My TMJ dentist recommended that I look at adjusting my diet to eliminate inflammatory foods. I met with a nutritionist and she is recommending that I try the Paleo diet. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has tried this diet or knows someone who has. How hard is it to adjust to the diet? Did it help with improving symptoms of inflammatory diseases such as allergies, asthma, joint pain, etc...?
I eat a diet that eliminates inflammatory foods and I call it a "plant based diet". But you can eliminate inflammatory foods and still eat some lean animal protein. If I'm not mistaken, saturated fat is one thing that can cause inflammation and, likewise, being overweight (fat) can cause inflammation. I almost doubt myself because it's been a long time since I read about this. One book on this subject is: "The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan" by Monica Reinagel. This book will tell you which foods help prevent inflammation and which foods cause it.
The book, "The Paleolithic Prescription", gives some very good information too. But I don't recall anything specifically about inflammation.
How hard is it to adjust to this diet? It depends on how fast you want to change over. If you change slowly, it shouldn't be too difficult. For example, you could eliminate one inflammatory food per week. I believe the worst things are white flour and sugar. That covers a lot because there are lots of baked goods and lots of food items with added sugar.
If your dentist was the one who recommended this, then you have a GOOD dentist. I've had lots of dentists and none of them ever said a word about eliminating inflammatory foods. I started my diet around May of 2006 because I read the book: "The China Study". Dentists have been warning me that I might get gum disease but I never get it. It must be my diet plus 4 cleanings per year that's preventing it.
Last edited by JohnR41; 04-08-2010 at 04:56 PM.
Reason: puntuation
Thanks for your response John. This is a new dental specialist for me and so far, I'm impressed. He is helping me with TMJ issues. He is very concerned about overall health of the body and using naturopathic strategies to balance health. I'm very hopeful about his approaches.
I'll definitely look into the books you recommended. Before I commit to going this direction I want to learn as much as possible about it.