21 Steps to Heal Juvenile Arthritis

This week brought a big discovery for our family.  We thought our 4 year old was experiencing “growing pains” but found out that if a child suffers pain anytime during the day there is no way the pains can be categorized as such.  Oops!

After some research it looks like we are probably dealing with Juvenile Arthritis.  We still don’t have an official diagnosis but since we are managing a significant amount of pain at this point these are the holistic steps we are implementing.  (be aware, in the western medical tradition there is no known cause or treatment but rather just pain management, so the following will NOT be found cross-referencing any western medical information.)

The most helpful article I found was ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATISM-A Holistic Therapy-By Walter Last.  It is packed with actions across the spectrum of physical, emotion & spiritual which we can take to both ease the pain and cure the cause.  But, for this post, I am just going to list the very beginning baby steps we are taking in the first days of our journey.

A quick synopsis of the holistic arthritis view (whether in adults or children) is that it is an autoimmune disease caused by a sensitive or damaged intestinal system which signals the immune system to attack healthy cells.  With this in mind, we will focus our efforts on being gentle to the gut with our foods and making sure we are not damaging it with the pain meds we choose (most pain killers are very harsh on the gut).

1. Start a crock pot of perpetual broth using bones (marrow & joint) & organic veggies to use as the base of our foods (Bone broth is very healing to the gut).
2. Fill our home with LOTS of organic veggies & fruits (though we’ll aim to use the fruit sparingly as the fructose in it can be an offender).
3. Pull wheat & cow’s milk products (possible that raw may not offend but we’ll pull it all to being).
4. Pull meats (meat stimulates calcium loss).
5. Aim to reduce our cooked, sweet & fatty foods.
6. Pull all white sugar & reduce our use of the low glycemic sweetness: coconut palm sugar, rapadura, raw honey & coconut nectar.
7. Pay careful attention to the foods our little one tends to be “addicted” to.  These are usually offending allergens (our big ones are peanut butter & jelly sandwiches-this kid could LIVE on those).
8. Pull nightshades due to #5: he has a long standing addiction to tomatoes and bell peppers, both in the nightshade family.  We’ll pull them just in case for now.
9. Switch to sprouted seeds.
10. Continue our high intake of Omega-3s as these reduce inflammation, being sure to grind flax & chia very finely to avoid scraping the intestinal walls.
11. Add fish to our diet.  Currently everyone hates fish but minds tend to open when pain is involved so we’ll try it at least.
12. Add fresh vegetable juices including wheat grass & beet root 30 min before breakfast.
13. Purchase some tempeh & miso paste so we can get more meatless protein in our meals.
14. We already use all green household products so that is not a concern (whew!)
15. Look at pulling coconut (both oil & flour) as some arthritics react to those.  Definitely the flour and ease off on the oil (we use a LOT of coconut oil).
16. Add raw egg veggie & fruit shakes, with whey in them (free of the offending proteins in other milk products & high in protein)
17. Add digestive enzymes sprinkled on food.  Arthritics are often short on these.
18. Add lemon water to alkalize his system.  Over acidity exacerbates the problem.
19. Pick up some DMSO from the local feed store to treat the pain & start regenerating the joints.
20. Pick up kids probiotics & sprinkle that on his food to aid the gut in rebalancing.
21. Mix 1 tbsp. of ground linseed (grind in blender or coffee grinder and refrigerate) and 1 tsp. of lecithin with most meals.

Other things I will begin doing:

• Look into hydrochloric acid to assist in the digestion.
• Look into Bio-Energetic testing to make sure his dental work is not affecting him negatively.
• Look into Boron deficiency
• Generally try to follow this basic arthritis diet:

The basic arthritis diet consists of plenty of raw food such as sprouted seeds, fresh vegetable juices with plenty of wheat or barley grass and beetroot, also vegetable salads in increasing amounts according to the strength of the digestion. You may cook lentils and brown rice, usually eaten together at the same meal, and also steamed vegetables, especially onions, green beans, okras, sweet potato leaves and beetroot. Generally, sweet vegetables, such as carrots, pumpkin, turnips and sweet potatoes are best eaten raw and finely grated as part of a salad. Frequently have raw food days.

Instead of using commercial yeast-baked bread, experiment with sourdough baking. Use free-range raw egg yolk (e.g. as part of a salad dressing), otherwise soft-boiled egg. Fish and seafood are good and especially the broth of simmered fish heads and bones. Liver may be used occasionally except with gout. Other helpful foods are avocado, almonds, pecans, celery, coleslaw, peanuts, peanut oil and extra-virgin olive oil.  

Avoid cows’ milk products, wheat products (except wheat grass juice), and other gluten foods such as rye, barley and oats; sweeteners and sweetened food, salt, red meat, yeast fat, fried products, commercial polyunsaturated oils, margarine or other highly processed food or food containing preservative, coloring or other unbiological chemicals. If sensitive avoid also unneutralized food acids, such as lemon juice and vinegar, fruit juice or dried fruit. Avoid alcohol and smoking; be careful with coffee and tea. Try to avoid chlorinated and fluoridated water for cooking and drinking. Minimize cooked legumes with gout.

Because of the usually weak digestive powers, it is important to have only small meals, chew very well. Have breakfast as the main meal or possibly lunch, but only a light, early evening meal. Ingest any water in which vegetables or brown rice has been cooked. If meat, fish or nuts are used, eat these as the first part of any meal. If possible, lie down after lunch.

While it is important to have plenty of fluid-intake, this should not be taken with or after meals so that digestive juices are not diluted. Drink about one liter of preferably warm water, weak herb tea (peppermint is good) or, most recommended, fresh diluted vegetable juice about 30 minutes before breakfast. Use mainly wheat grass, barley grass, celery, parsley, edible weeds and other green leaves as well as beetroot for a vegetable juice and only a smaller amount of flavoring sweet vegetables (e.g. carrots, pumpkin) and apple. A further glass of water, herb tea or fresh juice may be taken before other meals. Drink juices slowly and spaced out to minimize any rise in the blood sugar level. 

And, that is about all I will be doing for this first week or two.  I already have quite a few things in place and we’ll just chip away one at a time.  Share the things you did to heal your child’s juvenile arthritis in the comments below.