Paleo Diet

[North Star]

Okay...another question. Thought I'd post another thread since it's a different topic.

In my quest to improve my health, I've done a lot of reading on the paleo diet and have been wheat free for several months. (The book Wheat Belly makes a pretty compelling case.) Being off of wheat has killed the GERD and decreased painful trigger points.

Or has it?

I know many many people who have reported astonishing results in their health simply with clean eating. (No sugars, grains or processed foods.)

Now I'm evaluating for me personally, how much is TMS. But I don't want to be foolish either. It just makes sense that putting good food into our bodies is foundational to good health. Especially with all the processed cr*p that lines grocery store shelves.

My efforts to eat "clean" have been mixed. I still eat too many sweets and can't seem to get my weight to budge even though I exercise an hour on most days and watch what I eat. (I'm a good 40 pounds overweight.) I also found out, through an app for my iPod that traces diet triggers with allergies, I react to nightshades (potatoes, peppers and tomatoes) consistently. I know that for folks with arthritis, stand advice is to get off all nightshades.

What is the role of diet in treating TMS? Thanks again for all the helpful advice and encouragement here!

 

[Pandagirl]

Hi MontanaMom! This caught my eye as I've done a lot of research into Paleo and GF diets. Honestly, I think there are a lot of benefits and the science makes sense, but I don't believe it has a role in treating TMS. Nothing wrong with eating "clean," but it can also serve as a source of obsession and anxiety. You've probably experienced this in eating wheat free for several months. Or maybe that's just me, but it is part of my perfectionist TMS personality. Being wheat free for months, even Paleo, then going to a BBQ, having some brisket, only to realize after that it was marinated in soy sauce. Doh! And if you believe that TMS can be cured by adding more joy to your life and reducing the anger, going Paleo doesn't work for me. Removing grains, dairy, sugar and starches would be a very sad life!

So, to me it all depends on your personality and your level of obsession. Are you doing it to live a healthy life or are you using it as a therapy to "cure" your TMS?

 

[North Star]

Pandagirl- Thank you for your feedback. And yeah....I've accidentally eaten small amounts of gluten....with no noticeable effect. Doing a bread challenge one day though...I really felt like crap for a few days. With what I've studied though, I am convinced that it IS beneficial to remove wheat. I'm not sure if what I've experienced was placebo but I was wheat free before I discovered Sarno and I think I was feeling better.

And no, I'm not a strict adherent by any means. However, my family history is ridden with obesity, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension so that's more my motive..maintaining a healthy weight to decrease other risk factors. I like the Dr. Gott approach to diet...no flour, no sugar. And for me I would add *most of the time* since I do enjoy sweets though I have become more selective over the sweets I enjoy. (Like high quality chocolate.)

Your thoughts have helped me clarify....I don't thing this is a TMS obsession to cure pain with me. Thank you for your perspective!

 

[yb44]

Years ago I was put on a wheat free diet by a doctor who is well-known in the field of women's health issues. She also told me to avoid oats, barley and rye at first. She explained that my symptoms pointed to a sensitivity to these substances rather than a full blown allergy. I would eventually be able to eat them all again. Sugar and caffeine were a no-no too. Along with the diet I was told to take a cartload of vitamins and supplements and to increase my exercise regime which at that point was near nil. I did feel better after a short while, had more energy and lost weight. However the exercise and the optimism that I was going to overcome these symptoms was most likely the reason why I felt so much better. I remain sceptical that it was the change in diet. There was one symptom this regime had no affect on - migraines. I still managed to get these at an alarming rate. Today I do not restrict my diet but I try to balance it out with vegetables and salads. I still struggle with sugar, eating far too much including products that contain hidden sugars. This is what I would really like to change about my diet although I definitely don't see it as a cure-all for sciatica and my other aches and pains.

 

[North Star]

Thanks for sharing yb44. And yeah, I know what you mean. I've was bartering some services with a naturopath and she offers the same protocol that your doc had you following. Only throw in acupuncture too. (Which I feel has done nothing for me.) While I do believe a few supplements are important, she had me taking handfuls of stuff...with no effect. And the cost to pursue that route is just too costly. (I didn't barter for supplements; had to pay $$ for that.)
I truly feel the most effective treatment for my TMS is TRULY education and hanging out here. Exercise plays a big role for me too. And then diet...next....but mainly because I need to lose weight and I do see connection with a more healthful diet. Like Sarno points you, our bodies are made to heal. I believe putting good fuel inside can only help that process. If only it were so easy to set the sugar aside and kettle cooked salt/vinegar chips.

 

[Ellen]

I think diet modifications are in the same category as all "treatments" or "therapies" when one has TMS. If they make you feel better and add to a healthy lifestyle, then go for it--but with moderation. But expecting them to cure one's TMS is thinking physically instead of psychologically. One must address the emotional/psychological issues to heal from TMS. Most of us on the forum have tried pretty much everything else with only temporary benefits.

