EAT THESE Foods to AVOID Steroid Side Effects!

Introduction to Steroid Diet Tips 0:00

Steroids are amazing for stopping a flare, but they can be a disaster for your blood sugar and your waistline. The good news, you can actually use your diet to buffer those side effects of the prednisone. Today, I am breaking down the steroid diet, the simple dietary changes that can help minimize the side effects of the steroids and also help manage your acute flare of rheumatoid arthritis. Hello all of you Rheumatologists who are here, this is Dr. Ramesh Das Vedi, your rheuimator arthritis guide at The Room Doc, as well as a practicing rheumeatologist here at Empower Arthritis and Rhematology Center.

Today, I'm helping you learn more about simple dietary changes that can help you minimize the side effects of steroids. Please stick around. Before I go further, don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel so that you can always get this content and that it can also help other RA warriors

Why Diet Matters on Steroids 0:58

get these types of content and also put some comments so that we can understand what type of contents you like and how we better serve you. And we also have some gifts for you, the number one being the free copy of the Holistic Rheumatoid Arthritis Guidebook which you can use to help understand about rheumatitis and don't forget to accept the recipe. It contains an anti-inflammatory smoothie that you can prepare every morning so that You can manage your RA better and you don't need to go to those steroids.

Now the first question that might come in your mind is why diet is so important while you are taking steroids? And I have listed four important things that will help you understand why Diet is So important. The first one is diet can help decrease those common steroid related side effects. Proper nutrition that includes bone healthy diet, can make your bones stronger as well as prevent muscle loss, which is a common problem in steroids.

Protecting Bone Health with Calcium and Vitamin D 2:04

As we have discussed in the previous video, steroids can change your fluid balance, your body retain more fluid. That's why if you can manage fluid and salt intake by your diet, it can also help minimize those side effects. And when you understand these side-effects and when understand dietary changes, you better manage those effects and even you could prevent those sides effects while you are taking steroids. Now let's start with the bone health. We have talked in the previous video that steroid can weaken your bone and it can increase your risk of osteoporosis which is basically the weakness in your bones and increase the risk for fracture.

So to minimize that we can make some dietary changes that I have outlined here that can help prevent those bone weaknesses. and the focus is on adequate calcium and vitamin D. So, steroids can help decrease the absorption of both calcium & vitamin d causing increasing bone loss. Taking extra supplement calcium can also help your bone get enough calcium for building bones. and aim for at least around 1200 milligram per day of calcium in divided doses. But also check with your doctors on how much calcium do you need per date, depending on your overall health.

Some of you may not be able to tolerate calcium supplement because of side effects, so always check your doctor what is the right dose for you. Along with the calcium, vitamin D is also important for our bone health, So when you are taking steroid, taking vitamin B supplement is as important.

Managing Fluid Retention and Blood Pressure 3:34

Some of you RA warriors if you have osteoporosis which is bone weakness these dietary changes will help you but along with a dietary supplement your doctor might also add some other medication to protect your bone. So ask your rheumatologist on how you can better protect you bone while you are taking steroids. So the second problem we talked about earlier was unusual fluid retention and then the heart health related problem like increased blood pressure. So to minimize those, there are three important dietary changes.

And the number one is limiting sodium. This will help you minimize fluid detention as well as minimize high blood pressures. The second one, is increasing potassium. Steroids can also cause low potassium level. That's why adding a diet that is high in potassium might help you maintain your good fluid balance as well as your heart health. And adequate hydration is also important when you are taking the steroids. An important pro tip, there are some of the few fruits and vegetables that are high potassium, including bananas, avocado, and green leafy vegetables, which are higher in the potassium that will help manage your fluid well.

Supporting Muscle Health with Protein 4:46

while you are taking steroids. The next important dietary changes is to support your muscles. As we have discussed previously, steroids can cause muscle loss. That's why it's very important to focus on intake of protein while on steroids and focus lean protein such as chicken, turkey and fish which has good quality protein. if you are vegetarian then you can also use beans lentil and tofu which has high amount of protein so also focus on low fat dairy product and egg that has also high quality protein whole grain also have a lot of fiber that will also help support your gut health and this fiber containing whole grains include oats quinoa and brown rice and always focus on whole wheat rather than the white bread and these protein containing diet can help prevent muscle loss which can be a problem in long term use of steroids.

There are certain foods that we need to limit particularly the high sugar and refined carbohydrate and the reason is We have discussed previously that steroids increase your blood sugar, increasing your risk of diabetes, so minimizing this high sugar and high refined carbohydrate can help minimize high

Limiting Sugar and Refined Carbs 6:00

blood sugars as well as diabetes. Many of you might have increased appetite when you are taking steroids. So to minimize excessive use of high sugar containing food, try to keep some snacks that are high in protein such as protein bars or nuts or vegetables and fruits that can help minimize unusual intake, the increased intake of higher carb containing foods. The other important dietary changes is adequate hydration. So drink plenty of water when you are taking steroids to minimise dehydration. When you are taking your steroid, always take it with meal or with a glass of milk that can help protect your gut.

That can protect you risk of having gastritis due to steroids. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to manage your rheumatoid arthritis as well as the managing the side effects of steroids So have your team available for you that includes your rheumatologist and even a dietitian that can help you guide what are the diet good for, you and what the diets that are not good,

Hydration and Taking Steroids Safely 6:58

for while you are taking steroids. So use the advice from your Rheumatolytist, your primary care doctor and a dietician who can guide you better on how you effectively manage your symptoms of side effect with steroids Making a major dietary changes can be challenging. That's why start small, make small changes, but be consistent with those small change. So at least do one thing at a time. Start one dietary change and then add other tools or dietary things that we have discussed today. that will help you maintain those dietary changes.

If you try to do too many things at the same time, it can be overwhelming. You are dealing with RA flare, you are doing with steroid side effects, and then adding the dietary change is can overwhelming,

Building Small Sustainable Diet Changes 7:42

so try make simple small changes, but be consistent with those changes and thank you all of you rheumatoid arthritis warrior for watching the video if you like this video please subscribe to our channel gives us a thumbs up and always let us know what type of content do you want in the comments that will help us understand what you truly need and what will better help you manage your arthritis and the side effects of these medications and i'll see you in next video bye bye