If you’ve recently been diagnosed with Lyme disease, it’s likely that your doctor has suggested following the Paleo diet while in treatment. If you’re anything like me, you may be asking yourself if it’s really necessary. When my doctor suggested that I would need to diet, as well as battle this horrendous bacteria, it hung around my neck like a giant yoke. My mind was already swimming with all the other scary details she had laid out for me. However, I can attest that I do believe that following the Paleo diet while treating Lyme disease is an important tool in your recovery. That being said, I would urge you not to drive yourself nuts in the process, as I did.
What is the Paleo Diet?
The Paleo diet, also known as the cave-man diet or the stone-age diet, is a diet based on what we think people ate during the Paleolithic era. It is thought that as hunters and gatherers, their diets consisted largely of meat, vegetables and fruits. Naturally, they weren’t eating processed foods, sugars and cheese.
Admittedly, I struggled with this diet tortuously. It was my nemesis. But, I grew up on a strict meat, potatoes, canned veggies and cheese diet. Life without bread, cheese and potatoes felt oppressive. While I do believe there are great benefits in adhering to this diet, I do have some reservations. I’ll share those with you later, but first let’s talk about the benefits.
Benefits of the Paleo Diet (For Lyme Disease Patients)
Treating Lyme disease was the most difficult battle of my life. I had likely been walking around with this bacteria in my body for many, many years. Possibly, most of my life. Because of that, I believe those spirochetes had drilled themselves, and set up shop, into most of my organs. My eyes, my brain, reproductive organs and muscles, along with my adrenals and immune system, had all taken a beating. This is why I chose to adhere to the Paleo diet. I knew my body would need all the help it could get, and after all, we are what we eat. Here are a few of the main reasons the paleo diet is recommended while treating Lyme disease:
Anti-Inflammatory – As I understand it, the biggest benefit to a largely plant-based diet is it’s anti-inflammatory qualities. Your body will be under a lot of strain as you battle this disease and inflammation is inherent. Anything you can do to limit adding more stress will be hugely beneficial.
Antioxidants – Rich in berries, nuts and fresh vegetables, the paleo diet is full of antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect our bodies from free radicals which can lead to many illnesses.
Vitamins and Minerals – Our bodies need vitamins and minerals to function optimally. When your body is under attack, as it is while infected with Lyme disease, it is essential that we supply it with its basic nutrients which will boost your immune system. While Lyme disease is not considered an autoimmune disorder, it does trigger autoimmune diseases. Thus, a strong, healthy immune system is essential.
Digestion – The paleo diet consists of foods that are easily digestible and promote good gut health.
I did my darnedest to follow this diet. My husband and I ate marinara sauce with spaghetti zucchini in place of pasta, lettuce wraps instead of sandwiches and taco salad sans cheese. I snacked on apples slathered in almond butter. When I was super-nauseous, as I was for the first six months or so, Larabars saved my life. One of our favorite products that we found was Savor Tooth Paleo. Sometimes you just don’t feel like cooking and they have a great line, including pumpkin seed pancake mix and pizza crusts. The drawback, of course, is that most of these products can be quite pricey.
My Humble, Non-Scientific or Doctor-ey, Advice
Simply do your best. I worried endlessly about food. As I already said, it was my nemesis. I broke down one morning over breakfast because I wanted a banana. When my husband gently reminded me that this wasn’t included in the paleo diet I threw down the banana and sunk into myself, seething with frustration and self-pity. (Technically bananas are paleo-friendly. We may have found a particularly strict Paleo-diet guide. The reason they are sometimes not considered Paleo-friendly is that they have a high sugar content.)
In the first month or so of my treatment I lost a little over ten pounds. Being that I only weighed 105 pounds to begin with, this was a significant loss. At some point, I realized that I needed to be more kind to myself. I was fretting so intensely that that state became more unhealthy than instituting some cheat days. Which is exactly what we did.
Saturday became our cheat day. I didn’t go overboard but I allowed myself to have a sandwich with real bread and cheese for lunch, biscuits and gravy for breakfast or spaghetti with real pasta for our in-home date nights. I cherished those days and looked forward to them immensely. It also made the other six days of the week, when I denied myself everything I truly craved, a little easier. It was nice to have something to look forward to.
I will say that sugar was my one huge no-no. It affected me almost immediately and I always regretted it afterward. Thankfully, I didn’t have a sweet tooth at all, so it wasn’t that hard for me to abstain. But, on the rare occasion that I indulged in a few bites of dessert or had a few bites of a danish for breakfast, I could really tell. By and large, I avoided sugar like the plague. Honestly, I still do. Sugar is terrible for you.
So, in conclusion, be kind to yourself. Remember that if you cheat a little now and then, it won’t be the end of the world. Some of you may have conditions for which this isn’t true, in which case, please follow your doctor’s orders. Personally, I decided that a few potato chips now and then wouldn’t ruin all my progress. That small sacrifice in the diet was worth it. It made me feel human, even if just for a moment.
