Elmbridge Nutritional Therapy
"Eating For Vitality"

Case Notes 1: Anne (age 38) – Fibromyalgia

The background Anne’s symptoms had started as pain on the inside of her hands. By the time she had come to consult me the pain and sensation of pins and needles had extended to affect her arms, chest, back of head and down her shins. She felt generally unwell, nauseous, had developed problems swallowing, gagging on some foods, was anxious about her symptoms and frustrated by an inability to do her own housework.

A student lifestyle at college followed by a series of stressful jobs, poor diet and relocation had lead to irritable bowel syndrome. This suggested to me that there was a general shortage of nutrients, notably B vitamins, to keep the digestive tract lining in a good state of repair and shortage of magnesium, which would have resulted in muscle spasm in the digestive tract. During these years toxic load would gradually have increased and ability to detoxify been gradually eroded. Toxins would have been deposited around her body and in her case they lodged in her weak system - the lymph nodes - leading to tenderness.

The ‘tipping point’ at which her system could no longer cope with the rising toxic burden came for her when she had to have a hip operation after being hit in a traffic accident. This would have depleted her mineral reserves, involved liver toxic anaesthetic drugs and much increased toxic load resulting in the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

My recommendations I suggested Anne eat a whole food diet including vegetables and brown rice every day to rectify bowel conditions and bind and remove toxins. Dairy products were excluded which tend to stimulate excessive mucus production in the gut interfering with the absorption of minerals and water soluble vitamins. Wheat was excluded because partially digested wheat protein is liver toxic interfering with immune function and detoxification. Fibromyalgia is an inflammatory condition therefore meats such as pork, beef and lamb containing high levels of pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid were excluded. I recommended she eat cold water oily fish, flax oil and pumpkin seeds for their anti-inflammatory omega 3 essential fatty acid content. Her diet also included additional white fish and poultry together with liberal amounts of pulses focussing on the more digestible lentils. Supplements included a high quality probiotic recommended to re-populate the gut, and a good quality broad spectrum multi-vitamin and mineral specifically designed to support cell metabolism.

The outcome Anne decided she would try to carry out all the recommendations together – not a method I usually advocate – because the all or nothing approach often tends to fail. At the second consultation she told me her symptoms had enormously improved within a few weeks to the extent that she had wondered whether she really did have fibromyalgia. When she had gradually slipped back into her previous diet her symptoms returned - and then again improved as she went back to the prescribed diet.

Anne was very lucky in that she turned to nutritional therapy within a few months of her diagnosis. Where the condition has been longer established – it may take several months to achieve an initial improvement in symptoms and 6 or 7 months to achieve significant relief.

Recommended reading: A very well written and referenced article “Fibromyalgia and Detoxification” by Anja Morris-Paxton. It can be down-loaded from the website: www.ukfibromyalgia.com.

Case 2: Brenda (age 59) – IBS

The background Brenda’s main concern at the first consultation was irritable bowel type symptoms. They took the form of pain in her lower gut on the left. In the last year she had noticed it most at nights. It had been particularly bad when she had a back problem and felt the pain had gone right through her. Her doctor had sent her for checks to rule out other causes and suggested she reduce tea and coffee. Now also suffering from mood swings, depression and often feeling hungry she had sought nutritional help.

Teenage dieting, stress and poor diet when bringing up young children abroad and later family bereavement would all have depressed her immune system, limited intake of vital nutrients and had contributed to a cyst in her neck in her late 20s. Indigestion in later years suggested a continuing shortage of nutrients to repair and renew the lining of the digestive tract and supply adequate stomach acid and digestive enzymes.

My recommendations This patient’s primary needs were to re-establish good digestive conditions and balance blood sugar. I suggested she try to eat a helping of brown rice every day with cooked vegetables and lentils since these are the most easily digested pulses and less likely to cause griping pains. This type of meal is also excellent for avoiding low blood sugar and hungry feelings which trigger IBS spasms and pain. Since she worried that her family would not like to be deprived of their favourite pasta dishes in the evening I suggested she try to eat her brown rice at lunch time - taking a rice salad or vegetable soup to work with her in a wide neck thermos, or cook rice in bulk and freeze it in suitable portion sizes so that she could eat brown rice while they ate pasta. Some poultry, fish and eggs were included in the diet.

I recommended she excluded nuts and seeds for six weeks since they tend to be difficult to digest. Dairy and wheat were excluded because milk tends to encourage the gut lining to produce a sticky mucus which reduces the absorption of nutrients while partially digested wheat proteins hinder liver function. The high salt levels in bread and cheese also tend to slow cell metabolism. Supplements recommended included a good multi-vitamin/mineral to support cell metabolism, a probiotic to repopulate and protect her sensitive digestive tract, an omega 3 oil and a good quality peppermint oil capsule to help reduce spasm on eating.

The outcome Brenda followed the diet strictly for 3 weeks and a little less strictly after that. As her symptoms improved she gradually introduced the omitted foods until nine months later she told me she was more or less eating everything. IBS is a condition where symptoms can respond very quickly to dietary change – although the rate at which a patient can make progress is a very individual matter – based on their own personal circumstances.