My self-improvement kick #4: The anti-inflammatory diet

Here's an anti-inflammatory diet food pyramid.
Notice that the bottom tier reminds you to drink
lots of water and that the vegetables are where you
usually find grains on a conventional diet. 

At today's MPN conference in Novi, Michigan, there was lots of talk about inflammation. An oversimplification is that inflammation is what makes us feel bad as ET patients. One of the experts suggested that an anti-inflammatory diet might be helpful for MPN patients like us. So I'm embarking on a plan to move in that direction in hopes it helps with energy levels.

I'm also hoping that the anti-inflammatory diet, which does not include dairy fats and red meat, might also help me reduce my cholesterol, which just tipped over into the "high" range yesterday at a total of 211 (even though the HDL and LDL are within allowable limits). Since high cholesterol increases your risk of blood clots, already a risk for me as an ET patient, I'm hoping the anti-inflammatory diet might also help me bring my cholesterol down next year.

And if helps me lose a little more weight, even better.


So this week I'm working on breakfast. My idea of a good breakfast is eggs, hash, and croissants with butter (mmm, butter!).

The quick fix is to ditch the croissant and replace it with a poached egg on dry toast, and sweet potatoes, onions, and red peppers cooked in a little olive oil. But that's going to be a Saturday/Sunday breakfast.

I usually make a big jar of granola every week for snacking. It's full of oatmeal, toasted coconut, almonds, pumpkin seeds, dates, and raisins (or dried cranberries or cherries, depending what's on hand). So far, all good anti-inflammatories. However, my regular recipe includes half a cup of maple syrup or honey. That's a a little more than a tablespoon of sweetener per portion, and since sugars are to be eliminated or taken only sparingly, I'm going to be looking for a way to reduce the sweetener. When I get the recipe perfected, I'll share it here.

Other breakfast alternatives are wholegrain toast with peanut butter (instead of butter), or grapenuts and dried fruit with yogurt.

In a week or two, I'll be working on lunch, then supper, and snacks. And we'll see how I feel in six months. While I'm always skeptical about dietary fads, I do know that cutting fast food out of my life completely has made a big difference. This was brought home to me when we were on the road a few months ago and we stopped at a burger joint. I had a cheeseburger and a smoothie (and, yes, I stole a few fries from my husband's bag). An hour or two later, my energy levels plummeted, I could hardly stay awake, and I had a craving for chocolate cake.

I have lots more to report from Thursday's MPN conference, and I hope to have that for you tomorrow!

Be well and stay tuned!

Related: My self-improvement kick: Update #1

Related: My self-improvement, update #2: The Bike to nowhere

Related: My self-improvement kick #3: Reading my way out of lethargy

Related: My self-improvement kick #4: Tricking myself into exercise

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