<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Michael Thorn's post May 29th about the therapeudic sorghum http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?A1=ind0705E&L=celiac inspired this whole inflammation & diet theme for me. I just had to try sorghum and to my surprize I have found that I do feel much better since I've been eating those muffins I posted about last week. I've been able to reduce the amount of allergy medication I depend on to get me through the day. [Muffin recipe posted Tuesday 12th of June. Don't dare ask me for the recipe! ha ha ha! :o) It's in the archives: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?A1=ind0706B&L=celiac ] However, I can't give total credit to the sorghum muffins alone. One of the reasons I feel better, I'm sure, is that I've replaced my usual corn based breakfast cereal and my lunch time sesame rice crackers with sorghum muffins. Removing two highly inflammatory foods & substituting an anti-inflammatory food has resulted in significantly less overall pain for me. (I have mold allergies that make me feel rotten in the spring, summer & fall... looking forward to retiring to a dryer climate!) Anyway ... that said, I don't want to give anyone the idea that I believe corn & sesame are BAD foods. They are not. But for me, with my propensity towards inflammation, I need to reduce their intake to be more comfortable. If I were as diet & supplement savvy as our dear Selena, I could probably handle more sesame & corn. But, this is the best I can do for now, so I'm trying to stay away from sesame & reduce my corn intake. I did some searching for more information on controlling inflammation with diet & supplements. I've come up with some items I think some of you may find interesting.: STRONG WOMEN & MEN BEAT ARTHRITIS by Miriam Nelson - a book my friend used to get his arthritis pain under control. A year ago, he was hobbling the pain was so severe. He's now enjoying life again w/o using arthritis medications. This book contains recommendations for diet changes, supplements and lifestyle changes that really work. http://www.nutritiondata.com/ This website is pretty cool. It has a rating scale of foods for IF (inflammatory factor). You can type in almost any food & it will rate it according to a certain nutritionist's opinion of it's ability to contribute to inflammation. http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/inflammation - explanation of IF (inflammatory factor) on the ND website above (Keep in mind, however, that this rating is based upon a Monica Reinagel's interpretation of facts plus her opinions. It's not solely based in imperical evidence such a glycemic index or caloric content of foods.) http://www.inflammationfactor.com/ - Monica Reinagel's website (author of The Inflammation Free Diet Plan) The Inflammation Free Diet Plan contains the complete listings of IF ratings for over 1600 foods. I haven't read this book, so I can't recommend it. It sounds pretty interesting & I plan on buying it. Valerie in Tacoma, WA Below are some comments I got along this topic: -------- In a round about way, I've been avoiding sesame, but it's because of the high oxalate content... and of course, high ox can cause inflammation. Nice to know about the Omega 3's vs. the 6's. ...JJ -------- I haven't noticed this issue, but have rheumatoid arthritis, so probably just accept inflammation from any source as part of the disease. However, I just read an article the past day or two (sorry, I can't even remember where from - I think the local newspaper) that stated that we get lots of Omega 6 with foods that are enriched with it, but we don't get enough Omega 3. When the balance gets too far in favor of Omega 6, it has an adverse affect on our bodies. Basically the same thing you're saying, except you notice it with sesame. It also said that a 4-1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 was the maximum we should be at, but most Americans are now at 20-1. I guess we need to increase Omega 3 in our diets. It was touting fish oil as a good source, but I find I can't tolerate that or very much flax seed, so I guess I'll have to get mine from leafy greens. Hope you continue to feel better by avoiding it. Janet ---------- Thanks for your recipe. I really like sorghum. I tried your muffins last night and they are very tasty. I modified them with hemp seeds and hemp mile--something I got at the local heath food store. They have a nutty taste and are supposed to be loaded with the omegas. I also substituted grape seed oil because I recently learned this is supposed to be helpful for inflammation... Here is a link to the webpage of the product. I found it at Ray's Supermarket-one of our mainstream markets here. It has a nutty flavor. I recently read that it could be used on painful muscles and joints (i.e. arthritic) so I tried it. It is very light and absorbant and I found that it was a great moisturizer for my skin. Not sure if it reduced pain or not. It is made by "International Collection" and I noticed they produce a bunch of other unique cooking oils like almond oil, etc. The website is www.aarhusunited.com/uk then click on personal care. Maren ---------- *Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List* Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC