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Fibromyalgia Monthly Newsletter
Fibromyalgia Newsletter – December 2005
Brought to you by: Jane Oelke, ND, PhD.
DoctorOelke@aol.com
Green Veggies for Fibromyalgia
For years, I have recommended additional vegetable capsules to my clients who have fibromyalgia. Vegetables have so many nutrients, from antioxidants, minerals, and phytochemicals that they would be hard to list. Now it is recommended to get 5 to 9 servings of vegetables every day. That is why vegetables need to be included in every meal so that we can get the required servings regularly. A large combination salad is one way to get a good variety of vegetables at meals.
But what kind of lettuce is the most nutritious? Some people settle for iceberg lettuce because it is cheap. But it has very little nutritional value, and can even be constipating. So do not use iceberg lettuce in your salads. And when you go to restaurants to get a dinner salad, look for, or ask for, salad with romaine or other types of spring greens, instead of iceberg lettuce. Better restaurants now use these more nutritious lettuces.
Which types of lettuce have the most nutrition? Here is a list of the nutrients found in various lettuces. If kale or spinach are too bitter for you, they can be combined with other lettuce, like romaine or leaf lettuce. The numbers are the amounts of the vitamins found in one raw cup...
Vit A Vit K Beta carotene Lutein+ Zeaxanthin Potassium Folate Vit C Calcium
Red leaf lettuce 2,098 39 1,258 483 52 10 1 9
Iceberg 361 17 215 199 102 21 2 13
Romaine 2,730 48 1,637 1,087 116 64 11 16
Butterhead 1,822 56 1,093 673 131 40 2 19
Arugula 474 22 284 710 74 19 3 32
Watercress 1,598 85 959 1,961 112 3 15 41
Endive 1,084 115 650 0 157 71 3 26
Mustard greens 5,881 278 3,528 5,543 198 105 39 58
Spinach 2,813 145 1,688 3,659 167 58 8 30
Kale 10,300 547 6,182 26,500 299 19 80 91
Source: www.nutritiondata.com
Fibromyalgia symptoms get better with more vegetables in the diet because of the chlorophyll found in green plants. Chlorophyll is a natural blood purifier that can control bacterial, fungal, yeast and viral infections. Also the green phytochemicals in vegetables helps reduce inflammation. Even though fibromyalgia pain is not directly caused by inflammation, underlying inflammation in the body often causes nervous system stress, that in turn causes the muscles to be hypersensitive to pain.
The cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts have additional phytochemicals that lettuces do not have. When these vegetables are digested with enzymes they produce isothiocyantes, phytochemicals that have been shown to prevent cancer and even suppress tumor growth. Isothiocyantes also help the liver detoxify more easily. But be careful – if you are taking any type of antacid, the isothocyantes will not have the digestive system enzymes needed to be created from the cruciferous vegetables.
Also how you cook your vegetables will make a difference. As I have explained in my book on Fibromyalgia, microwaving vegetables is not recommended. Up to 97% of nutrients in vegetables are lost by microwaving them. If you do not eat them raw, then you can steam them. Depending on how long you steam them up to 35% of the nutrients can be lost, so only steam them for a few minutes.
Do you know that vegetables have more antioxidants than fruits?
Vegetables are loaded with antioxidants and minerals, even more so than fruits. Antioxidants are rated on scale called the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) scale. This scale is used to discover which fruits and vegetables have the most free radical destroying power, and how much they help improve the immune system. A medium sized organic apple has an ORAC value of 1500. The higher the value the more types of beneficial phytochemicals are available to build the immune system. Here is short list of the ORAC value of common vegetables:
Kale 1,770
Spinach 1,260
Brussels sprouts 980
Alfalfa sprouts 930
Broccoli florets 890
Beets 840
Red bell peppers 710
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Flu Season is Here!
Colds, sore throats, and flu are common at this time of the year. What can you do to prevent or quickly get rid of any of these symptoms? Many things, actually. . .
Keep you immune system healthy! Make sure your diet contains highly nutritious foods, avoiding all those foods that stress out your immune system like processed sugars, bad fats, and food preservatives. Take concentrated whole fruit and vegetables capsules that have been proven to improve immune system function.
There is a lot you can do to stay healthy, and when you have fibromyalgia it is especially important to keep your immune system functioning well. You can make it through this winter season without “catching every bug” out there. But you need to act now.
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