Hi,

I'm doing a course in natural nutrition at the moment so offer some advice but with the usual "I'm not a professional; if it persists see the real pro or naturopath" clause...

A couple of natural joint pain relievers are: Boswellia (from Boswellia serrata tree) which acts to reduce inflammatory prostaglandins. Celadrin is another and found in health food stores and some supermarket nutrition shelves - its a patended blend of special fatty acids and is available in capsules, tablets, as a soft gel, or cream.

Prostaglandins are formed when fatty acids are broken down in the body. Depending on the source of the fatty acids the prostaglandins can be inflammatory. Foods associated with the inflammatory response are: eggs, organ meats (liver, heart), beef and dairy products. Also, overcooked foods or BBQ'd foods and foods with too much sugar contribute to inflammation. Other factors can be: poor sleep, eating too much (which I doubt you are guilty of as you do so much fitness work).

Good foods to eat are: those that elicit a lesser blood sugar response (ie foods listed around 60 or below on the glycemic index scale), organic chicken, plenty of fish, fresh fruits and vegetables. Olive oil is your best oil to use for salads and low-medium heat cooking, almond or sesame oil for high heat cooking.

Also wrt to chronic muscle pulls...have you sought advice from a physio or perhaps considered regular visits to a registered massage therapist?

Anyways that is awesome that you will be doing a HIM and probable IM this year - good luck, have some great races!!

Thanks so much. I go to a regular massage therapist and have lots of access to typical therapeutic measures. I really need to clean up my diet in addition to supplements. Yeah, I overeat especially since my activity level is down:(.
C

cherelli has some great advice.

I found that getting allergy tested (for foods) helped me avoid things that were unfriendly to my body. Gluten and dairy were the big ones, but separate testing showed cranberries, peanuts, sesame, eggs, and oysters. I supplement with a complete omega vitamin, glucosamine, MSM, ZMA, and curcumin (as needed). The curcumin is a great alternative to Aleve. It's natural (it's actually tumeric, the spice). If I am doing a hard work out or a race, I will take some the night before. The one I get is from Jarrow and I think each cap is 500mg, and I take 2 at a time, 4+ hrs apart.

I know that some people avoid nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, etc) for pain-management reasons. I don't seem to have a problem with them. I've also read that many spices (besides just tumeric) have anti-inflammatory powers.

here's a great article, too, from Mark's Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/...reduce-inflammation/

Definitly go see a good naturopath dealing with athletes, all ND's will work with athletes but only those specialized can trully understand your training cycles and nutritional needs, also as mentioned stay away from night shades.
Brian

also came across another bit of info: foods in the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and capsicum/pepper) may contribute to inflammation...

Changing your diet to deal with Endometriosis is an excellent foundation to assist you in reducing the symptoms, and will help regenerate your health.
Adjusting what you eat can bring about many positive physical and metabolic changes, as well as improving our health. Many of you may be aware that various illnesses and diseases have responded very positively to changes in diet, and Endometriosis is no exception.
The diet in modern day western society has become depleted of vital nutrients for many reasons. Intensive farming has robbed the soil of vital trace elements which used to be taken up by the crops as they grew, and in turn we consumed them.
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I think you should explore foods with an anti-infammatory focus, especially since you have some chronic injury problems. Here is a blog post I read today on the topic. I am a big believer in focusing all efforts to improve health FIRST on diet, then on medicine. Reducing inflammation is important for everyone, but much more so for triathletes and other people stressing their bodies to the degree that us endurance athletes do. You could start by re-thinking where you get your carbohydrates and how much you really need to fuel workouts and recovery and try to get more of your carbs from fruits and vegetables and less from grains. Read the Paleo Diet for Athletes or read this from Mark's Daily Apple. Here is another MDA article on relieving muscle pain.
I think you are on the right track. Best of luck!

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Jessica

when a doctor recommended glucosamine for my bad knees, he recommended taking it with chondroitin sulphate. i did for awhile, but when i ran out of my supply, i couldn't afford more. not sure if i took it long enough to be really helpful (maybe about a month, and not religiously at that), but the two seemed to give some relief. i've read studies showing that they don't have a positive effect, though, so YMMV.

i have read in a few places that omega 6 fatty acids can cause inflammation, but since omega 3 (which reduces it) is much more prevalent in most things, i doubt you're really getting enough to have much of an impact.

best of luck finding a solution!

cheers!

-mistress k

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