So How Can I Stop the Inflammation?...

Since Behcet's is an inflammatory disease I decided to do some research on what causes inflammation. After all, how can you manage something that you don't understand? Now before I jump in, I just want to clarify that I am in no way, shape, or form a doctor or a dietician. I am a Marketing Specialist with a very inquisitive mind and a drive to manage my BD from all angles. I found a lot of factors contribute to inflammation, but that diet can play a major role. Perfect! I can totally control my diet. Thus, I've been reading up on the Anti-Inflammation Diet.

If you have done any research on anti-inflammatory diets you will find a bunch of contradictory information, luckily I found some constants that have been proven to cause inflammation:

• Animal Milks (including Animal Cheeses)
• Eggs
• Wheat/Gluten Products
• All Corn Products
• Peanuts/Peanut Butter
• Meat (pork, grain-feed animals)
• Bread
• White Flour
• Fruit Juices
• Processed Foods
• Caffeine (Coffee, Soda, Tea)
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes (sweet potatoes and yams are non-inflammatory)
• Dried Fruit
• Fried Foods
• Alcohol

I then went back to the flare journal I have been keeping since 2008. Since I didn't know the cause of my flares I kept track of everything, even what I ate. I found that I was eating a diet based off of everything on the list! I drank milk or ate yogurt almost everyday, had wheat thins for snacks, I literally would come home from work and have chips and salsa everyday, and PB&Js were a staple. I had to laugh at this...when did my diet become so out of control?!

After seeing this I decided I definitely needed to change my bad eating habits. Not just for the Behcet's, but for my own health - after all inflammation has proven to be the cause of heart disease and cancer. I don't want to have to deal with that on top of Behcet's!

There is a little more to the anti-inflammatory diet than just avoiding the above mentioned foods, so I have bought a couple books to help me fully understand the idea. I won't make a list at this time because I want to read them and see if they are worth recommending (or worth not-recommending). I'll post a review in a couple weeks. I'll also keep you posted on my progress and any other notes about the diet.

Here's to good health!