Transplant Speakers

President’s Message: Making a Difference

Wow! Can you believe summer is gone already? It seems like yesterday when I wished everybody a great summer. I told everyone to enjoy it with your family and friends and that these are the times that memories are made of. Now the tents are stowed away and the beaches are empty as are all the Mai Tai glasses. It seems like another summer has come and gone all too fast. It also seems the older I get the faster they go. But you know what? Thanks to the decision of a loving, thoughtful though distraught donor family I get to enjoy every season of the year.  Their decision was most likely based on prior education on organ donation. Eighty five percent of people who donate organs have a prior knowledge of the process.

“A chain is as strong as its weakest link.” There is strength in numbers.”  “One for all; all for one.” These adages are just a few describing the importance of strength and unity. When I first entered the world of transplant education, there were many organ donation coalitions scattered across the nation. They each had different names and logos and although they functioned differently they had the same goals, educate their communities on organ and tissue donation. 

Donate Life America brought all these coalitions together under one banner to unite and strengthen their cause…educating the public on the importance of organ and tissue donation. Under the strong leadership of their CEO, David Fleming all this was accomplished and truly made a difference. We are honored to be able to bring you an article on their wonderful work in this issue and thank them for all their hard labor and accomplishments.

On the TSI side, we are happy to announce that we have added another quality facilitator, Mary Wu of Ossining, NY. You can find out more about Mary in this issue.

Speaking about educating the public, TSI is happy to announce that our training format is now being adopted by our affiliate in London, England, Live Life Then Give Life. You can also learn a little bit more about this program from another article in this issue.

I know its time to fold up those beach umbrellas but in reality its getting back to doing the work we love to do so much…saving lives.

Until next month…

Frank Bodino
President

The Tissue Box

War hero healed by skin and bone transplants, inspired to work in transplant industry

Following 9/11, Zach felt like many other Americans, “I was tired of watching everything that was happening on TV and thought there had to be a way I could do more to help.”  This inspired him to take his EMT experience and passion for medicine and become a combat medic in the army.

After all the necessary training, Zach was sent overseas to the Korengal Valley, in the Kunar Province in Afghanistan.  Bordering Pakistan and China, in 2007 the Kunar Province was a mix of terrorist cells, including Al-Qaida, all vying for control. This made it site of some of the heaviest fighting in the Afghan War.  Twelve months into his deployment and only a few weeks from his return home, Zach was on patrol when his platoon came under fire from enemy insurgents.

During the attack, one of Zach’s friends had his leg blown off by a rocket propelled grenade and Zach crawled out into an unprotected area, while being fired upon, to bring his friend to safety. While pulling the wounded soldier back behind cover, unbeknownst to him, Zach was shot.  He called for a military evacuation helicopter, while stopping the bleeding with a tourniquet and starting an IV on his wounded comrade. Another soldier pointed out blood on Zach’s pant leg and asked him if it was his.  Zach said, “I didn’t feel anything until then.  But as soon as I saw it, I felt the pain and it was excruciating.”  He called the medical evacuation helicopter again and told them to bring a replacement medic.  About ten minutes later, the helicopter arrived and both he and his friend were taken for further medical treatment.

Zach had been shot in the upper hamstring of his left leg.  The bullet had ricocheted off the ground, entered his leg and broke off a fragment of his femur.  The entry wound was about the size of a nickel and the exit wound was the size of an apple. Had he been hit with the full bullet, which was a 7.62 from either an AK-47 or a Dragunov sniper rifle, his entire femur would have been shattered.

Zach was moved to a military hospital in Frankfort, Germany.  While there, he received a bone allograft to fill the void left in his femur and a skin graft to cover the exit wound (the entrance wound was stitched shut), as well as donated blood.

After five months in Frankfort, Zach returned to Fort Hood (where he was initially trained) and was honorably discharged.  “I felt sad about the discharge because I wasn’t ready, and I like to finish things I start…I was mostly concerned for my men,” Zach said.

Today his leg has not affected his active lifestyle in Colorado where he enjoys skiing, hiking and photography.  In fact, the only problem Zach has with his leg is soreness when it is cold.  Inspired by his experience with life-saving, donated human tissue, after returning home Zach first got a job with the Rocky Mountain Lion’s Eye Bank, recovering eyes from deceased donors. Now he works for AlloSource, a non-profit tissue bank, where he processes the gift of life from deceased tissue donors –  the same type of tissue that saved his leg years ago.  He is also studying radiology and looks forward to continuing to impact lives in a positive way.

