that I was constantly starving, just aching for my next meal...More than a year later [after starting the Primal Blueprint] I still weigh 170, and still have more energy than anyone else I know at my age. My doctor no longer worries about heart disease, and I have no pain at all in my knees. I am free to play with my growing kids, and enjoy life without anything holding me back."

"I am a RN; I've done my "homework" reading everything I can get my hands over the past year. Simply put...Paleo just makes a TON of sense. I wish more docs knew about it and didn't dismiss it as a "fad diet". Frustrating!! I could rant more but i'd rather stick to the positive!

Both my parents also went Paleo about he same time I did with very similar weight loss (20-25 lbs each) results. In addition to looking and feeling terrific, Dad's arthritis and mom's reflux are GONE!! Mom's total cholesterol dropped FIFTY points. Dad had always struggled to keep his HDL above 40 (usually 30-37), it went up to 49! My husband lost about 20 lbs too. After seeing everyone's health improve, I threw my 11 and 13 year old boys on board several months ago. My youngest son had horrible reflux and had been on medication for about a year. Since he has been off grains, surprise, surprise...he no longer needs medicine. He is rarely bothered by it any more. When it does hurt, it's always after he's eaten something like pizza or cake at a birthday party. He's starting to make the connection though!"

"But, right away I stopped having sit-in-the-floor-sobbing-wishing-I-could-die episodes. After a few months without gluten and excess sugar, I noticed that my container of antacids was untouched, and I hadn't been taking the glucosimine for my knees because they weren't bothering me. The weight steadily disappeared and I could get back into my size 8's again. I also noticed that I had more time because I could remember where I put things instead of wondering around for hours looking for stuff. I was amazed that a simple diet change could make such a difference in my health: depression, heartburn, arthritis, stomach fat, foggy brain, sleeping problems. Even the rough skin on the heels of my feet smoothed away!"

"The bigger surprise for me was when I noticed that I was zipping up and down stairs, taking the lids off jars, and dancing around the kitchen with the grand-kids with no joint pain. The disappearance of joint pain was an even more amazing benefit, one I had not even thought about. Joint pain started for me even before I started to put weight on 15-20 years ago. WOW! I was resigned to the pain being something I just had to live with."

"Three years ago, seeking a cure for acid reflux, joint pain and sinus congestion, I researched the web and found the Paleo Diet book by Dr. Loren Cordain. I read it, it made sense, I decided to give it a try. At the time, I was a 57 year-old post menopausal woman...I'd been eating a mostly vegetarian diet for many years: beans, tofu and eggs for protein, some cheese, whole grains like quinoa, buckwheat and brown rice, vegetables, oatmeal with a banana every day for breakfast, and on the weekends an occasional piece of chicken or fish...ALL the conditions mentioned above (acid reflux, joint pain, congestion) went away within a couple of weeks of starting the Paleo Diet. My gums also lost their sensitivity and for the first time in my life I can get my teeth cleaned with the high-powered machine instead of sitting in the chair for an hour getting them cleaned the old-fashioned way by hand."

"I eliminated beer, sugar, pasta, bread (incl. donuts!) and coke (soft drinks) from my diet. I went from 199.5 to 173 in 6 to 9 months. It works like a charm and as a side effect I figured out I might have a mild wheat allergy, since some mild IBS I have had forever disappeared, along with some joint pain."

"In fact, it seems my body can handle much more now. The remaining vestiges of joint pains have totally vanished. I am back to including some weight lifts (like shoulder/chest press) that inherently put significant stress on the wrists, and I have no problem handling it. It's a great feeling I hadn't felt for years! The lack of joint pains in general has allowed me to move back towards lower reps and higher weight (just in the last 1-2 weeks), so I am starting to get stronger and visibly get more built again."

"Despite the improvements in weight and physique, I have to say, these are by far the least important results. I would place mood and energy first, then control of appetite, then elimination of joint problems, and only then weight/physique (along with the other sundry benefits). I can't envision ever letting myself get so awash with carbs ever gain."

"Then in 2008 I found a wonderful doctor who helped me with my thyroid issues and finally diagnosed my food allergies. She told me to start by removing all wheat and rice. I immediately felt better. My joints stopped hurting and I started losing weight, all without exercising. A couple of weeks in I ate some pizza, and all my symptoms came back, which confirmed my allergies."

