Dear Healthy Friend,

Fibromyalgia is a debilitating condition characterised by muscle and tissue pain, fatigue, depression and sleep disturbances. Alongside diabetes and heart disease, it has become one of the most pervasive 21st Century diseases.

Francois Lubbe reveals recent studies suggesting people with fibromyalgia may be genetically predisposed to another condition, keep reading...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S.Keeping away from eating aluminium is a marvellous idea. But it's present in almost EVERY food substance out there... Dr Wright tells us what we can do...

Relieve Fibromyalgia With These Simple Dietary Tips
Francois Lubbe
Editor, Daily Health

The latest research in fibromyalgia suggests that central sensitisation - a process in which neurons in your spinal cord become sensitised by inflammation or cell damage - may play a role in the way fibromyalgia sufferers process pain.

The researchers believe that certain chemicals in food may trigger the release of neurotransmitters that heighten the sensitivity of neurons in your spinal cord, causing the central sensitisation. These findings may help to explain why up to 42% of patients in a survey reported that certain foods aggravated their symptoms.

There have been only a handful of studies exploring the link between diet and fibromyalgia and if you suffer from this condition, then you already know how frustrating it is to manage.

Fibromyalgia is notoriously difficult to treat. Medication tends to reduce symptoms only by about 30-50%. Plus it can be extremely confusing sorting through all the conflicting nutritional advice about which foods to eat and which to avoid. .

You may find it useful to work with a qualified nutritionist to determine whether certain foods are making your condition worse. In addition, the following tips may help to alleviate your symptoms:

1. Limit your sugar intake as much as possible: Increased insulin levels will typically worsen pain and dramatically increase sensitivity. It therefore makes perfect sense to limit the intake of all sugars including fresh fruit juices. Whole fresh fruit is the preferred method for consuming fruit products.

2. Avoid caffeine: “Caffeine is a loan shark for energy. We recommend not using a lot,” says Dr. Kent Holtorf, the founding medical director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centre in the US. He explains that though caffeine provides an initial boost of energy, it is no substitute for sleep; in fact, it can stay in your system for several hours and keep you awake long after you’ve finished a cuppa joe.

Researchers believe that fibromyalgia is linked to an imbalance of brain chemicals that control mood and also with inadequate sleep and fatigue. Therefore, it can be tempting to eliminate feelings of fatigue artificially with stimulants like caffeine. In the long run this approach does more harm than good.

3. Eat fresh foods: Eating a diet of fresh foods, devoid of preservatives and additives, may ease symptoms triggered by co-existing conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Several studies have shown that symptoms improved in fibromyalgia patients who followed vegan and vegetarian diets.

Normally veggies are low-cal, healthy options. However, the nightshade variety - including tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant - tend to trigger arthritis and pain conditions in some people. "The thought is that they [nightshade vegetables] have components that are neurotoxins. For a small percentage of patients, cutting them out makes a dramatic difference," says Dr. Holtorf.

4. Boost your intake of omega-3s: Omega-3 fatty acids, present in salmon and a variety of oily fish, promote heart health and lower inflammation, new research shows they may also help alleviate pain.

"The fatty acids are great," says Dr. Holtorf. "They reduce the inflammation and help brain function." A 2006 survey of arthritis patients found that daily fish oil supplements reduced pain symptoms in 60% of the patients. Omega- 3s have not, however, been tested on fibromyalgia patients specifically.

5. Minimise your yeast intake: Yeast, along with its partner in crime, gluten, is present in a variety of baked goods. Consuming yeast may also contribute to the growth of yeast fungus in the body, says Dr. Holtorf, which can contribute to pain. Fibromyalgia patients may also be more prone to gluten sensitivities.

6. Cut down on dairy consumption: Lactose intolerance affects about 70% of adults worldwide, so it's not surprising that many fibromyalgia patients have trouble digesting milk and dairy products as well.

In a 1998 study, researchers tested whether blood samples taken from 40 fibromyalgia patients reacted to substances found in various foods; the blood of 25% of the subjects demonstrated an immune response to cow dairy products.