*Article attributed to AllograftPossibilities.org

TSI Program Adopted in England

TSI Based Education Going Strong In England
By, Steven G. Taibbi

Live Life Than Give Life (LLTGL), TSI’s partners in England, reported to us recently that things are going pretty strong on the other side of the pond.  As we’ve described in the past, LLTGL, is an organization made-up mostly of people who have either had a lung transplant or are currently waiting for one.  They, of course, cover all facets of transplantation education, no matter what organ is involved.

According to Emily Thackray, Treasurer, LLTGL’s TSI based training/education efforts are being met with a great deal of success.  Thackray, has been working side by side with Mandy Venters, CEO, to bring the TSI model to life in England.  Turns out, raising awareness to the need of tissue and organ donation is just as pressing an issue in England as it is here in the states. They have been using TSI’s model, training methods and materials for about two years now.

As Thackray recently told us, “we have decided to give participants a “Certificate of Completion” once they have attended the course that features the TSI logo”.

Sounds good to us, Emily!

Donate Life America: Past, Present and Future

Frank Bodino and I recently had the pleasure of visiting via conference call, with David Fleming, CEO for Donate Life America.  We took a brief walk down memory lane to the days when Donate Life America was a group of loosely linked coalitions through out the country.  Some states had as many as four separate groups.  Some partnered with their Organ Procurement Organization(s) while others functioned as separate units all with one purpose organ, tissue and eye donation awareness.  The groups had different names but came together under the national umbrella of The Coalition on Donation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization incorporated in Virginia in 1992.

As time went on it became clear that the “Coalitions on Donation” could function more effectively if a national branding was initiated to identify all the groups under the same name.  Around the year 2004 research was started by Arnold Communications.  They reached out to organ, tissue and eye recovery organizations as well as recipients, donor family members and the general public to test different “brands”.  Amazingly enough the “Donate Life” brand came from a 3^rd grader listening to a presentation about organ and tissue donation, his take on it: “organ donation isn’t about dying, it’s about living”.  Thus the brand Donate Life and Donate Life America took the place of The National Coalition on Donation.  I was a staff member of the Public Relations department at the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network when the final Donate Life logo was finalized.  As a transplant recipient myself, I proudly wear my Donate Life pin to this day.

As more and more individual states focused on their Motor Vehicle Agencies as the avenue for registering new donors the Donor Designation Collaborative was born (2008).   Each state collaborative adopted the Donate Life title, i.e. Donate Life New Jersey, Donate Life North Carolina, Donate Life Ohio.  Donate Life America worked tirelessly in helping each state to meet their individual donor registration goals to contribute to a national goal of 100 million Americans registered as organ donors.   I am honored to say that within the next month or two that goal will be met!

Historically, Donate Life America has been housed at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) offices.  But as of December of 2011 their new home is in the Federal Reserve Building in Richmond, VA.  They have a team of eight full time staff members.

The next big challenge for Donate Life America will be to reach a goal of 20 million organ, tissue and eye donor registrants in one year, 2012.  The “20 million in 2012” campaign will kick off at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA on January 2, 2012.  I, for one, can’t wait to do my part as a trustee for Transplant Speakers International, Inc. to help Donate Life America meet their next goal by spreading the word on how to become an organ, tissue and eye donor.  Best Wishes team!

Lynn Allred
TSI Secretary and Editor of our monthly e-newsletter

TSI Welcomes a New Team Member

The Transplant Speakers International Board of Trustees would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mary Wu as a new TSI facilitator. Mary was born, raised, and still lives in Westchester County, NY.  She graduated with a major in Psychology/Communications and a minor in Sociology from Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY.

As a two time kidney transplant recipient, Mary has a “real life” story to share just like the volunteers she will be training.  Her professional background includes working at a nursing home, a non-profit Medicaid agency that services children with severe medical illnesses, and presently as the primary chemotherapy scheduler at one of the regional sites of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

Mary has had an active voice as an advocate for organ and tissue donor awareness.  She has volunteered for many transplant related organizations including the University Kidney Research Organization, Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO), the Transplant Support Organization, the National Kidney Foundation, the New York Organ Donor Network and the Renal Support Network.  Mary will also be one of the float riders on the Donate Life Float in the Rose Parade on Monday, January 2, 2012 in Pasedena, CA.  As a rider on the very first Donate Life Float in 2005 I can tell you Mary its an experience you’ll never forget!

