Food allergies?

[cavansmom]

Can food allergies cause RA?  You know, if you're like me, you read everything on the internet about RA.  There sure are some crazy things out there that supposedly "cure" RA.  I think most of it is hogwash.  My favorites are the ones where the medical society is out to get us.  They want to charge us thousands of dollars for our meds when the real cure is tea, ointment, or my all-time favorite, emu oil.  Anyway, I do feel that certain foods can help us and certain foods can hurt us. 

Interestingly, around the same time I developed RA, I also developed a severe food allergy (severe as in eyes and throat swell shut, my stomach does some amazing tricks I won't enlighten you with, I get itchy all over, and I can't slow my breathing down to a normal rate).  The culprit: msg, aka monosodium glutemate.  Let me tell you, this stuff is in everything: canned soups, flavored chips, frozen dinners, broth, gelatin, marinades, soy products, salad dressings.  I'm a walking time-bomb going out to dinner.

If you read what the more naturalist people say about food allergies, you will likely come across some information about leaky gut syndrome and how food allergies hurt our colons and cause us to absorb stuff we shouldn't absorb.  Do I believe it?  Well, I won't discount it.  Having an msg reaction used to not bother my RA when it was under good control.  When I had this flare the last 3+ years, my reactions would send my RA out of control for a couple of days.

My rheumatologist once told me that there was a study done about people's diets and RA.  He said that the study (sorry I don't have the study reference here) found that certain foods do make people's RA worse, but that not having these foods did not make RA go away.  He also said the foods were different for each person.  Sounds like more research needs to be done there if you ask me.  Anyway, do you have foods/drinks that set off your RA?  I know for me that most alcohol and msg send me for a loop.  What about you?  Drop a line!

Lori
MomsWithRA.org

[DeniseD1]

That's interesting Lori. I've wondered often which food(s) could make RA worse. I've heard red meat is a trigger for many people, so I try to eat that sparingly. For me I haven't found anything yet that makes my RA worse. I would be bummed if it turned out to be seafood or chocolate or alcohol. It's bad enough to have RA, what an injustice if we can't enjoy our favorite food or drinks. Would be interested to hear what the others have to say.

Denise

[cavansmom]

Hi Denise!

Yes, quite an injustice!  When my RA was under good control, pre-Cavan, I could drink alcohol and be ok.  Currently, the only alcohol that doesn't set me off appears to be rum.  Wine seems to be the worst (much to my husband's dismay).  I miss amaretto sours and cranberry juice with peach schnapps <sigh>.  Oh well.  I'd really like to hear if anybody else has this problem!  I have talked to somebody who has some auto-immune problems (not RA) and the only alcohol she can drink is rum also... I wonder what is different about it.

Lori

[ihateredshoes]

Brand new to this forum...
My opinion is Gluten, in the past when I remove gluten from my diet, my flares are minimal.

[cavandad]

But why do you hate red shoes?  Haha!  Love the name!

I did a gluten free diet a couple of months ago to try to resolve some stomach issues I've been having.  That's one diet that didn't seem to help me at all.  I know some people have big issues with gluten though.  Are you gluten free now?  It's very difficult!

Lori
MomsWithRA.org