Lupus, Diet and Lifestyle. Free Information

[Ani-]

Hi Everyone!

Many of you may have seen my previous posts on the topic of lupus, diet and lifestyle. For a while I was offering my scientific review paper (Evidence for Potential Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions in the Treatment of Lupus) for sale. However, sadly it was only purchased by two people and I had to shut down my website on lupus and diet due to lack of finance.

Anyway, it does seem a shame for my hard work to go to waste so I am offering my research paper for free to anyone who is interested in it.

This is a testimonial (nurturewithlove.com/testimo... from Colette about my work

“Dear Ani: Your lupus & nutrition research paper is invaluable! I have searched and searched but not found anything as focused, comprehensive and fun to read on the subject. You have made all the difference to my understanding of how to best manage both the way I eat and the supplements I take in support of my medical treatment. I am so grateful to you for the loving, inspiring and professional way you express yourself in writing. You have empowered me greatly during this past year since my Lupus diagnosis, and made it easier for me to confidently discuss diet, nutrition, exercise and mood swings with my doctors. Thank you”

-Colette, England UK

Before I give out the contact detail I need to post the following:

Evidence for Potential Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions in the Treatment of Lupus.

Important information about this PDF: this is a compilation of evidence that I have found related to lupus, diet and lifestyle. This paper is not intended to provide medical advice for lupus sufferers. The intent of the paper is to provide information. The information contained in this paper should, under no circumstances, replace the care and direct supervision of a medical doctor. If you are a lupus sufferer it is vital that you speak to your doctor before deciding to change any part of your diet or lifestyle. It is also very important not to take any nutritional supplements without speaking with your doctor first, supplements can interact with prescribed medications. If you choose to use any of the information in this paper yourself I, Ani Richardson, assume no responsibility for your actions, I accept no liability for readers who choose to self-prescribe.

About the paper: After being diagnosed with lupus spectrum disorder I took 6 months away from paid employment in order to research the medical evidence for the potential benefits of diet, nutrition and lifestyle change in lupus sufferers. This is a scientific review paper. In the future I hope to ‘translate’ the evidence into more of a patient guide. You may wish to print this review so that you can take it with you to a doctors appointment, in order to show them the evidence, if you wish to ask them about the possibility of taking supplements. In the paper I cover the following topics:

Vitamin D

Omega 3 fatty acids

Depression and inflammation

Photosensitivity

Antioxidants

Obesity and overweight

Physical Activity

Stress

Optimism, gratitude, forgiveness

If you are interested in this paper than I am happy to email it to you. I am not charging for this! For my contact details and email address please visit my website: nurturewithlove.com/contact/ email me with the subject line “Lupus Research” and I’ll send the PDF to you as an attachment. I’ll also attach an article I wrote about lupus and diet for the Cambridgeshire Lupus Group newsletter.

Loving regards

Ani x

[Maya23]

Thanks Ani, I really appreciate the effort that you've gone into to produce this information. It's great that people have access to it and can share it with their doctors. I would like to get in touch and get a copy, especially as I'd like my own nutritional therapist to see it too. Have you heard of the GAPS diet? What do you think about it?

[Ani- in reply to Maya23]

Hello I just left you a long comment and it has vanished!!! Sigh.

Please, please, do get in touch and I will happily send the information. It is available for all

You can also connect with me at facebook.com/nurturewithlove just click LIKE and feel free to post and comment

As for the GAPS diet (gapsdiet.com/GAPS_Outline.h... I do think it has validity. It is great that you are working with a registered professional, that's important when it comes to diet and lifestyle if you have lupus. I like the fact that GAPS advocates probiotics, I find these and prebiotics helpful and also personally take enzymes and other supplements. For me this works - but I am blessed to have a masters in nutritional medicine and access to medical databases, so I can administer my own supplement advice and treat myself as a guinea-pig! So far it is working well, my inflammation levels are quite low and I am not on medication other than steroid cream for when my rash gets too itchy (which only happens for 2 days before my period and is hormonally linked)

I think that nutrition is powerful beyond measure and it is wonderful that we can do something about it - there is so much about lupus that we cannot do anything about. Taking an interest in feeding the body well is such a loving thing to do for ourselves and it really can make a huge difference.

I look forward to hearing from you

Kind regards

Ani x

[Maya23 in reply to Ani-]

Ani do you live in the UK? I've just watched a really interesting BBC program (Horizon) about diet and fasting -it will be on inplayer. It showed how having a couple of fasting days per week can significantly reduce our risk of disease and help put the body into cell repair mode. I am considering trying it along with my husband. It was helpful to see the scientific proof that it works.

[Ani- in reply to Maya23]

Hello!

Yes, I live in the UK and am going to watch Horizon later on. (I wanted to see it last night but my husband was watching the olympics and I got caught up with emails!).

There is a lot of evidence for (and against) fasting - I know that Dr Briffa has written about his experiences of it on his blog (drbriffa.com) - he's a medical doctor who uses nutrition a lot in practice, I think he's fab and learned a lot from working with him many years ago when I was just starting out.

I think it is important to have support if you are fasting, or juice-fasting. It can be tough going in many ways, including psychologically. Some people find that they binge after a fast, which completely un-does any good! If you go ahead with it then stay supported and be gentle with yourself. You might want to discuss it with your nutritional therapist too.

Ani xx

[Ani-]

Thanks to everyone so far who has emailed me. I have had over 25 requests for the research paper and am happy to be sharing it.

Ani x