So readers, please join us in welcoming Mary Wu to the TSI team!

Lynn Allred
TSI E-Newsletter editor

Confessions of a Kidney Transplant Recipient

Mary Wu “Confessions of a Kidney Transplant Recipient” (www.kidneyconfessions.blogspot.com) Two-Time Kidney Transplant Recipient in 1987 and 1995 mwu82@yahoo.com 917-968-8856

TRANSPLANT SPEAKERS INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES BIO

Mary Wu was born, raised, and still lives in suburbia Westchester County, NY.  She graduated with major studies in Psychology and Communications and minor in Sociology from Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY.  She enjoys working with people, and has an extensive professional background that includes working at a nursing home, a non-profit Medicaid agency that services children with severe medical illnesses, and presently as the primary chemotherapy scheduler at one of the regional sites of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center located in Sleepy Hollow, NY.  She is a 29-year-old ABC (American-Born Chinese) and two-time kidney transplant recipient from deceased donors, receiving her first transplant at 5-years-old and then her second at 12-years-old.  As a result of her personal experiences at a young age, she has a unique perspective and interest in counseling and supporting organ donor families, pediatric or young adult recipients/candidates and their family/friends, and transplant recipients/candidates of various ethnicities and cultures.  She is known in the organ donation and transplant community as an advocate because she is always working to increase education, awareness, and especially registration through public speaking, published articles, and her book that she is working on publishing entitled “Confessions of a Kidney Transplant Recipient” (www.kidneyconfessions.blogspot.com)

Professional Work

Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
SKIP of New York, Inc.

Skyview Rehabilitation and Health Care Center

Volunteer Organization Involvements

Transplant Speakers International

University Kidney Research Organization

Transplant Recipients International Organization

Transplant Support Organization

National Kidney Foundation

New York Organ Donor Network

Renal Support Network

Awards and Activities

University Kidney Research Organization (UKRO) Rider in the Tournament of Roses Parade on the Donate Life Float in 2012

Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO) Youth Circle Co-Leader

Public Speaking Invitations and Engagements at New York State Department of Health Press Conference, Critical Care Conference, Pediatric Transplant Conference, and Kidney Transplant Seminar

Published articles in The New York Daily News, National Kidney Foundation newsletters, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center employee newsletter, and The Journal News

New York Organ Donor Network DMV Registry Representative for April 2011 Donate Life Month

New York Organ Donor Network Transplant Recipient Representative at 2010 Organ Donor Family Recognition Program and Luncheon

KidneyTalk Live Podcast/Radio Interview with Lori Hartwell, Founder of Renal Support Network

Winner of Renal Support Network 8^th Annual Essay Contest

Seminfinalist National Kidney Foundation 60^th Anniversary Art Contest

New York Organ Donor Network nomination for the “Sprint Community Champions” for outstanding contributions to the organ transplant community

After School Fruit Rolls

Prep Time: 13 Minutes Ready In: 13 Minutes Servings: 4 “In this twist on the classic peanut butter and banana sandwich, peanut butter is spread on flour tortillas, and then wrapped around a cinnamon and honey-sweetened mixture of bananas and raisins.”

Ingredients:

Directions:

Combine fruit, honey and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread each tortilla with 1 tablespoon peanut butter, leaving a 1-inch border. Spoon fruit filling down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired. Fold in 2 sides of tortilla to meet in center, then roll up, bottom to top. Place seam-side down. Halve each tortilla on a sharp diagonal.

The 4 Best and 3 Worst Sweeteners to Have in Your Kitchen

At this point, it’s common knowledge that high-fructose corn syrup and refined sugar are bad for us. But given all the marketing hype behind different “natural” alternatives, it’s hard to know which ones really are the best sweeteners. Complicating matters, new studies, like one just published in the journal Cancer Research, are finding that fructose, a sugar found in high-fructose corn syrup, agave, honey, and, in small amounts, even in fruit, actually feeds some cancers. But don’t give up apples and oranges, or even honey, based on a single study. “Natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables—things like berries, green apples, grapefruit, kiwi—are needed to feed beneficial microflora in the gut for a healthy immune system,” explains Donna Gates, who led the movement to bring stevia, a natural sweetener, into this country more than a decade ago. “That’s why nature put a little bit of sugar in fruits and vegetables. It keeps the ecosystem alive in us,” she says, adding that the small amounts of fructose in fruits and vegetables are balanced with minerals, vitamins, and other vital nutrients. “Our body reads it differently,” she notes.Fruits and vegetables provide a perfect sugar fix, but when you’re in need of a sweetener to add to iced tea, baked goods, or anything else, make sure you know the difference between the good guys and bad guys of the sweetener world. (Some of the not-so-sweet details could leave you gagging.)

