New sufferer of PMR - What are the best foods to eat, and what should I afford to help keep well?

[Littlejan22]

Can anyone please advise what foods are the best to eat as I love white bread and white rice and have been told these are No No's when it comes to PMR and being on Pred, what is the best food I can have, I love fish and eat regularly salmon and haddock? Not a great lover (if any) of red meats these days, but worried if I stop eating some foods I will have deficiency in my diet? Many thanks fellow sufferers, just got the book PMR & GCA survival guide by Kate Gilbert only a few pages in and it is fantastic, feeling less lonely and scared thanks to this community, thanks everyone Janet

[Coffeebeans]

Hi Littlejan22

I found that cutting carbs right down made a huge difference and it's really worth trying.

If you love fish pair it with vegetables instead of potatoes or rice. I don't eat bread either choosing plain yoghurt with berries for breakfast or having eggs and bacon occasionally.

Check out low carb or keto eating for food ideas on line- you don't need to go as low carb as keto to get an effect though. You might be cutting out things you love but it opens up lovely food such as cheese and cream.

I'm glad you're reading Kate's book. Anything that helps you feel less alone in this amd this forum is brilliant for support.

CB

[Dorsetgirl17]

When I was diagnosed Nov 2019 I immediately went on a brown rice and bread diet. Only had white now and then anyway. Look for the lowest carb if getting sliced loaf. Substituted s.r. flour for almond flour. Berry fruits, no bananas. No puddings or cakes and it has paid dividends, lost stone. Being vegetarian for years fish and meat recipes are substituted with Quorn or kidney, chickpeas, mixed beans, never hungry. Do take a vege vitamin pill daily. Got from 20 now down to 4.5mg pred doing the Dorset Lady’s slow taper .

[Theziggy in reply to Dorsetgirl17]

Whats wrong with almond flour???

[Telian in reply to Theziggy]

Nothing, much healthier and it’s to replace the SR flour.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Telian]

The sentence doesn't say that though - it says s,r flour was substituted FOR almond flour not WITH almond four which is the other way round.

[Telian in reply to PMRpro]

So it does, the q remains what is wrong with almond flour?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Telian]

There isn't - it was originally sr flour in the recipe which should be replaced with almond flour as it is lower in carbs. so: "sr flour was substituted with almond flour" or "almond flour was substituted for sr flour". All to do with the use of English ...

[Telian in reply to PMRpro]

.... and if you don’t read it properly.....

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Telian]

Possibly - but it was the wrong way round ...

[123-go]

As well as salmon, eat sardines, mackerel.Leafy veg: dark greens, cabbage, broccoli, sprouts.

Cut out added sugar: no biscuits, cakes, sugary drinks or

foods from the deli counter: ham, sausages, bacon, salami, etc.

Use good quality olive oil for cooking.

[herdysheep in reply to 123-go]

sadly, alcohol probably counts as a sugary drink too!

[123-go in reply to herdysheep]

Having given up three months ago I'd forgotten that. ☹️

[Mack100 in reply to herdysheep]

It's only alcoholic drinks like wine and beer that contain carbohydrates, pure spirit drinks like whisky, gin etc. are carb free, they do however have calories so it depends what type of diet is planned, no free lunch here sadly!

I was diagnosed October 2019 and thus far have had a fairly free taper down to 7mg pred. This may have been influenced by going on an ultra low carb diet for 8 weeks from January 2020 because of a warning of non-diabetic hyperglycaemia.

I lost 10 kilos in that period and we both continued on a "good" carb diet until this January with no weight gain.

We've now started on January 2nd another ultra low carb diet influenced by Dr.Michael Mosley and his 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet book and I've lost a further 2 kilos.

Because of the pandemic I've not had an HbA1c test since then and I don't really trust my fasting tests in the morning because I take my pred. at night with the attendant complications of glucose dumping at night although my post postprandial readings are good.

My only issue with the 8 Week Diet is that it's very calorie restrictive, 800 calories daily, which I have a psychological problem with lol. It's unscientific to say that our low carb. diet has influenced my PMR journey thus far but anecdotally I'm convinced it has. Oddly prednisolone seems to have affected my taste buds and I can no longer tolerate oily fish and ordinary tea, they both taste unpleasantly oily for me.

[Littlejan22 in reply to Mack100]

Great advice thank you, I’ve just ordered the book only a stone to lose “only” but I’m a tiny lady only 4.11 so I feel awful at the moment I’ve been diagnosed now PMR thanks janet

[MrsNails]

Hi Janet

Cutting the Carbs is the best thing we can do, it’s the Pred that causes the weight gain not the PMR

Good Luck

MrsN

[Littlejan22 in reply to MrsNails]

Help what are carbs???

[PMRpro Ambassador]

They are only no-nos if they aren't good for you personally. They are certainly not helpful if your problem is weight gain or pre-diabetes and you need to cut carbs, especially the ones that cause blood sugar spikes and some people find white carbs like that will make their PMR symptoms worse - you have to work that out.

