The Lupus Diet: What Foods to Eat or Avoid

One thing about food is that it will make the angriest person change their mood in an instant, especially if it’s good. Good food is a part of life that people from all over should be able to experience. But as good as food may be, not all food is good for your consumption. If you are someone who suffers from health problems such as heart disease, diabetes or high cholesterol, then you know that everything that looks good to you may not be up for consumption. The same goes for people who live with autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Some foods can be very helpful in calming inflammation while other foods can trigger it and cause flare-ups. There’s a lot you may not know about what to eat and what to avoid so it’s best to do your research or continue reading.

What Is Lupus And Who’s At Risk?

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can cause pain and inflammation to any part of your body. Seeing as it is an autoimmune disease, it means that your immune system is attacking itself and the healthy tissues in your body. There are 4 different types of lupus cases, Neonatal, Drug-induced, Cutaneous and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) with systemic lupus erythematosus being the most common form of lupus.

Anyone is at risk for developing lupus but it’s most commonly seen in women, people ages 15-45, and people of color such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Hispanic/Latinos. It is also hereditary so if a family member of yours has lupus, there is a possibility that it can be passed through the generations.

What It Does To The Body

Once diagnosed or even before diagnosis and living with symptoms, you’ll notice how lupus affects your physical body. The most common places for lupus to attack are your joints, internal organs such as your heart and kidneys, and your skin.

Lupus can affect many different areas of your body by causing symptoms such as extreme fatigue, joint pain/swelling, difficulty breathing, experiencing chest pain when taking deep breaths, headaches, and light sensitivity. It can cause hair loss, butterfly rashes on the cheeks and nose, loss of feeling in your fingers and toes and sores in your mouth and nose.

What You Should And Shouldn’t Eat

Even though those symptoms can arise from the disease itself, there are triggers that can cause symptoms or worsen them. Food is a big trigger for lupus patients. Many times, the food you consume counteracts with your body because it’s not functioning how it is expected to.

The foods you should avoid eating when living with lupus are high fat, saturated and cholesterol foods such as red meat, fried foods and certain dairy products. These can cause a risk of heart attack and lupus patients have a 50 times higher risk of getting a heart attack.

Garlic is also a type of food you should avoid because it increases your white blood cells. Usually, that’s great but for lupus patients that can lead to flare-ups. Therefore, it is best to avoid foods that boost your immune system activity. That goes for sugary drinks and treats as well.

Now the foods that you should consume more of are going to be ones with high antioxidants such as black and green teas, oats, nuts, granola, fruits and veggies. Antioxidants help fight against cell damage and inflammation.

Lupus can cause bone disorders so eating foods such as leafy greens, beans and tofu can help prevent bone damage. Other types of food that help reduce inflammation are omega-3s such as salmon, shrimp, trout (fatty fish), chia, flax seeds, seaweed, walnuts and edamame. Omega-3 also helps with cardiovascular health and improves your mood, which can both be affected by lupus.

How To Be Mindful Of What You Put On Your Plate

The easiest and best way to be mindful of what you’re eating is to go eat and that means experimenting. Learn new dishes that incorporate the healthy foods you need. If that doesn’t seem appealing at first, start with snacking on some healthier food options throughout the day such as nuts, seaweed chips or edamame.

Work on your portion size as well. If you choose to indulge in some not-so-healthy food options, then make sure they’re small portions.

Cooking more instead of eating out often can also be helpful when being mindful of what’s on your plate.

Just because there may be some restrictions, it doesn’t mean you need to be restricted altogether. Good food is easy to make and even easier to find, and yes it can be healthy too.