What If Doing This Helped Your Joint Pain? Inflammation, Joint Pain and Eggs…
What if you eliminated one food and your joints stopped aching? I want to revisit a subject I wrote about more than two years ago. I decided to bring it up again as it’s recently become an issue for me. The subject is inflammation, joint pain and eggs.
I had written about my affinity for eggs and how, with my change in diet, I had been a bit challenged as to what to have for protein for breakfast. I was eating smoked salmon occasionally, but with the smoking process, you don’t want to go overboard with that either.
As an adult, I love eggs. I didn’t as a child though. Well, that’s not entirely true. I liked the white part if it were well cooked, but the yolk I thought was gag material. Really! That being said, I certainly acquired a taste for them as an adult. I make sure they are free range and organic, but fried, poached, hard boiled…I like them any way you cook them.
Dairy is no longer on the menu for me, except for the occasional treat which nixes traditional yogurt, cheese and milk, so for a long time, I had been eating an egg for breakfast nearly every morning. More than two years ago, I stopped doing that, and I reduced my egg consumption to one egg a week. Of course, there were still eggs in some of my baking.
What I did
I had cut my egg consumption way back because I noticed in the previous months that my finger joints were getting stiff and more than a little achy. I’d also been developing some knots on my knuckles. This struck me as odd, as I’ve never had issues with joint pain before. It did cause me some worry however, as my aunt had really bad psoriatic arthritis. I know it’s in the gene pool, and I’m not anxious to go down that road!
I thought the achy joint complaints would pass, but they were just hanging in there with the knots getting even larger! Having done a little more reading about inflammation, joint pain and eggs, I discovered there can be a definite link between them. I think what I did was push my egg tolerance over the top as they had not bothered me in the past; but I also hadn’t ever eaten eggs nearly every single day!
Experimenting
As an experiment, I cut back to one egg a week (yes, I missed them) and had been eating smoked salmon, sardines or mackerel for breakfast as my protein instead. Some days I eat a salad for breakfast with some of the rice and bean mixture I make for my complete protein. In just a few weeks, I noticed my finger joints were not bothering me nearly as much, and even more encouraging was the fact that the knots that had been developing on my knuckles were getting smaller.
Recently, my choice of eggs for breakfast has been on the increase again…that is, I found I was eating an egg for breakfast about every other day, so 3 to 4 eggs per week plus what is in the baking. Also on the increase was my joint discomfort, and the knots on my fingers were returning. I was in denial for a while, but now have stopped eating eggs for breakfast and have them only in the occasional baked goods. My knuckles are feeling better, my joints are not red anymore, and are decreasing in size.
One of my favorite nutritional gurus, JJ Virgin, has eggs on her list of 7 things to eliminate from your diet. I pooh-poohed it, but I guess she’s right; there does seem to be a link between inflammation, joint pain and eggs for many of us. Her book, The Virgin Diet, is very interesting, and I’ve used a lot of the tips, information and recipes I found there. I suggest it as a great resource to have in your library to support your healthy future.
If you suffer from painful joints and/or arthritis, you may want to try reducing or eliminating your egg consumption for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference. Also, you can try eliminating foods in the nightshade family like eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. Doing that may help with joint discomfort as well.
We are all a work in progress, and sometimes we need to reevaluate and correct our course.
Helping You Achieve Major Wellness in Your Life!
Cheryl A Major
I’m Cheryl A Major, a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. My TV show, “Thin Strong Healthy”, airs on WestfordCat and is an offshoot of my blog http://ThinStrongHealthy.com . I offer ongoing information, live and online courses and personal health coaching to help you feel better and be healthier. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter@CherylAMajor where I post information to help you be and feel healthier1
My first book, “Eat Your Blues Away” in which I chronicle my recovery from depression by changing how I eat is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback! Remember you DO NOT need a Kindle device to read this, and that the Kindle Reader is a no cost way to read books on your laptop, desktop, tablet, or phone.
16 Comments
Pamela Wiscaver
Since going milk and gluten free I started eating more eggs for breakfast. Much to my amazement, my feet ache and thumb has swollen significantly. The only explanation I think of is the eggs.
Found this site when looking for connection. Think your right!
Cheryl Major
Hi Pamela, I consistently notice an uptick in discomfort as soon as I increase the eggs I eat per week. It’s a challenge as I love eggs! I substitute some rice and beans for breakfast on a salad instead of eggs.
Kostas
I was wondering Did you just eliminate eggs or also dairy and gluten. How can you be so sure that it is the eggs? Really interesting observation though. My worry is that if we eliminate everything like gluten, dairy and eggs not much is left.