"I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at 8 years old. I had severe flare-ups in 48 joints (didn't even know I had that many joints). Initially I was visiting Children's Hospital in Detroit once a week for regular blood work, draining my joints, cortisone shots, and prescription refills. At the time they had me on a large dose of N.S.A.I.D.S. and because they irritated my stomach a prescription ulcer medication. I was advised by my doctor that I would probably need to be in a wheel chair by the time I was 18. Thankfully, he told me to do whatever activity I could while I still could. Naturally, to my parents dismay, I went and played full-contact peewee football. I found from there that exercise actually helped my symptoms even though it hurt at the time. By the time I was 12 exercise had helped me put my JRA into remission (to the doctors surprise). Fast forward 10 years...I hadn't had any RA flare-ups since my childhood and since then I had become a three sport high-school athlete and like every other kid was eating like crap. I would come home after working out or competing and eat fast food and then dinner with lots of grains, sugary drinks, and everything in the Standard American Diet.

This wasn't a problem until college when i had another severe flare up of RA that made it extremely difficult to get to class and do anything active. I saw the doctor once again and they put me on an immunosuppresant (the last thing you want to be on). My symptoms got better, I continued to eat terribly and gained about 30 pounds or so from high-school. My previous success with exercise lead me into my current field as a personal trainer. I graduated with my degree in Kinesiology and was still under the impression that you could out-train a bad diet.

...I went strictly Paleo for 30 days, no grain, no dairy, just animals and plants. The first two weeks were hell, I felt awful! I have a theory that the worse your diet is before you go paleo the worse the low carb flu will be. I made it through the first two weeks and realized I had dropped about 12 pounds. At the end of the 30 days I was down 18 pounds and feeling awesome. Joint pain was already better, more energy, and I was feeling good. So naturally what did I do after 30 days? I ate half a pizza and a pitcher of beer. I just wanted to prove that I didn't have any issues with grains. Boy was I wrong. I felt terrible for almost a week. I was bloated, nauseated, and achy. I decided from then on I was sticking with this.

It's been about a year and a half since I first started and the changes are amazing. I went from 210lbs to 178lbs on the dot. Not only am I 32lbs lighter I went from 22% Body Fat down to 8%. My LDL has stayed the same around 135, but my HDL went from being very low around 35 to now 88. My triglycerides are 51 which came from being border line high. My blood pressure is down, my fasting glucose is down. Virtually any blood test measure is significantly better. Oh and the best change? I have NO symptoms of RA. It literally feels like I never had it. Wow, I just wish I had known sooner."

"I then read Good Calories, Bad Calories, which I considered a huge personal awakening and have been low carbing ever since. It gave me additional reasons to not fear Atkins. I never took statins. My weight has since varied a bit depending on how faithful I am being to low carbing, but it has never appoached being 40 lbs overweight again. More importantly my multi decade allergies and late 40's onset joint pain is now non existant."

"I've had success with caloric restriction diets in the past, but between the hunger issues and the amount of work it takes on a daily basis, they aren't really that sustainable. In addition, I was experiencing regular headaches, GI issues, joint pain, and generalized happiness issues. These have been mostly solved by [the Paleo] diet alone. I'm sure, however, that regular CrossFit workouts help a lot, as well."

"I woke up three days later and found that the diet was doing more for my health than I had ever anticipated. My joints were clear of pain and stiffness, my mood was lifted, and I had a great deal more energy. There was no looking back!"

"Health totally transformed. Abolished vitiligo, reccurent migraines, arrhythmias, pleuritis, joint pains, normalised liver enzymes, normalised blood lipids, normalised blood sugar, normalised GI function, tons of energy, mental health is excellent now, sleep apneoa now requires less CPAP pressure to maintain."

"I used to eat the standard American diet - lots of processed fare and refined carbohydrates, and very few whole foods. And I felt sick much of the time. When I ate the standard American diet, I experienced diabetic symptoms of blurred vision and nerve pain, my joints were always stiff and painful, I had no energy, and I felt like I walked through each day in a mental fog."

"The biggest change is that now I have the energy to work out and working out doesn't irritate my joints."

"I've gone down a belt loop and my pants aren't uncomfortable anymore. My wrist and knee used to hurt all the time. I wore a brace on my wrist while at work. None of my joints hurt anymore and exercising isn't painful."

"It was amazing. I felt more clear-headed than I could ever remember. Mystery aches and pains in my joints and arms began to recede. Some days I seemed to have more energy than I knew what to do with. Other than my herniated disc which has continued to plague me, I felt better overall than I had in over 20 years."

"I was a lifelong high-carb low-fat athlete. No weight problem, but I experienced symptoms of insulin resistance such as weakness, shakiness, light headedness if I didn't eat. Now all those symptoms are gone. Before I started eating Paleo I would wake up in the morning barely able to move due to joint stiffness and hurting feet. I thought this was my payment for 30+ years of weight lifting. I now have no pain unless I do a really tough workout, which is normal muscle soreness."

