Fibromyalgia: Do You Really Need a Special Diet?

People suffering from fibromyalgia often go through a phase where they will try anything that says it will help them be freed of the pain they deal with on a daily basis- and there are new books written daily because people know this and bank on it. I know of at least five diet books written for fibromyalgia sufferers, and I'm sure there are at least a dozen that I don't know about out there.

Do any of them work?

Not for what they claim to work for. I have yet to find a diet that actually decreases the aches and pains I suffer from that are caused by fibromyalgia. Unless you have a pre-existing allergy to gluten, peanuts, or another food allergy, the only thing that the "fibromyalgia diet" books might help you with is weight loss, and there are better books out there for that.

The best diet that you can create for yourself is one that helps you lose weight if you are overweight, because that will help your joints do less work, and also decrease the amount of inflammation in your body; helps you maintain your weight if you are at a good weight for your body type or helps you gain weight if you are underweight, because you need to have a small amount of fat as stored energy for your liver and the rest of your body; allows you to eat healthy food with the least amount of energy output (so that you are not exhausting yourself cooking and then do not have the energy to eat the food you have cooked), is something that can become automatic for you (so that you are able to grab and eat without thinking), has enough flavor variety that you are not bored, but has a smaller variety of choice, so that you are never overwhelmed and can't decide what to eat (it is proven that people with too much choice shut down, and go to the easy, fast, and often bad-for-you choices of whatever's convenient- ie, fast food), and has enough inexpensive choices that you can afford it, but also incorporates fresh food, because fresh is always going to be healthier.

In short, your diet always needs to be something that contains food that can be used as quick, "snack" type food, things that you can grab and eat without any energy output at all. The doctor recommended foods on my list include fruit, vegetables, nuts (particularly peanuts, walnuts, and almonds), and yogurt (though be careful with the yogurt- a lot of the "processed" yogurts these days contain more sugar than you'd realize- check the label. My doctor recommends low-fat probiotic yogurt with raisins or other fruit mixed in.).

That's another thing- while doctors are not nutrition experts, you can ask your doctor about a diet that you're considering starting. Most doctors, if you are over- or underweight, will be delighted to help you with a plan to get back to a good weight, and certainly will guide you to the right choices for you.

In other words, the best diet for you is one you can maintain. That's not to say that you can't fall off the wagon from time to time- the diet that I'm on actually allows for desserts. Healthy deserts, sure- but I'm allowed chocolate, too, once in a while!- but also, for example, if you know you're going to a birthday party on the weekend, go to the party and have fun! Enjoy that birthday cake, and don't beat yourself up for having it. Just get back on the diet the next day.

This isn't really a diet- it's a lifestyle. If I fall off the wagon and eat a chocolate bar, I'm not going to bemoan the fact, I'm just going to have a healthy dinner that night, and have my healthy snack at 8, and then continue my healthy eating. Slipping up isn't the end of the world. It's just part of life.

And that makes this the perfect diet for me.