I eat next to no bread because I am allergic to wheat and that really helps with cutting carbs as well but the odd slice of spelt or kamut bread as a treat is on the menu. I also can't summon up much enthusiasm for rice - but I don't miss either because there are so many other things I like to fit into my meals anyway.

Providing you eat a wide variety of foods you won't be lacking anything - and to be honest, the nutritional value of white bread and white rice is not particularly high I don't eat as much meat as I used to but I eat a lot of fish, especially salmon, bream and sea bass and a bit of cod, and a real rainbow of veggies and saladnstuff.

[Littlejan22 in reply to PMRpro]

Great advice thanks

[piglette]

Basically eating a healthy diet is much the same as if you do not have PMR. Oily fish, greens, cut down on simple carbs....... We all know what we should not eat, but we do. I did cut out gluten and simple carbs initially as I was told it stopped a moon face. It did work!

[Littlejan22 in reply to piglette]

Please tell me what moon face is only I’ve heard the expression so many times I. My first 3 months

[piglette in reply to Littlejan22]

I suppose it is very like you would picture a cartoon of the moon. Cheeks seem to blow out and the eyes seem to be smaller because of it. Also the neck can blow out too. Probably not a very good explanation!! Hope you understand though. It seems fat deposits tend to move round the body with steroids. Fat moves up round the waist and also up to the face area so you can get a “buffalo” hump on the back of the neck and of course the moon face. People with PMR can have the nickname “lemon man”! Round middle and skinny legs and arms.

[Littlejan22 in reply to piglette]

Perfect and yes I see that now in my face!

[piglette in reply to Littlejan22]

The plus side is that it gets rid of wrinkles!

[keeptalking]

Like Piglette I recommend a varied healthy enough diet. Don’t cut out all the things you love just cut them down and look into what you replace them with. PMR can be so debilitating and depressing in itself so don’t torcher yourself more by feeling bad about what you ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t ‘ be eating. Not yet anyway. Focus on the other adjustments you’ll need to make in your life first. Like building in rest times into the day. Don’t load yourself with other concerns.

Value the things you can manage instead of focusing too much on what’s being taken away from you right now. Glad you’re part of the group. Take care.

[Littlejan22 in reply to keeptalking]

I never rest need to meditate again thanks

[Altpmr]

I have been on a resistant starch diet since I was diagnosed. It was fairly easy for me since I had already been gluten free. The resistant starch just added a few foods to my prohibited list.

[CoziNess]

Lovely to hear you too are feeling supported by this site. Im new to it and it has helped a lot. And as for food, if you are normally slim and eat carbs, just keep portion size down. And constantly ask yourself if you actually are hungry, or just bored. I find if I'm hungry I just find a little job to do, or read and it goes away.. or maybe I'm just lucky.

All the best,

Caroline xxx

[Littlejan22 in reply to CoziNess]

Thanks for the advice, I have about a stone to lose, will be eating healthier from now on.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to CoziNess]

When on pred, even people who are normally slim may gain weight - it is one of the really distressing things for some people. It probably feels less worse for those of us who have fought the weight battle all our lives.

[Littlejan22 in reply to PMRpro]

Thank you I need to get my diet under control I have piled on nearly a stone in just 4 months, feeling fat and really unhappy with myself, got on the scales today and weighed in at 11.2 never had to worry before about my weight but as I am only tiny 4.11 I am ballooning and look and feel sluggish, not like me at all, nothing fits and all my lovely works clothes look awful, I know only I can do this, but at least now after 3.5 months on Monday 11.1 I was officially diagnosed. It does feel like a vicious circle I can't sleep, can't do much exercising only low impact (which I seem to do hardly any of at the moment because of the awful cold winter and wet days) want to go swimming but can't do that as it is closed for the lockdown. Thanks for the advice, sorry if I sound miserable, not my usual frame of mind as I am a motivational career and business mentor.

[pomeranion in reply to PMRpro]

When referring to weight what does a stone mean? I'm in the U.S. and never heard of it before. Please enlighten me. Thank you in advance.

[Bcol in reply to pomeranion]

14 pounds equals 1 stone.

[Littlejan22 in reply to CoziNess]

Sounds a silly question but what are "carbs"

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Littlejan22]

Cardohydrate foods - bread, baked goods, pasta, rice, root veg including potatoes of all sorts, some fruits, added sugar.

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto

is an excellent introduction - you don't need to join anything, just learn the principles.

With low carb eating, exercise becomes less of a "thing" and actually studies have shown that exercise alone does not result in successful weight loss.

[daisygreen9]

hi littlejan22,do some research on anti inflammatory diets ,leaky gut and the starch solution ...

this disease requires us to take a whole lot of personal responsibility...to heal ourselves ... research on line ,follow up ideas ,try things out .

...i cant say what will work for you as we are all different in terms of lifestyle ,age and other existing health conditions .... good luck and dont give up trying