Bad Guy #1: Aspartame

There’s conflicting evidence regarding the safety of aspartame, a common chemical sweetener used in diet soda and other low-cal or low-sugar goods, but some people report headaches or generally feeling unwell after ingesting anything containing the chemical. To make life easier for everyone, this is one instance where you may want to follow the “better safe than sorry” principle. That’s because a University of Liverpool test-tube study found that when mixed with a common food color ingredient, aspartame actually became toxic to brain cells. Making matters worse, aspartame is used in many diet sodas, and studies have found drinking diet soda may increase your risk of developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Also of concern with aspartame, researchers have found that one harmful breakdown product is formaldehyde. Sweet? We don’t think so.

Bad Guy #2: Agave

While your health food store likely stocks agave sweeteners, it may be best to keep them out of your cart. Many agave nectars consist of 70 to 80 percent fructose—that’s more than what’s found in high-fructose corn syrup! If you don’t want to give up agave, look for types that contain no more than 30 to 40 percent fructose, recommends Christine Gerbstadt, MD, PhD, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Agave is also very heavily processed in an extremely energy-intensive manner that’s similar to the way corn is converted into high-fructose corn syrup.

Bad Guy #3: Sucralose

While sucralose, better known by its brand name, Splenda, may originate with sugar, the end product is anything but natural. It’s processed using chlorine, and researchers are finding that the artificial sweetener is passing through our bodies and winding up in wastewater treatment plants, where it can’t be broken down. Tests in Norway and Sweden found sucralose in surface water released downstream from treatment discharge sites. Scientists worry it could change organisms’ feeding habits and interfere with photosynthesis, putting the entire food chain at risk. The chemically derived artificial sweetener acesulfame K (sold under the brand name Sunett) was also detected in treated wastewater and tap water.

Good Guy #1: Stevia

“We need to be off of sugar, but we need good alternatives, and stevia is the safest sweetener there is, period,” says Gates, who coauthored The Stevia Cookbook: Cooking with Nature’s Calorie-Free Sweetener (Avery Trade, 2004). All types of stevia are extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant, but some forms taste better than others, says Gates. People tend to overuse powders, in which the sweetness is really concentrated, so if you’ve tried powders in the past and didn’t like them, try liquid forms, explains Gates, who helped develop a liquid stevia sweetener product. Stevia contains zero calories, but its one downfall is that it doesn’t work well for baking. Expect to see more stevia on store shelves, as Coke and Pepsi got the green light to use Truvia (a sweetener made in part from stevia) starting later this year.

Good Guy #2: Sugar alcohols

Popular sugar alcohol sweeteners include xylitol, sorbitol, and erythritol, natural sweeteners made through a fermentation process of corn or sugar cane. They contain fewer calories than sweeteners like pure sugar and honey, but more than stevia. They also leave a cooling sensation in the mouth, and have been found to prevent cavities, explains Dr. Gerbstadt. Just don’t overdo it—too much can cause GI distress.

Good Guy #3: Organic, raw local honey

While honey does boast higher fructose levels, it also contains a bounty of cancer-defending antioxidants, and local honey has been said to help alleviate allergy symptoms. Don’t limit raw honey’s use to your tea, either. Use it to speed healing on burns, and as a natural antiseptic on cuts and scrapes. Honey also has a low glycemic index, so adding it to your tea or yogurt won’t lead to energy-busting blood sugar drops later in the day.

Good Guy #4: Blackstrap molasses

Although heavy on the calorie content, blackstrap is rich in iron, potassium, and calcium, making it a healthier choice than nutritionally defunct artificial sweeteners or even regular refined sugar, despite the fact that blackstrap and refined sugar both come from sugar cane. (Dr. Gerbstadt says calorie-containing sweeteners are not recommended for people with diabetes.) We like the organic, Fair Trade Certified version of blackstrap molasses from Wholesome Sweeteners.

