Paleo, Migraines & RA
Incredible.
This morning on NPR, I was overjoyed to hear John Durant speaking about the Paleo diet. Of course, the story offered a couple of different viewpoints, but the bottom line was that it was excellent to hear, once again, more coverage of Paleo on a national platform.
I liked the fact that even the expert that was interviewed who suggested ‘not eating too much meat’ (more than three times per week, according to him), agreed that the ‘risks’ associated with eating red meat are far less than those seen by people who tend to follow a typical, modern, Western diet (36% of whom are obese, by the way).
Here’s what I found incredible and not in a good way.
Immediately following the Paleo piece, there were two reports about other health related issues.
First, one about migraine sufferers and then one about rheumatoid arthritis.
Do you think either even mentioned food?
Oh, no. Of course not. Other than a brief comment about how those who are overweight might find their symptoms of RA improve if they reach a healthier weight, in which you could say food was mentioned indirectly, not a single, solitary mention of diet. Not talking about Paleo, but diet, period!
Both went right to meds/pain management and so on. Those with migraines should check with their doc to investigate the possible use of anti-depressants or anti-seizure meds. And those with RA might be interested in looking into anti inflammatory meds.
Seriously?
Why is this sold as step #1?
Of course, there are situations when Western meds are needed, but I simply cannot, for the life of me, understand why so many are willing to go there first. True, I am very thankful that I cannot personally say I’ve suffered from either, but I can honestly report many clients have seen their migraines or RA symptoms improve dramatically to completely go away once they go Paleo.
How about anti inflammatory foods?
How about omitting the toxins we find in gluten?
How about Food is Medicine?