"I slowly incorporated more and more paleo ways as I went along. Although losing weight would have been a nice bonus, my reasons for going paleo were strictly for improvement of my health. I wanted to live and live healthfully. After a couple of weeks I noticed I started feeling even better, I was thinking more clearly than ever, I slept so incredibly well, and my energy level totally skyrocketed. I felt like I could run a 5K (although my joint pain wouldn't let me). I found myself dancing around the house and taking long walks and hikes I wasn't able to before. As I learned about nightshades and other problems related to autoimmune issues I decided to cut out nightshades and most nuts and dairy (I loved tomatoes so that was hard). After just a week I noticed my vericose veins weren't hurting as bad and my joint pain diminished. A couple weeks later and my joint pain nearly disappeared completely. I could not remember the last time my joints didn't hurt.

That was proof positive that I suffered systemic inflammation. I was in complete awe of how well I felt. I'd been ill for so long that I had become accustomed to increasing levels of pain and illness. I was like the live frog, boiling in water that was slowly turned up. Never jumping out of the pot because I got used to it. This new found health was, and is, incredibly wonderful. Instead of eating for my emotions I'm eating for nourishment. It's amazing how my tastes have changed. Now I crave foods that are good for me, like liver and avocado. If it wasn't for my goal of health I don't think I would have ever tried liver. I can't even put into words how much the paleo lifestyle has changed my life. I thought I was doing good for myself by being GF. No way. There is nothing compared to the health benefits of paleo. Although I knew I'd lost weight (clothes fit differently & my body composition started changing), I did not weigh myself until 06-07-12 where I weighed 252 pounds. I estimated I'd already lost about 8-12 pounds before that. As of 08-02-12, I weighed 233 pounds. The weight loss just makes my new found health even sweeter. I'm looking forward to my continued journey for health & am excited for more natural weight loss. Bring on life, I'm ready for it."

"I gave up gluten over three years ago. Immediately after giving it up, I felt less brain fog and joint pain that had been bothering me mostly disappeared."

"My dad told me about Primal Blueprint. I started to read about it and I thought it sounded pretty restrictive. What I liked most about it was that there were no real tracking rules. He talked about what your healthy weight was and that your body would be stronger and healthier but you might not be bone skinny. I just wanted to be healthier and feel better. I was VERY skeptical. I told my dad I would do it for 2 weeks. Within a few days I felt a million times better. I had been hobbling when I got out of bed because my joints hurt so bad. I was lethargic and foggy most days before I had started. Now I felt good. I had begun running right before and now I could run every day without having intense joint pain. My knee that had always bothered me quit hurting. It was miraculous."

"Plus, I've experienced various kinds of joint and muscle pains since I've been on the [Paleo] diet. I was having various pains before starting the diet so I don't know if it has exacerbated them or not, but it's been a concern."

"More importantly, I've noticed that a lot of nuisance health issues that I had attributed to aging and/or had for so long that I accepted them as "normal", are gone. To name just a few, the achy shins and joints, compliments of power walking (I read that it was easier on the joints than jogging, lol!), are no longer achy."

"When I encountered marksdailyapple.com and the primal blueprint, it all just perfect sense. I started eating primally that very day, and felt instantly better - within days the spaciness, headaches, grazing and constant hunger were gone. Other unexpected health issues also disappeared - gall bladder pain, joint achiness. I also have more physical stamina. I still get headaches on occasion but only when I indulge in chocolate or wine."

"The benefits of this lifestyle have been myriad. Lost 25 pounds, BMI down four points, increased energy, increased strength, increased stamina, joint pain in my ankles has diminished, not tired as much, healthier skin, happier moods, better clarity of mind, better connection to my emotions and feelings."

"My weight has not dropped dramatically, but I feel a lot better! I no longer have joint swelling, my fibro has eased off, my BP has dropped quite dramatically, and I'm sleeping better."

"My transition to paleo took many years in reality. First I had to leave out anything with sugar because of diabetes concerns. Then I accidentally found out I could end my joint pain by not eating wheat (I was actually trying to see if the wheat was causing allergy problems)."

"Nine years ago I was very ill. I was 3 years out from cardiac bypass surgery and felt as though I was about to die. I had overwhelming fatigue, extremely painful peripheral neuropathy, joint pain, depression and a whole long list of other symptoms. Some people in an online forum told me about the connection between gluten and peripheral neuropathy. I did a gluten sensitivity test through Enterolab - tested positive - and the day I got my result was the last day I ever knowingly ate gluten.

The first 3 gluten free days were horrible. I felt worse instead of better. I think many who get the "low carb flu" are really getting a gluten withdrawal reaction. On the 4th day I noticed that I had no joint pain when walking down the steps. That was the first of many improvements in my health. Very soon after I started the gluten free diet I realized that I felt best when I avoided all grains and sugars -
but I had not yet heard about paleo."