 

[North Star]

Ellen, this has been very helpful for me in that I feel I have clarified my motives. And yeah...I've dismissed any miracle cure for aches and pains through diet. And truth be told, I've never been so discipled that I've given it 100% (which is what diet guru declare is necessary to reap dramatic health benefits anyway).

I also sent a very difficult email to my naturopath declining any more treatments. I know she will protest; her motives are good. But it also made me realize how my people pleasing tendencies will pop up on the strangest places. Yay for me.

BTW- Speaking of. While I was debating this morning over what to say to her, the symptom imperative popped up quite dramatically. I was walking across the kitchen and BAM!!!! Sciatica in my left hip. That hip NEVER bothers me. It actually made me laugh. I went outside to walk a bit just so I could give my self a good talking to. It stabbed me a few times then seemed to give up the fight.

I sent my email with clarity. My hip is fine. I'm loving this journey.

 

[Ellen]

Ah, the ole symptom imperative. Seems like a good example to add to your evidence sheet. We TMS goodists have a hard time telling others negative news--the "disease to please" as Oprah used to call it. That deep seated fear of rejection is so fundamental to TMS.

Yes, this journey is so clearly on the right path, but still fraught with struggle at times. I started to feel a migraine come on today--the first in maybe 6 weeks--some kind of record. Now I'm trying to figure out what I'm repressing. Why today? But perhaps just the awareness that it is due to repressed emotions will keep it at bay. It's so interesting....

 

[G.R.]

I do believe it is excellent to eat clean and gluten free. I am a nutritionist in private practice and absolutely
believes that eating healthy plays a vital role in health and we feel both emotionally and physically. However, I do think if Paleo Diet or any other diet is helping decrease TMS symptoms. It is most likely a placebo effect.

I am learning it is quite important to think psychological at all times with great love and kindness to yourself!!
Often we have self-destructive eating habits; like when that chocolate cake is calling us from the kitchen
when we are in bed and we find ourselves in the kitchen devouring the whole cake as we stand and binge eat.
I think behaviors like that is often our way of stuffing our feelings down and avoiding emotional issues in
our life. What would happen if we stopped indulging?

I see a lot of eating disorders in my practice like anorexia and bulimia and I am convinced these are TMS equivalents.
The amazing fact is that our bodies, mind, and soul so wants to heal. TMS is sent as a messenger to
ALERT us that something is bothering us deep beneath the surface. We might not know otherwise if our symptoms
weren't trying to talk to us.
G.R.

 

[North Star]

Ellen - Love the "disease to please" - I haven't heard that before. It sure sums up the people pleasing pathology.

G.R. - You thoughts on the placebo effect with diets rocked me. I have observed several friends who've gone GF and reported astonishing results in their health. What made me skeptical were the dubious "testing" methods by how they found out. (Doing "muscle" testing...if you're familiar with that.) I know true food allergies and sensitivities can be very difficult to pinpoint so having someone push down on your arm while you're holding a suspected allergen in your other hand...uh yeah...moving right along.

I read Wheat Belly and that was the book that converted me to being wheat free. I can honestly say I don't miss wheat. And as a result eat very few baked goods anymore. (My weakness....warm chocolate chip cookies and scones.)

I also love your comment, "TMS is sent as a messenger..." Many times I will "thank" my TMS for alerting me to issues I may not be aware of but...I don't need your help anymore, thanks anyway! (Ha! Who's calling who crazy here? I'm sure my muscle testing friends might scoff at that. But I know folks here understand exactly what I"m talking about.)

 

[G.R.]

I recently went to see a TMS doctor. He studied under Dr. Sarno and he felt that allergies even peanut allergies
were TMS equivalents. I thought that was fascinating!! The brain simply fascinates me!!

 

[North Star]

G.R....this is just too crazy. I was just going to come back here to ask you a question and you automatically answered it already. I was going to ask about food allergies. I have been trying to suss out the cause behind some mysterious rashes I get...they're more like burns actually... It's been going on for nearly 4 years. They'd come and go and at times be very bothersome.

I bought at app for my iPod to help me play detective and determined nightshades and chocolates are the culprits. So anyway. What I was going to ask was...could this be TMS? So yeah....it sounds like it.

I'm not sure how to treat this though...I'm pretty flared up right now so my tendencies is to avoid this stuff. Or should I say d*mn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. I know if my kid had a peanut allergy, I don't know that I'd challenge that at all...unless I were in a medical facility.

I can certainly see the symptom imperative at play here. I feel like my brain is just revisiting every annoyance and symptom that I've had over the past 20 years. But this "allergy" thing has been pretty chronic for the past 4 years. (And I just remembered, I cooked spaghetti for the fam tonight.)

Any opinion on my conumdrum?

BTW - I share your fascination for the brain. I love to read books on neurology and related topics. I was a nurse once upon a time so I've always been curious about such things.

 

[Huckleberry]

As an aside to this I cannot recommend the documentary/movie Hungry For Change more than enough to show just how much our diet effects our overall health. It can be found on Netflix.