Cheryl Major
I agree it really limits you in your choices. I deal with that as well. The best way to proceed in my opinion, and I’m not a doctor, is to eliminate all those suspects for at least a couple of weeks and then add them back one at a time to see how your body reacts. My experience is you’ll know pretty quickly what is right for you and what isn’t. Great question! Thank you for asking it!!
cis
I ate an egg for brunch on Wednesday and have been experiencing joint pain for 2 days: first quite bad “carpal tunnel”, then a nearly locking knee, also the tendons around my elbows and Achilles were very sore and the soles of my feet and fingers were sore. Moreover, heartburn in the morning of the second day after the ill-fated brunch.
Was it simply the egg (had not eaten one in weeks) or also the fact that it was a bit old (it turns out it was 2 months old) or could some other food I have been eating more frequently be involved in molecular mimicry with eggs? (so by eating some other substance I may increase my intolerance to eggs). If so, I wonder what it could be…
Cheryl Major
Eggs are know to aggravate arthritis symptoms. It’s important to find out what you are sensitive to. It could be the egg if you are extremely sensitive and could also be other foods like member of the nightshade family: peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and so on. Try to think back and see if you gave yourself a double dose of aggravation by eating some of those foods along with the egg. Thank you for your comment!
Olive
I have been on the AIP diet for almost 6 months and just started reintroductions, first with eggs. I noticed no symptoms with egg yolks besides firmer stool maybe, but even though egg whites are at a different suggested stage of introduction, decided to try them next so I could know if I could eat the whole egg instead of just sticking to yolks. I used to eat eggs every day for breakfast, too, before AIP.
After eating some whites, I started feeling pain along my lower right leg/calf and knee. I looked up to see if eggs caused leg pain and I found your article. Its encouraging to hear you still eat eggs occasionally in baked goods, because I can’t imagine not eating them at all!
I am honestly surprised to have any reaction to eggs, although I am not surprised that my reaction is to the whites. I love that it is a renewable protein and had hoped to keep chickens and ducks one day, so having a reaction to them is slightly devastating. Although I still could try duck egg whites and see what my reaction is as I know some people who have chicken egg allergies are good with duck eggs. Also I know I can always try again later down the road in time after my gut has had more time to heal.
I wonder, do you notice a different reaction/lesser reaction from eggs in baked goods?
Thank you for the article confirming a suspicion, as I never would have thought of a connection between eggs and leg pain.
Cheryl Major
Hi Olive, Good for you making these changes! To answer your question, I don’t seem to notice as much of a reaction when eggs are in baked goods. I suspect it’s because I’m eating a small amount of the egg in a slice of the gluten free bread I make than if I were to eat a whole egg for breakfast. I wanted to keep chickens too, so I feel your pain on that one… Thanks so much for your comment! Cheryl
Martha
Do you find that you can eat duck, goose or quail eggs without this issue? I’m struggling with very similar pain problems. I can eat quail eggs, but am hoping some other egg will also be do-able. Quail eggs are tasty but tedious (hard to crack and one must crack 4ish to equal a chicken egg) and expensive.
Cheryl Major
I’m afraid I can’t answer your question Martha as I don’t eat those eggs. What I’ve done is limit my eating of chicken eggs to once or twice a week (after not eating them for a month or two). That seems to work for me.
Marvin
I’m glad i found some info about this. I did some research a month ago when I started to feel pain in both knees, the left one in particular when i go upstairs. So I did find out the eggs might trigger inflammation. At some point during the pandemic I picked the habit on eating 2 eggs in the morning and some days I would eat 2 more eggs in the evening. The only thing i changed in my daily diet is the eggs as before the pandemic I wouldn’t even buy them. I’m a male in my 40s with no health conditions, weight 155#. I stopped eating eggs for 7 days and the pain dissapeared. I wanted to make sure it was the egg so I started eating them again, the pain in my knees came back but only while taking the stairs up. I stopped eating eggs and again a week later no pain. Why the knees only i don’t know. I workout 4 times a week and restarted going to the gym as soon as it was open. Glad i got no pain in other joints but i’m concerned about the knees. I will have a check up with the doctor soon. It’s is dissapointing, eggs are so easy to cook ;(
Cheryl Major
I agree Marvin. Eggs are easy to cook and so versatile. Including one occasionally I have found to be tolerable. Thanks for your comment.
Dirk
What eggs are you talking about. Is it organic not just free-range but organic free-range? Normal commercial eggs are poison but organic eggs contain more omega 3. Is there someone with symptoms using organic eggs?
Cheryl Major
Hi Dirk. Eggs, which I love, are unfortunately a food many people are either allergic to or sensitive to. This happens regardless of whether they are organic free range eggs or not.
Brian G Cole
I get alot of joint pain when I eat eggs too. Egg yolk being the highest source of arachidonic acid which is an inflammatory fatty acid sure doesnt help but even the whites cause me joint issues as well.
Cheryl Major
Thanks for your comment Brian! It’s kind of a bummer, isn’t it? Eggs are such an easy delicious source of protein. I’m down to about 1 egg a week and the occasional ones used in baking from time to time.