No More Arthritis Pain!

Before I went with my family on a 5-day cruise on May 1, I was experiencing hip joint discomfort.  It is a recurring issue I’ve had with arthritis that began around 1992.  My first episode was lower back pain.  The second, between 1993 and 1994, was my neck vertebrae.  The second arthritis episode was the worst.  I was out of work for a week with excruciating neck pain.

 I resolved those 2 arthritis episodes by cutting back on my protein and dairy; in other words, by controlling my diet.  But just before I retired from Federal government service in 2004, I began experiencing hip joint issues.  So prior to my departure on the cruise, my concern was that I would be eating too much food including protein and dairy on the ship, and my hip discomfort would spin out of control ruining my expensive cruise vacation.

On the ship, I ate large breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals every day.  The lunch and dinner meals included tasty desserts.  I also ate a lot of salad stuff.  To my amazement, by the second day my joint issues disappeared.  So what happened?

As best as I can figure, I was eating large portions of protein with small portions of carbohydrates.  The meals were a cross between the Dr. Atkins “Atkins Diet,” and Dr. Sears “Zone Diet.”  The cruise chefs did an awesome job of preparing healthy meals that are nutritious and help to control one’s weight.

What I did not do was snack at the less formal buffet style dining area where food was available almost all day long.  I also shied away from the hamburgers, pizza, and sticky buns available until 2:00AM.  The truth is that with all the activities on-board the ship, we were rushing to get ready for each of the 3 main meals in the formal dining room and did not have time to eat anywhere else.

I will spend the next few months experimenting with smaller portions of the same macronutrient balance I was served on the ship to determine what types of more common food combinations prevent arthritis.  In the meantime, suffice it to say that you should eat more salad stuff, adequate amounts of protein, and fewer carbohydrates than you are accustomed to in order to maintain healthy joints throughout your lifetime.

I plan to complete my research on arthritis prevention and document the results with an easy to follow Plan in one of my future publications.  The book should be posted on my website, HealthAnalysis.com, in early to mid-2011.  

Note: I do not recommend that the Atkins or Zone diets be followed exclusively all day long for long periods of time.  They each target a specific metabolic process in the body without regard to other important metabolic processes.

Jorge “George” Lugo

HealthAnalysis.com

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