7. Lower your carbohydrate intake: "If I had to choose one particular diet for fibromyalgia patients, I would choose a low-carb, low-sugar diet," says Dr. Holtorf. "About 90% of fibromyalgia patients have low adrenal functioning," he adds, “which affects the metabolism of carbohydrates and may lead to hypoglycaemia. These people crave sugar, but they also experience the crash that follows the initial energy high.”

8. Avoid aspartame and artificial sweeteners: "Getting off of [aspartame] can make some pain patients feel much better," says Dr. Holtorf. The artificial sweetener found in diet fizzy drinks and many sugar-free sweets is part of a chemical group called excitotoxins, which activate neurons that can increase sensitivity to pain. Though aspartame isn’t dangerous to healthy people when consumed in moderation, fibromyalgia patients are already sensitive to pain and aspartame may heighten their sensitivity.

Some artificial sweeteners can trigger IBS as well. Since about half of fibromyalgia patients suffer from IBS, foods that irritate your bowel could trigger fibromyalgia symptoms.

9. Avoid additives: Food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) often cause trouble for pain patients. MSG is an excitatory neurotransmitter that may stimulate pain receptors; glutamate levels in spinal fluid can cause fluctuating pain levels in fibromyalgia patients.

A 1995 report commissioned by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that MSG may cause short-term reactions such as headaches and a 2007 animal study in the journal Pain suggested that increases in glutamate in muscles may contribute to pain sensitivity.

10. Stay away from junk food: The National Fibromyalgia Research Association recommends limiting or eliminating refined sugar, caffeine, alcohol, fried foods, trans fats, red meat and highly processed foods — in other words, most fast food and take-away products. In addition to contributing to weight gain and the development of unhealthy eating habits, these diet-wreckers may also irritate muscles, disrupt sleep and compromise the immune system.

Finally, experimenting with an "elimination diet" and cutting these foods out completely for several weeks — either one at a time or all at once — may help you decide whether they affect your fibromyalgia symptoms. It's also smart to keep your weight within healthy ranges: Studies show that losing weight can improve fibromyalgia symptoms in overweight individuals. Talk to a doctor skilled in natural medicine to determine the best option for you. For a list of such doctors near you contact the South African Society for Integrated Medicine on 021-887 5364 or lucia@integrativemedicine.co.za.

Avoiding aluminum

Q: I'm concerned about the high levels of aluminium in deodorants and have switched brands to avoid it. Are there any other sources I should be concerned about?

Dr. Wright: Avoiding aluminium as much as you can is a very good idea, since it really has no place in human metabolism.

But, unfortunately, avoiding aluminium altogether is literally impossible. That's because aluminium is one of the most abundant elements in soil. So anything that grows from the ground - or eats things growing from the ground - contains aluminium. Here are some examples of the average amounts of aluminium found in common foods:

    * Wheat and corn: 140 PPM (parts per million)
    * Potatoes: 100 PPM
    * Lettuce: 90 PPM
    * Beans: 165 PPM
    * Tomatoes: 90 PPM
    * Peppers: 75 PPM
    * Celery: 190 PPM
    * Peanuts: 75 PPM
    * Melons: 75 PPM
    * Pineapple: 100 PPM
    * Bananas: 97 PPM
    * Coffee: 97 PPM

You get the idea: There is no food containing zero aluminium.

Fortunately, your intestines have built-in safeguards against absorbing much of the aluminium that's naturally present in foods. These safeguards work fairly well - unless your calcium intake drops too low. If your calcium intake is too low, your blood calcium might also start to drop. To prevent blood calcium from going too low, your body makes more parathyroid hormone (PTH). And, in addition to its other functions in the body, extra PTH significantly increases intestinal aluminium absorption.

So the best way to keep aluminium absorption down as much as possible is to make sure your calcium intake is adequate. Even though there's certainly calcium in food, it's still a good idea to take a multiple vitamin/mineral supplement with a minimum of 250-500mgs of supplemental calcium. A separate calcium-magnesium supplement with 1,000 mgs or more of calcium may be an even better choice, depending on your individual needs.