...if so, has a vegan diet improved or worsened your symptoms?
I had been vegetarian with some vegan leanings for nearly a decade when my SS symptoms hit, so from my experiences, the diet certainly didn't protect me. The weight of current evidence seems to favor a low-carb, paleo-style autoimmune diet. As vegans typically eat a lot of wheat, soy, and other grains which are known to have inflammatory properties, I don't see it as ideal for autoimmune patients. That isn't to say that a vegan diet can't be helpful, but I have seen little evidence for it. If a particular vegan diet cut out dairy, sugar, and most processed foods, I can see how it would be an improvement over the average American or Western diet, though still worse than a low-carb diet. The main proponent of a vegan diet seems to be Venus Williams, and she has also used a number of powerful corticosteroids to treat her SS in the past (http://www.whatyousjo.com/2016/09/hackers-release-medical-records-of-sjogrens-syndrome-patient-venus-williams/), so I take her words with a grain of salt.
I have personally found processed foods, wheat and gluten-containing grains, dairy, and added sugar to be sources of inflammation. I generally try to make my own foods using fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, and some safe starches like rice and sweet potatoes. There are a variety of different diets built around this eating style, including the Autoimmune Protocol diet, the Perfect Health diet, and the Whole30 diet (I did not post links because most of these diet sites sell products).
My story is similar to WhatYouSjo's.
I was vegetarian before the SS hit.
Same diet of cutting out inflammatory foods.
The form of sugar I have reactions to are white sugar and sugar substitutes.
When I have cut out meat, I sometimes gain a little weight and feel sluggish.
Even if I'm careful not to replace those foods with poor quality ones.
What helps me the most is to not eat sugar, greatly reduce flour and any junk food and to drink a lot of water.
One of the 1st questions after examination at Sjogrens Clinic was "Have you tried an anti-inflammatory diet"?
My grandmother cared for us and cooked for scratch.. so I grew up on what today would be called 'Whole foods'
I simply follow suit and did what I knew with a few tweaks...
I do not fry foods, use only olive oil, did skim milk for a long time.. then stopped Milk when I learned of the hormones/antibiotics etc.
I have tried the occasional fast food with young granddaughter.. it leaves me nauseous and ill.
My Mom would sometimes use packaged things in her cooking .. it would leave me feeling unwell. (I would put other items on my my plate and praise her to the hilt..lol)
Soda I gave up decades ago.. it left me more thirsty. And while taking a marketing course learned that was indeed one of the goals for consumers to "consume more".
White sugar products are not worth the ill effect I am left with.
So we all learn our limits.
But, I later learned I needed to "increase' protein, especially with a chronic illness to maintain bone and muscle, etc.
*Flares are bad as then I have no appetite in addition to an already low appetite due to lessened ability to taste and smell, savor foods.
I find it better to eat 5x's during the day.. by adding 2 protein based snacks.
Recently ran across the Nurse Study and the China Study.. think those are two of the largest and longest to date.
Yes I'm vegan and had been vegan for some time before my Sjogrens type symptoms began. I don't know if they'd be worse if I wasn't vegan. Fatigue and eye problems are my worst symptoms, however touch wood I haven't had much pain, just slight aches in hands and arms.
Hi :)
Probably not helpful but my son has Crohn's, which is autoimmune and he switched to a vegan diet. Since switching he has had fewer flare ups - ts pretty well under control. He also lost weight, his cholesterol dropped drastically which is good because it was too high. He also has a lot more energy than he had.
I think he injects himself with humira once a month and if he does flare - he has emergency prednisone but he hasn't had to use it recently.
Take care - Scottie :)