Anyone found any particular diet regimes that help ME/CFS?

Posted , 5 users are following.

I'm getting v confused with all the dietary advice 

Has anyone found / learned from reading articles anything that helps / hinders CFS. 

Thanks. X

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Posted

    For mr paleo is the best diet. Eating organ meats like liver, a true superfood.
    • Posted

      Thanks David. Yes I may try to get a taste for some organ foods, at the mo I am v squeamish about them! 

      I'm not sure I could stick to a Paleo regime, it sounds hard to do w my limited energies. Though I have been reading a lot about it. I eat chocolate most days - yes it's a comfort / addiction thing, but the thought of not having a bar a day or every other day is really difficult to maintain. 

      I believe my CFS is from Gland Fever 20 yrs ago. I have continued thru life on low energy, but have got worse last couple of years and the last six months in particular.

      I mention this, as not sure if reason why got CFS would have dietary implications?

      ..... It's such a minefield on www ... I'm oy 2 weeks on the sick, so still looking for my 'individual treatment package'. 

      Thanks for taking the time to reply :-). X

    • Posted

      Hi Kiloram, traditionally i believe humans only ever ate organ meats as they are more nutrient dense. I have to say the ONLY organ meat worth eating is lambs liver, other livers are ok, chicken. Heart and kidney i found too much fat and difficult to chew and a waste of time. The good thing is organ meats are really cheap.
    • Posted

      Hi Kiloran

      I can fully understand the craving for chocolate...I had the same problem

      along with cake, fish and chips, the more stodge the better!  

      It's a way for people with ME/CFS to get an almost immediate boost of energy from the sugar and carbs intake. unfortunately it is a short lived boost!

      It can lead to a lot of muscle pain as this sort of anaerobic metabolism leads to a build up of lactic acid and other toxins in the muscle cells which is very difficult to get rid of if you have ME/CFS.

      I have been forced to change my diet over the past 12months due to having a very large gallstone and episodes of biliary colic which were so severe I did not/could eat anything for days at a time.... 2weeks ago I had my gall bladder removed!

      I had to follow a no fat diet! No chocolate, no cake, no fish n chips!!!

      I honestly thought how would I manage without these foods?!!

      It has not been a problem at all...because the pain is so bad I could leave all that stuff out of my diet!

      I am now following a low fat diet with no processed foods e.g. no more

      ready meals.

      In effect it has been an elimination diet to avoid the severe bouts of biliary colic caused by gall stones but I was amazed at the reduction in muscle pain and improvement in my digestion!

      Blueberries are my favourite snack, plenty of fish and steamed veg.

      Home made veg soups...very cheap and easy to make. Freeze them in small batches! I cannot eat read meats, but steamed or oven baked chicken is ideal!

      Have cut down my intake of bread to just one slice of wholemeal a day to make a small sandwich!

      The weight has dropped off and I don't feel as though I have been poisoned all the time and the severe nausea has reduced aswell.

      Chocolate contains quite high levels of copper and apparently I had high

      levels of copper in my body which leads to inflamation...so no more chocolate and I don't crave it either!

      Hope this helpssmile

       

    • Posted

      Hi Sunshine, thanks for all that info. 

      I don't really have much pain tbh, my main symptom is fatigue and all the brain fog stuff. I occasionally get. 'Lead legs' but not v often. 

      I'm gonna make carrot and coconut soup and flapjacks later. Can't do without a bit if sugar. 

      I did cut it out completely ( no friuit either) for 5 weeks - I didn't notice any difference at all tbh. Has anyone else found this I wonder? 

      Anyway, hope yr day is going ok.  Xx

  • Posted

    hi

    am not surprised that you are confused - there is a lot of untested stuff on the internet.

    the best thing is to follow a properly balanced diet - as per guidelines from either dietitian / doctor / recommended website such as that from the food standards agency or the british dietetic association (or whichever country you choose), the british nutrition foundation and even here on this website there is appropriate information.

    usually, a diet with plenty of a variety of fruits and vegetables, with wholegrains and some protein is best. the advantage of liver is that in addition to being cheap it is also very good for iron and vitamin A. do not overdo it though - it is possible to have too much vitamin A - but if you like liver then add that to your diet. as for other organ meats - not sure. try to treat yourself to decent fish / white meats / pulses etc. personally i found that as the quality of my diet improved i found it less necessary to turn to the comfort foods.

    in addition, as to specialist diets that might help/hinder CFS, everyone is different. so what suits some people might not suit others. This makes it extremely difficult since there is a lot of trial and error. 

    personally i think that there is nothing wrong with comfort food. so long as you don't overdo it and thus create further problems for yourself with weight gain and additional health impact.

    best wishes

    • Posted

      Thanks for the contribution. 

      I have read q a bit about candida overgrowth and CFS ( also have IBS) - been looking at anti candida diet. 

      My diet is pretty healthy tbh, just a daily does of high street choc or cake too. 

      I'm probs too weary to start any kind of regime, just trying to work out what is best for me as, yes we are all a bit different. It's a complicated arena. I know I have sensitivities to wheat or gluten and something in a lot of dairy, so I suspect am sensitive to other stuff too. 

      A aargh , I just want to feel normal ( like everyone else on here I know!)

       Wishing you a happy rest of a Sunday. X

  • Posted

    I am on a gluten free diet and follow the fodmap diet (you can find this on google) It helps with my I.B.S. but I am afraid not with the exhuastion and feeling of pressure on the brain (fog).
    • Posted

      grape seed extract could really eliminate that brain fog....I deal with FM but a good friend deals with ME and wse both keep our diets as clean as possible...low low sugar and carbs. primarily veggies, animal protein and clean water....

      I've never had brain fog and deal with FM since 1999 been taking grape seed ex for 19 yrs.

      Do a search : grape seed ex and brain fog.

    • Posted

      My friend who deals with ME talks a lot about Mercury being the culprit in here body....she is now doing a mercury detox and has to go slow as she gets sick a lot......her chiro mentioned a homeopathic mercury detox remedy.... You might want to think about this.

      Fluoridated water is a major culprit in everyone's body.

  • Posted

    I recently went gluten free (some gluten here and there but barely) and it feels pretty good. That's about as much as I can manage diet wise because I love food! Lol

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