This video is for informational purposes and the reader is advised to always seek medical advise before performing any movements or suggestions contained in here.
For years I suffered from sore joints, especially in my back and knees. When I hit forty, I noticed other joints were also becoming sore, like my hands and feet. This went on for over ten years. I tried everything and I would get some short term relief for a few hours. I stretched, went to chiropractors, massage therapist, acupuncturist’s, naturopathic doctors, orthopedic doctors, osteopathic physicians, physical therapists and nutritionists, to no avail. Finally, I found the formula that worked for me. It all boiled down to my diet. You see, in the beginning I always thought..”what am I lacking in my diet”? So I tried all kinds of diets, foods and supplements. I never really found relief until I realized, “it’s not what I add to my diet, it’s what I remove!”
Many of us don’t realize that foods we have eaten all our lives can one day wreck havoc on our immune system and no longer agree with our stomach, eyes, nose, skin or joints. Why? because our digestion breaks down changes as we age and many times we can no longer assimilate things like dairy, certain fats, chemicals in food products and so on. Overtime our gut microbiome weakens from anti-biotic use, alcohol, prescription drugs like Ibuprofen, which by the way is like placing grenade in your stomach. All of these cause inflammation and leaky gut. Proteins spill into the blood stream and settle in our joints and many times cause a large amount of histamine to be released into the body. Combine that with histamine containing foods and “Houston”, we have a problem.
For me I ate really clean so I never imagined foods like, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, egg plant, eggs and binders in supplements could be the cause of my creaky stiff joints. What made matters worse, was that I tried a very bland elimination diet many times with little to no results. The reason was I didn’t do them long enough. It takes roughly more than 30 days sometimes to fully clear out of your system before you will start to feel relief. The other thing to keep in mind is that many foods I was having trouble with, didn’t express symptoms until 4-7 days later. So, it was hard for me to determine the exact culprit. For example, for (1) month I ate nothing but broccoli, chicken, basmati rice and cauliflower and drank water. I felt fantastic!!! So I decided to slowly introduce foods back in 1 week at a time, by what group of anti-nutrient they fell into. NIGHTSHADES, SULFUR, NUTS, GLUTEN, DAIRY, SULFATES, LECTINS & GMO’S.
I heard nightshade vegetables can cause extremely stiff joints in some people and I had eliminated them in the past but only for a day or two. So, after a month I reintroduced them and decided to wait longer to observe possible side effects after eating them. Bingo, about 4 days after eating bell peppers, I woke up with my back feeling like it was 90 years old. The same happened with other nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, egg plant and paprika seasoning. Yes some seasoning is in the nightshade family too. During my random food trials I also found I have a sulfur allergy to eggs and “uncooked” garlic and onions and also lectins in beans and legumes especially lentils. Allergy meaning I would get itchy skin, a runny nose and my joints would get extremely stiff. No amount of stretching would provide more than a few hours of relief. I couldn’t believe I had such a delayed reaction. In one instance my lower back became sore like it was burned deep inside.
I want to mention that even the smallest amount of these vegetables caused this reaction. I was at a party and someone had added small pieces of chopped tomatoes to the salad. I thought I would pick out as much as I could and “oh well” if I have a couple small pieces accidentally, I will be fine. Shockingly, I was wrong. I felt miserable after 4 days!
Supplements were also causing issues because many brands that claim to be all “natural” are made with these very same foods I was allergic too. In addition, the binders and fillers in many can be irritating to many people.
So here I am about 2 years removed from a complete change to my already healthy diet and I am feeling FANTASTIC and my joints feel the best they ever have. I know so many people with back pain and trust me, I understand how debilitating and depressing it can be. I do certain stretches every morning to keep my back, hips and legs flexible so pressure is relieved from my spine. It is also important to remember that very light movement throughout the day on a stiff or sore joint is beneficial for healing. Joints have a low blood supply, so it’s important to keep moving to nourish and heal the joint. for example; 3x a day I ride the stationary bike for 5 mins at a really low speed & resistance. The very light movement helped heal much of my tendonitis. I also did light twisting movements on my back to keep blood flow high. This is one I would do every day. Remember, to move in a pain free range and move really slow. “Don’t move through the pain, move to the pain.” and also keep in mind, “motion is lotion for the joints”
If you are seeing a doctor or other healthcare professional for any reason, please check with them before doing any of these movements.
This video below is my stretching routine I do every morning.
All the best and be blessed 🙂