View Source

15 Surprising Ways to Improve Your Cholesterol

The Fountain of Youth may be fiction, but there really is a magic gene pool in northern Italy. A few decades ago, researchers discovered that, despite unhealthy cholesterol levels, 40 inhabitants of the village of Limone sul Garda were seemingly immune to heart disease. Turns out it wasn’t the famed Mediterranean diet at work, but rather a variation of a a protein in HDL cholesterol (the good kind) called ApoA-1 Milano. In less scientific terms, the villagers were born with self-cleaning arteries.

Researchers immediately went to work creating a synthetic version of the plaque-busting protein. And in 2003, they created one. Problem is, the drug is still too expensive to mass produce.

Luckily, you don’t have to wait for a magic drug to improve your cholesterol. Here are 15 ways to raise your HDL or lower your LDL (the bad cholesterol) today. The best part: Doing so will literally cost you peanuts—or even less.

1. Eat more nuts. In an analysis of 25 different studies on walnuts, pecans, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, and macadamia nuts, researchers at Loma Linda University found that eating 67 grams of nuts per day—that’s a little more than two ounces—increased the ratio of HDL to LDL in the blood by 8.3 percent. And Australian scientists found that when men replaced 15 percent of their daily calorie intake with macadamia nuts—12 to 16 nuts a day—their HDL levels went up by 8 percent. Even better: You can eat nuts covered in chocolate or rolled in cocoa powder; a Japanese study found that the polyphenols in chocolate activate genes that increase HDL production.

2. Boost your endurance. Researchers in Japan found that exercising for 20 minutes a day increases your HDL by 2.5 points. That’s not much, but for every additional 10 minutes per day you keep huffing in the gym, you add an extra 1.4 points to your HDL. It doesn’t matter whether you pull a rowing machine or power through a tough barbell routine, just keep your activity level at a point where you’re panting but not out of breath.

3. Build killer quads. Ohio University researchers discovered that men who did lower-body work—squats, leg extensions, leg presses—twice a week for 16 weeks raised their HDL levels by 19 percent. For legs and HDL levels that are something to look at, follow the lead of the men in the study: Do three sets of six to eight repetitions of the half squat, leg extension, and leg press, resting no more than 2 minutes between sets. Use a weight that’s about 85 percent of the amount you can lift just once.

4. Pop a milk pill. In a study published in the American Journal of Medicine, people who took a daily 1,000-mg calcium supplement saw their HDL-cholesterol levels rise by 7 percent. Choose a brand that contains calcium citrate (not coral calcium) and 400 international units of vitamin D for maximum absorption.

5. Make a date with Mrs. Paul. When Canadian researchers compared a steady diet of whitefish with regular consumption of lean beef and chicken, they found that the fish-eating folks experienced a 26 percent increase in HDL2, a particularly protective form of HDL. Remember: Fish sticks aren’t health food—unless they’re baked, like Healthy Selects Sticks from Mrs. Paul’s.

6. Learn how to pronounce “policosanol” (poly-CO-sanol). This mixture of alcohols derived from sugarcane wax is the rare natural supplement that may actually live up to its hype. Doses of 10 to 20 mg a day can increase HDL by up to 15 percent, according to David Maron, M.D., a cardiologist at Vanderbilt University medical center. Two brands to try: Naturals and Nature’s Life, both sold at health-food stores.

7. Drink cranberry juice. University of Scranton scientists found that volunteers who drank three 8-ounce glasses a day for a month increased their HDL-cholesterol levels by 10 percent, enough to cut heart-disease risk by almost 40 percent. Buy 100 percent juice that’s at least 27 percent cranberry.

8. Eat grapefruit. One a day can reduce arterial narrowing by 46 percent, lower your LDL cholesterol by more than 10 percent, and help drop your blood pressure by more than 5 points.

9. Don’t let your tank hit empty. A study in the British Medical Journal found that people who eat six or more small meals a day have 5 percent lower LDL cholesterol levels than those who eat one or two large meals. That’s enough to shrink your risk of heart disease by 10 to 20 percent.

10. Eat oatmeal cookies. In a University of Connecticut study, men with high LDL cholesterol (above 200 mg/dL) who ate oat-bran cookies daily for 8 weeks dropped their levels by more than 20 percent.

