Keto and Grain Free for Joint Pain
Keto and Grain Free for Joint Pain
An LP dad with pseudoachondroplasia shares how going grain-free dramatically reduced his hip pain — products, books, and an honest personal account.
Many of those of us in the LP community are afflicted with joint pain as we grow older and try to avoid or prolong surgery for hip or knee replacements. As an LP with pseudoachondroplasia, my hips started hurting around the age of 30 and seemed to be getting progressively worse. Family and friends would notice that I would grunt when getting up from sitting down, or even when moving. Of course, I visited a renowned orthopedic surgeon to check on my hips, but an X-Ray showed minor thinning of the cartilage and not something that would necessarily warrant surgery in the immediate future. Weight loss was suggested to help with the pain, but I really thought the condition of my hips was much worse than showed radiographically. So I knew I needed to lose weight, but I also wanted to explore other methods to help with my pain level.
Is Gluten Free A Fad?
The evils of weight and gluten have been in the news again over the past couple years, spearheaded by the Wheat Belly book by Dr. Davis, a cardiologist who wrote about “frankenwheat”. According to Dr. Davis, the wheat of today has been modified so much that it is no longer the amber waves of grain you might see from old pictures. Rather, today’s wheat stands 18-24 inches tall and is very different genetically than the wheat eaten by our ancestors. Dr. Davis argues that the gliadin in wheat is associated with a whole range of conditions. However he has emphasized, especially in his follow-up Wheat Belly Total Health, that we really need to remove all grains (not just wheat) from our diet as humans are not biologically built to eat grains of grasses. There’s a reason cows have so many stomachs and they chew the cud to process their diet. And there’s also a reason modern farming feeds our livestock grain instead of grass — hint, it makes them fat!
Gluten, Grains and Joint Pain
Most people, including myself, are attracted to the grain-free lifestyle (notice I said lifestyle, not a diet) due to the promised weight loss (losing the “wheat belly”). However one of the less mentioned health benefits of dropping gluten and wheat is a reduction in inflammation, thereby resulting in less joint pain. I was doubtful about these claims, but Dwarf Mom’s acupuncture doctor who is an expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) emphasized the inflammatory properties of gluten and said that in Eastern medicine circles, gluten is thought to cause joint pain. The Wikipedia entry for Gluten sensitivity shows that joint pain can be a symptom. I have had Irritable Bowel Symptoms in the past and have been checked for celiac disease, so I know that is not part of the picture. But I do know from my research that many people have gluten intolerance/sensitivity that can manifest in many ways. Of course Dr. Davis says that nobody should be eating any type of gluten.
So I started with a gluten-free lifestyle for a few months, and recently changed to a grain-free lifestyle with two goals in mind: weight loss and hip pain relief. I can happily say that I have lost some weight but more importantly, the constant throbbing in my hips has diminished greatly. My daily routine for many years has included taking Triple-Flex and I have been able to stop taking it. Is this temporary relief? Hard to say. Could there be a placebo effect and it’s all in my head? Maybe. Could it be that I can no longer have my daily beloved Egg McMuffin meal? Perhaps. But for now I think it’s something worth trying by all of us in pain. If we can delay (or stop) joint replacement surgery it’s well worth it.
Glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM joint support supplement. I had been taking this daily for years before going grain-free — one of the markers of improvement was being able to stop taking it after my hip pain diminished significantly on the grain-free lifestyle.
The Grain Free Journey
Dropping grains from your diet may seem like a radical change but it has not been as hard as I thought. You can start with the simple things: no bread and no pasta. Or as Dwarf Mom has done, you can reduce your gluten intake significantly by at least replacing wheat products for quinoa or coconut based ingredients. She has noticed a major change in her joint pain, which she has been following with TCM. Unfortunately, as you continue eliminating wheat you’ll see that it is extremely commonplace, especially in processed foods as a filler. Dr. Davis says the gliadin in wheat stimulates appetite, so it’s thought that food manufacturers use wheat additives to sell more product. And when you shop at your local market or online, you will be tempted by the numerous “gluten-free” products marketed to those following Wheat Belly, Grain Brain, and other Paleo-type diets popular these days. But most of them just substitute wheat grain with corn starch or very carb-heavy grain derivatives that raise blood sugar even worse than wheat.
Helpful Products for a Grain-Free Lifestyle
I’ve been on this journey for a while now and here are the products that have been most useful:
Sweeteners
Sweet Leaf Stevia Sweet Drops
I’ve also been trying to drop a Diet Coke habit, so switching to tea and water has been important. I do like a hint of sweetness in my tea — Sweet Leaf Sweet Drops are an easy no-calorie way to help quench a sweet-tooth. I’ve been trying to stop using Splenda as it’s not a natural product, and some other brands of Stevia (such as Pure Via and Truvia) are not pure Stevia extract.
Vanilla Creme Sweet Drops
My favorite flavor — I put a few drops into Tejava from Costco. Delicious. For sweetening up iced tea at fast food and restaurants, the Steviatabs Stevia Extract Tablets are really handy — I keep a tin in the car and bring it into the restaurant. The tablets dissolve pretty well into iced tea if you give it a few minutes and stir.
Perfect for restaurants and fast food where you can’t bring your drops. Keep a tin in the car and bring it in. Dissolve more easily in hot liquids but work fine in iced tea with a little patience and stirring.
Snacks & Meal Replacements
Quest Bar — Birthday Cake
The grain-free low-carbohydrate bars from Quest Nutrition are a little pricey at about $2 each, but they are very low carb, grain free, and taste pretty good. A Quest Bar is an easy meal replacement or filling snack.
Quest Bar — Peanut Butter Brownie Smash
My other favorite Quest Bar flavor. Between Birthday Cake and Peanut Butter Brownie Smash, these two make the grain-free snack life a lot more bearable.
Pasta & Rice Replacements
Miracle Noodle Shirataki
I’ve always loved pasta and would even eat a bowl with cheese topping in college for dinner. The Miracle Noodles have served as an easy-to-make replacement when I can’t share with the family. Comprised of non-digestible fiber from the konjac root — basically no flavor, but has a texture similar to pasta (reminds me of Orzo). Zero carb, zero calorie, and will easily soak up whatever sauce or flavoring you add. Cook for one minute in boiling water or microwave for a minute. Be sure to rinse well after removal from the bag.
Miracle Rice
I actually prefer the Miracle Rice over the noodles — it works especially well as a side dish when the family is having regular rice. Same zero carb, zero calorie konjac root base. Grain-free is difficult to do when raising children — after all, half of 5-year olds’ diets is mac n’ cheese! Having a rice substitute that’s quick and easy helps.
Grain-Free and Ketogenic Books
Wheat Belly
Dr. William Davis’s original case against modern wheat — the book that started our grain-free journey.
Wheat Belly Total Health
Dr. Davis’s follow-up — expands the argument beyond wheat to all grains and covers the full health implications of a grain-free lifestyle.
Eat Happy
Gluten free, grain free, low carb recipes made from real foods — practical cooking inspiration for the grain-free lifestyle.
This is the start of a new journey and I’ll be updating the post with new findings, successes, and challenges.
Have you found a great product or have a great tip for the grain-free or keto lifestyle? Have you noticed a reduction in joint pain after changing your diet? Please share in the comments below — every LP family’s experience adds to the picture.
Soy products can be a big help to get relieved from arthritis, fermented soy products like miso, tempeh, and some types of tofu seem to provide the best reduction in inflammation and arthritis pain.