I have fibromyalgia. As anyone knows who has it - you can have days when you not only suffer from a lot of physical pain, but you also suffer from "fibro-fog". Fibro-fog is when your brain feels all "fogged" up and you can't think clearly. So at any given moment - your body and your brain can be really letting you down when you suffer from fibromyalgia.
While many doctors don't agree on fibromyalgia yet, and very little is known about it - there are some theories that if you eat (or don't eat) foods that have certain ingredients in them you can reduce your symptoms.
One of them is salicylic acid. I have had a great deal of relief by not eating foods that have a lot of this in them. I also know that msg and aspartame are considered "excito-toxins" and they also make my pain worse. I had one diet soda last night - and today my legs are already killing me way more than usual. I also just read that some people are having success with reducing their symptoms by eating foods that are low in oxalate. When I read the list of foods that are high in oxalate - I think there might be something to this.
One of my biggest problems has been trying to figure out how to live on the foods that I can eat - when I'm having days with physical pain and/or brain fog. I haven't found any cookbooks for fibromyalgia patients on the market either. Anything I do find just says "don't eat these foods", basically.
I can't cook five course meals or do complicated recipes though with fibromyalgia. I figure if I'm having this problem - so is probably everyone else with fibromyalgia too. So welcome to my blog. My mom is going to help me put up a list of recipes that not only contain foods I can eat that reduce my symptoms - but also are easy enough for me to cook physically and uncomplicated enough for me mentally as well. Sadly many fibromyalgia sufferers wind up having to cook for themselves - so I wanted to put this out there with recipes that any of us could cook for ourselves even on a bad day.
Like one of my "go to" plans when I'm having a really, really bad day symptom-wise. I'm not a doctor nor a dietician. So please consult with the appropriate medical people before embarking upon using any of my recipe or food ideas.
Now, Walmart has in their freezer section where the fish is in a bag that has four "wild" salmon filets. It sells for about $5, including tax. That's $1.25 each filet which also fits my budget.
I also go to the produce section and get long green beans in a bag by where the lettuce is sold. I get two bags for $5 also - or $2.50 each. They're organic as well, which is great! I then put a filet in a pan or even a piece of foil. I pour on a little olive oil - if I'm really feeling creative I'll smear it in a little - and sprinkle on kosher salt after that. I don't use pepper or lemon because of the salicylic acid (even the slightest bit of pepper or lemon gives me great pain). I do the same for the green beans. I put the fish and the beans in different pans or foil pieces (if I haven't washed my pans that day I use the foil to cook on). I keep them separate so I don't get fish juice on my green beans when they cook.
( Sidenote: If you're really on a tight budget, Walmart's brand Great Value has canned green beans for about 68 cents each with nothing in it I react to - so you shouldn't either! With these, it's the same concept - you don't even need a pan to cook it in! When I'm having a really bad day, I'll just open the top of it, take the paper off of the can, put the stove on low heat and put 'em on. Stick the green beans in a bowl after they're cooked, salt them, and you have a meal all on its own. )
I then put the oven about at about 375 degrees. It takes about 15-20 minutes and I have a good healthy dinner that didn't cost me a lot of money or physical energy to make. If I haven't washed my dishes that day and don't feel like it - I can also just eat the fish on the foil, and the green beans in the foil/pan as well.
When I am too sick to even wash a fork - I find I can eat the salmon filet and the green beans with my fingers. Messy yes, but delicious nonetheless.
Gabby
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