The anti-inflammatory diet: My self-improvement kick update

Here's the anti-inflammatory diet food pyramid,
just in case you forgot.

So. It's been nearly two months since I have been on the anti-inflammatory (A-I) diet. My glucose levels, which used to be slightly high once in awhile are great! ET symptoms of brain fog and scattered concentration have improved except when I am really stressed. I am a little more energetic, but I am also back on my Bike to Nowhere (stationary bike), so diet or exercise? Not sure.

I can't say that these are huge changes. I doubt if I have lost much weight; I don't own a scale, but my clothes fit about the same. Time will tell whether my cholesterol levels are better. Both weight and cholesterol are factors in strokes, so reductions here would be a plus. All of us with ET have elevated clot risks.

Sticking with the diet does pose a few challenges. The biggest one is all those vegetables and fruits! Those are at the bottom of the A-I food pyramid, which means you have to eat more servings of broccoli than bread, and that is a challenge.

Also difficult is listening to the complaints of Others Who Live Here about increasing the variety of whole grains. However, in adding more oats, barley, and brown rice to the daily mix, I'm eating less wheat. And I'm less bloated. That was an interesting development. I never put any stock in "wheat belly" claims, but the variety of grains does make me feel better.

I'm not sure what to do with potatoes. Is it a veg? Or do I categorize it with the grains because it's a starch? Some A-I diets tell you to give up potatoes entirely. I've tried to reduce my intake, substituting potatoes with yams or spaghetti squash, or doctoring potatoes with red pepper, onions, or salsa when I do eat them. "Trying" is the operative word here. It is hard to get rid of them entirely. Because I like them.

Salad dressings are another vexed issue. I use a very small amount of a vinaigrette most of the time. I can put that in the "healthy oils" slot at the top of the pyramid without feeling guilty. But summer is here, ands that means cole slaw and macaroni salads with mayo, which doesn't go in the "healthy" slot.

I haven't found restricting dairy too hard. I have some lactose intolerance, so I have to eat dairy sparingly anyway. But I can see that this could be a real problem for those who love their cheese and ice cream.

Hitting my 3 p.m. need for a pick-me-up is another challenge. I need a cup of coffee and a cookie. Well, I don't NEED a cuppa and cookie, but I WANT them. Some days, I can make do with the coffee and homemade granola, which has a little honey, but is chock-full of other good stuff that makes me feel not guilty about eating it. I also like no-fat, whole-grain crackers (WASA brand) with salsa or hummus as a snack. But, honestly, they don't go with coffee like a damn cookie. Or half of a streudel muffin. Or maybe a very small piece of chocolate cake.

What makes the diet fairly easy to stick with is that you are never bored. I eat a much wider variety of foods than I did before.

As always, the usual caveats apply: No diet is going to cure your ET. But I feel like the A-I diet might help me cope with it better. I'm not an ascetic, so I expect I will cheat occasionally. But I'm pleased to notice some benefits from it and to see that the dietary changes are fairly easy and certainly tasty.

Be well!

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

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