Aspartame and Fibro Pain

Can your diet soda be making your fibro symptoms worse? One small change may help you feel a little better. I am talking about eliminating a common artificial sweetener from your diet. One of the low/no-calorie sweeteners called Aspartmae contains aspartate which is an amino acid that can work as a neurotransmitter stimulant that increases pain signling to the brain! It has been linked to fibro symptoms and widespread pain in one case study and suspected in others.  Steer clear of products containing Aspartame (you may find it even in toothpastes, yogurts,  and chewing gum -- so check your food labels).  Below is a list of sweetners with Aspartame:

• Nutrasweet
• Equal
• Neotame
• Aminosweet
• Canderel
• Spoonful
• Equal-Measure
• SC-18862

If you must have a low/no-calorie sweetener, some alternatives are:

• Sweet n' Low (saccharin)
• Spenda (sucralose)
• Stevia (herbal extract - beware that is does contain low amounts of maltodextrin (glutamate))

Personally, I avoid any type of low/no-calorie sweetner because they can give me headaches/migraines and increase anxiety.  I go for plain old fashioned sugar and honey but stay away from high fructose corn syrup.

Maybe changing your sweetener  choices today will help some of your pain go away!

Source: Diet and Nutrition: Fibromyalgia Network

 

Anyone for an Energy Drink? Natural Alternatives

You hear a lot about energy drinks these days, but for someone with fibro the ingredients in the drinks could cause a flare up if they are sensitive to it.  Today in my post I'll pass along 3 recipes for natural energy drinks and some information, but if you'd like to read the whole article, click here.

Energy drinks can contain alot of sugar, caffeine, stimulants, red food dye, and taurine (among other things). I stay away from them: 1. because of the sugar or artifical sweeteners; 2. caffeine and stimulants (doesn't help with my insomnia); and red food dye. And since they can cause anxiety, I stay away from them because I tend to have free-range anxiety.

Energy drinks do not hydrate the body either so don't rely on them for hydration. Energy drinks mask fatigue and you can acutally feel worse in the long run by feeling more tired and having put stress on your adrenal system. Headaches, nausea, and severe irritability are a few symptoms of energy drinks that I can do without. So the drinks become addictive because to avoid the symptoms you need to drink more.

So what can you do to increase your energy?

1. Get enough protein - you can get good protein in egg whites, fish, turkey, chicken breasts, and non-fate cottage cheese.  Protein shakes are a good choice just use high-quality whey protein. Also, be sure if you are purchasing protein shakes you are NOT purchasing ones for weight gain!!!

2. Sleep more - I know this is a tough one for us fibro suffers. Melatonin is a good choice. Start with 3 mg about 20 minutes before bedtime (you can increase the dose as high as 9 mg - but don't go higher without advice from your doctor). Six drops of oxytocin can ease anxiety and help you sleep longer.

3. Drink water! If you are even a little dehyrated your metabolism can slow down up to 3%.

For three great recipes (super energizer smoothie; pineapple-mint infused water; and lemon-lime water), click here.

Well, that's my tip for you today! I hope you enjoyed reading it.