Lyme disease is a bacterial infection. If left untreated, the infection will spread throughout your body. Lyme disease can cause inflammation in muscles, tissues, joints, bones, and even the brain.
Inflammation is the body’s natural way of fighting an infection. But with Lyme disease, some factors can make your immune system start working against you instead of for your protection. One aspect is the length of time the infection stays in your blood. The longer the condition, you may develop chronic inflammation that will lead to an autoimmune disorder.
Another factor is that for some, even when the infection has been treated, your body can remain inflamed. Finally, Lyme disease is often accompanied by co-infections that can also cause inflammation. If you haven’t been treated for both Lyme and co-infections, your body will continue to be inflamed, causing pain throughout your body.
Many scientific reports claim one of the best ways to reduce Lyme disease symptoms is by eating a healthy diet. They have found that nutrition is an integral part of healing.
How Nutrition Heals Lyme Disease
Your body needs vitamins and minerals to heal itself. Nutrition is the process of acquiring these necessities through food and drink. Once you take vitamins and minerals, the body turns them into energy that helps the body remain healthy as it grows, develops, and ages.
Poor nutrition can lead to a weakened immune system and increased inflammation. Not only does poor nutrition make it hard for your body to fight the Lyme disease bacteria, causing inflammation and pain, but some foods also worsen Lyme symptoms.
Foods That Worsen Lyme Symptoms
To create a healthy Lyme disease diet, you must know which foods to avoid. One of the main culprits to develop inflammation and encourage the spread of Lyme is sugar. Sugar is bad.
Lyme bugs are attracted to sugar. They attack it, causing pain and weakness. Sugar is a carbohydrate form that breaks down in your body as glucose and serves as an energy source.
Like the ones found in fruits and vegetables, natural sugars are much healthier than the processed sugars found in foods today. Processed sugars have been given many different names, allowing food manufacturers a way of getting you to like their products.
The four main sugars are glucose, fructose, sucrose, and lactose. However, there are many other terms for this one ingredient. Look for words like cane, nectar, syrup, honey, and maltodextrin, to name a few.
Also, anything containing flour or a high level of carbohydrates can worsen Lyme symptoms. That’s because carbohydrates when processed in the body, turn into glucose. High sugar equals high inflammation.
You may be thinking there isn’t much left to eat now that you’ve eliminated sugars and carbs. That’s not true, however.
Foods to Ease Lyme Disease Symptoms
There are many foods you can eat that support the immune symptoms and reduce Lyme disease symptoms.
If you love sweets, eat fruits or make smoothies using your favorite fruits. You can even put vegetables with your fruits in a smoothie, and your drink will still taste sweet. Today, many products on the market are created to meet the needs of those who require a low sugar diet, from ice cream to cookies.
Organic meats and vegetables are excellent warriors against Lyme disease symptoms. Organic is best because you can avoid chemicals and pesticides that may cause inflammation.
Use healthy fats for cooking foods, and drink clear, vitamin-enhanced liquids for hydration. Think of water as a fire extinguisher that can put out your inflammation.
Nutraceuticals to Reduce Lyme Disease Symptoms
If you are working with a Lyme specialist to treat your disease, and you should be, you will learn that supplements can add to your healthy Lyme disease diet. Nutraceuticals like curcumin and turmeric have been evidenced to reduce inflammation in the body.
Japanese knotweed, cat’s claw, glutathione, and even CBD can help improve your immune system so that your body can better use its natural abilities to fight infections.
The key to nutraceuticals is using the best and most trusted brands. A good Lyme specialist will use brands like Nutramedix, Thorne, Neuroscience, and Argentyn.
Your healthy Lyme disease diet does not end there. Diet is comprehensive and includes all areas of your life. There are things you can do other than eating and drinking to help you maintain your diet.
Tips to Start A Healthy Lyme Disease Diet
- One of the first tips to start and maintain your healthy Lyme Disease diet is to ask your doctor about new treatments available that support your diet. Also, keep a food or diet journal of what you eat, drink, and the symptoms you experience after each. What you document can help your doctor formulate the right treatment plan.
- Getting restorative sleep each night is crucial for reducing symptoms of Lyme disease. During sleep, your brain and body work to repair damaged parts, like your immune system. The better sleep you get, the more you will benefit.
- Learn how to read labels on all food products, even ones you think are healthy. Even check liquids like flavored waters and juices. Many have hidden sugars.
- Ask your doctor to test you for food allergies. You may be eating everything recommended for a healthy diet but still having problems. This could signal an allergy. For example, nuts are a good source of protein recommended in many diets. But if you have an allergy to nuts, you can still experience inflammation and internal distress.
- Get to know your body and how it reacts to the foods and drinks you ingest. If you do not feel good after eating a specific food, eliminate it from your diet.
Lyme Disease Diet Conclusion
You don’t have to go through this alone. Changing your diet to treat your Lyme symptoms is worth it. Reach out to a Lyme literate doctor today and work closely with them to create a plan that is easy to implement, and that helps you see positive results in a short time.