11. Switch your spread. Buy trans fat-free margarine, such as Smart Balance Buttery Spread. Researchers in Norway found that, compared with butter, no-trans margarine lowered LDL cholesterol by 11 percent.

12. Take the Concord. University of California researchers found that compounds in Concord grapes help slow the formation of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol. The grapes also lower blood pressure by an average of 6 points if you drink just 12 ounces of their juice a day.

13. Swallow phytosterols or phytostanols. Both substances—derived from pine trees and soy—lower bad cholesterol levels by an average of 10 to 15 percent. Besides being available in supplements, the compounds are in cholesterol-lowering spreads like Benecol and Take Control.

14. Be a part-time vegetarian. Researchers in Toronto found that men who added a couple of servings of vegetarian fare such as whole grains, nuts, and beans to their diets each day for a month lowered their LDL cholesterol by nearly 30 percent.

15. Switch to dark chocolate. Finish researchers found that consuming 2.5 ounces of dark chocolate each day boosts levels of HDL by between 11 and 14 percent.

One final tip: Your heart will benefit more from a few long-term health improvements than from a flurry of activity followed by a return to the dangerous norm. Above are the tools to protect yourself. Work five of them into your daily routine over the next month. When they become second nature, try five more. By year’s end, you will have given your heart a beating chance.

View Source

How to Treat Chronic Pain, Naturally

Fibromyalgia is a debilitating condition thought to affect more than 5 million people, many of them women. What’s more, most people who suffer from this unpleasant disease, characterized by chronic pain, muscle stiffness, sleep trouble, anxiety, depression, and gastrointestinal discomfort, don’t find relief from regular pain medications. But it turns out, natural fibromyalgia remedies may be able to help where pharmaceuticals can’t. A recent study published in the Journal of Pain Research found that women who practiced yoga for 75 minutes twice a week reported significant reductions in pain and improved mindfulness, which lowered the stressful response to their pain.

While yoga can treat both mind and body, foods are a good source of natural enzymes, anti-inflammatory compounds, and antioxidants that can reduce swelling and help you cope with pain, all while allowing you to stock up on healthy nutrients. If you are suffering from fibromyalgia, try one of these foods from The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods (Rodale, 2008), by James A. Duke, PhD, along with your twice-weekly yoga practice:

1. Buckwheat

Muscle soreness and fatigue are among the most disabling symptoms of fibromyalgia, which is why it’s a good idea to add some buckwheat to your diet. Buckwheat contains malic acid, which fights tired, sore muscles and has some of the highest amounts of malic acid found in food; Granny Smith apples are another good source. Whip up some buckwheat pancakes for tomorrow’s breakfast, or use buckwheat groats (the steamed hull of the buckwheat plant) instead of rice in your next pilaf.

2. Fig

Figs contain malic acid, making them another valuable pain-busting food, as well as ficin, an anti-inflammatory enzyme that helps reduce pain and other problems caused by inflammation. The also contain high levels of magnesium and manganese, two minerals often deficient in people with fibromyalgia. Fresh figs offer the highest levels of these minerals and enzymes. If you’ve never eaten them fresh, they pair well with prosciutto or with goat cheese to make a nice afternoon snack.

3. Spinach and other leafy greens

Magnesium deficiency is common in patients suffering from fibromyalgia, and spinach is rich in magnesium, as are other leafy greens. And it takes just one cup of cooked spinach to counteract symptoms of low magnesium levels, which include fatigue, muscle cramps, insomnia, and stress.

4. Chili peppers

When applied topically to tender joints, the capasaicin found in chili peppers can relieve fibromyalgia-related aches and pains temporarily. You can purchase commercial capsaicin cream (just avoid those with petroleum-derived ingredients and artificial fragrances) and apply it to tender joints three to for times daily. Or just mash up a chili pepper yourself (they are in season after all!) and apply the mash in the same way. It also helps to add more peppers to your diet, though it may take a few more to get the same pain-relieving effect you get when applying them topically.

5. Pineapple

Just one cup of this tropical fruit contains a variety of enzymes and minerals that ease pain caused by fibromyalgia. One of the most abundant is bromelain, an enzyme that helps reduce swelling and inflammation. Pineapple also contains high amounts of manganese, which is essential to the formation of collagen in the body; often with fibromyalgia, collagen production is impaired, leading to a greater sensitivity to pain. Your one cup of fresh pineapple chunks provides you with 100 percent of your daily recommended value of manganese.

View Source