The ‘Do Not Eat‘ List
Do Not: Bread Flour: Wheat, Barley, and Rye
Common in breads, pastas, baked goods, and fillers in many canned and processed foods.
Alternatives: Gluten-free flours that have little to no added starches typically made from almonds, coconut, or rice and quinoa.
Do Not: Sugar
Fructose, sucrose, starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, tapioca four, cornstarch, corn syrup, and cane juice. NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS like aspartame, Nutrasweet, Equal and Splenda.
Alternatives: Stevia
Do Not: Drinks
Fruit juice, carbonated beverages like Pepsi, Sprite, and Mt. Dew, Gatorade, Powerade, and your regular vitamin water.
Alternative: Water with lemon/lime, club soda, or Vitamin Water Zero
Do Not: Fruits
Banana, watermelon, dried fruits (raisins, craisins, etc.), canned fruits and fruit cups. Dried fruits, bananas, and watermelon can increase pain due to higher starch/carbohydrates content. Fruit cups are stored in syrup and raise blood glucose and inflammation.
Alternatives: Berries, apples, peaches, pomegranates, pears, etc.
Do Not: Fats
Vegetable oils, margarine, Crisco, deep-fried foods, any partially or fully hydrogenated oils. Peanut oil may also want to be avoided as it increases plaques in the arteries. Peanut oil, however, may not directly increase inflammatory pain.
Alternatives: Coconut oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, and olive oil
Do Not: White Potato
Red skin potato, anything with a white center except that Japanese sweet potato. Potatoes are full of starch and have inflammatory properties.
Alternatives: Sweet potatoes and Japanese sweet potatoes, cauliflower for masked potato alternative.
Do Not: Dairy
Cow’s milk and cheese are known to increase cardiovascular disease and vessel inflammation in addition to chronic inflammatory pain.
Alternatives: Almond milk, coconut milk, and/or hemp milk. Goat’s milk and cheese may be better tolerated.
Do Not: Alcohol
Many alcohols are high in sugar and many contain wheat. Titos is gluten-free; Grey Goose is not.
Alternatives: Organic wine, Titos or Svedka vodka, gin, gluten-free beers and ciders.
This list is NOT a one size fits all: please take into account any foods
or allergens you may not tolerate, in addition to the foods or ingredients on the list.
For meal ideas look for gluten-free, paleo, and gluten-free vegan recipes on websites.