Eliminate This Food and Your Joints May Stop Aching

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Today I want to revisit a subject I wrote about more than two years ago.  I decided to bring it up again as it’s become an issue for me recently.

I had written about my affinity for eggs and how, with my change in diet, I had been a bit challenged as to what to have for protein for breakfast.  I was eating smoked salmon occasionally, but with the smoking process, you don’t want to go overboard.

As an adult, I love eggs.  I didn’t as a child, but I certainly acquired a taste for them.  I make sure they are free range and organic, but fried, poached, hard boiled…I like them any way you cook them.

Dairy is no longer on the menu for me, except for the occasional treat which nixes yogurt, cheese and milk, so for a long time, I had been eating an egg for breakfast nearly every morning.  More than two years ago, I stopped doing that, and I reduced my egg consumption to one egg a week.  Of course, there were still eggs in some of my baking.

I had cut my egg consumption way back because I noticed in the previous months that my finger joints were getting stiff and more than a little achy.  I’d also been developing some knots on my knuckles. This struck me as odd, as I’ve never had issues with joint pain before.  It did cause me some worry however, as my aunt had psoriatic arthritis, so I know it’s in the gene pool. I’m not anxious to go down that road!

I thought the joint complaints would pass, but they were just hanging in there with the knots getting even larger. I did a little more reading about eggs and joint pain, and there can be a definite link between them. I think what I did was push my egg tolerance over the top as they have not bothered me in the past; but I also hadn’t ever eaten eggs almost every single day.

As an experiment, I cut back to one egg a week (yes, I missed them) and had been eating smoked salmon, sardines or mackerel for breakfast as my protein instead. Some days I eat a salad for breakfast with some rice and bean mixture (for my complete protein). In just a few weeks, I noticed my finger joints were not bothering me nearly as much, and even more encouraging was the fact that the knots that had been developing on my knuckles were getting smaller.

Recently, my choice of eggs for breakfast has been on the increase again…that is, I found I was eating an egg for breakfast about every other day, so 3 to 4 eggs per week plus what is in the baking. Also on the increase was my joint discomfort and the knots on my fingers were returning. I was in denial for a while, but now have stopped eating eggs for breakfast and have them only in the occasional baked goods. My knuckles are feeling better, my joints are not red anymore, and are decreasing in size.

One of my favorite nutritional gurus, JJ Virgin, has eggs on her list of seven things to eliminate from your diet.  I pooh-poohed it, but I guess she’s right. Her book, The Virgin Diet, is very interesting, and I’ve used a lot of the tips, information and recipes I found there. I suggest it as a great resource to have in your library to support your healthy future.

If you suffer from painful joints and/or arthritis, you may want to try reducing or eliminating your egg consumption for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. Also, eliminating foods in the nightshade family like eggplant, peppers and tomatoes may help with joint discomfort as well.

We are all a work in progress, and sometimes we need to reevaluate and correct our course.

Helping You Achieve Major Wellness in Your Life.            

Cheryl A Major

Cheryl A Major lives in Westford and is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. Her TV show, Thin Strong Healthy, airs on WestfordCat and is an offshoot of her blog http://ThinStrongHealthy.com   Cheryl offers ongoing information, live and online courses and personal health coaching to help you feel better and be healthier.  Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CherylAMajor.  She is also a full time residential Realtor with Coldwell Banker with more than 25 years experience. 

Her new book, “Eat Your Blues Away” in which she chronicles her recovery from depression is now available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback!