Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Darn my Arthritis!

Eat more Tofu

Lately, I've been suffering from arthritis pains in my hands, my knees and on bad days, in my hips. It's so darn depressing! I was solooking forward to a great year of taking care of myself, eat better and exercise... then BAM! I get hit with the perimenopausal symptoms! By that I mean mood swings, hot flashes, brain fog and chronic pains like arthritis. I had pains on rainy day, humid days and some days for no reason. But recently, a friend of mine (Dean Toriumi) suggested that I try an anti-inflammatory diet. This requires that you give up all simple carbohydrates, (pasta, rice, white bread) sugar, soda, caffine and any unhealthy fats, especially trans fats and saturated fats. I can't even eat potatos, tomatos and eggplants because they are part of the "nightshade" family of plants which contains chemical alkaloid called solanine WHICH triggers pain in some people...probably me. I CAN eat lots of soy products, almonds, 3 essential fatty acids in fish and flax seed, and lots of salads! I know. I AM in the business of salad dressing...how lucky am I?

But after trying it for 2 weeks, I was convinced that the throbbing in myhands have gone and now I've been on the diet for a month and even with this rainy weather, no pain in my knees or hips!!!

So with that, I'm putting up a new recipe that features how I like to eat my tofu with ChiliCha:

Ingredients:

1 box of firm tofu

1 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup chopped garlic

1 cup chopped green oinions

2 cups chilicha

Directions:

Boil a pot of water. Cut the block of tofu in half and place the tofu into the boiling water for about 5-6 minutes. combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix to make the sauce mix. Cut the tofu into small cubes. Pour the sauce mix over the tofu according to taste. (Keep the left over sauce to pour over dumplings or noodles) Mix & toss & Serve!