By Mitchelle Uzorka, 6:55am
To help you live better with the disease, we’ve put together a list of 5 tips.
1. Exercise regularly;
Exercise is beneficial for everyone, whether sick or healthy. For lupus patients, it can be even better. Exercise helps maintain weight and regain muscle strength. Lupus patients should avoid high-impact exercises if they experience joint pain. A regular program of low-impact exercise, such as swimming or walking, can help reduce stress, build strength, and improve movement.
2. Eat healthy;
Build your diet around lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. For protein, stick to fish and poultry instead of red meat. Also make sure you get plenty of calcium for bone and joint health. If fluid retention or high blood pressure is a problem for you, reduce your salt intake.
3. Reduce stress to reduce flares;
A sudden worsening of lupus symptoms is called a flare. Stress can trigger and exacerbate your flares. To avoid triggering flares with stress, try to relax and let go of the things that worry you the most.
4. Avoid alcohol;
Drinking alcohol responsibly is usually not a problem for people with lupus, but there are some situations in which you need to use caution. Alcohol can interfere with some drugs used to treat lupus, such as methotrexate — drinking alcoholic beverages can make it less effective.
5. Get yourself some vitamin D;
A research review of the effect of vitamin D on lupus, published in 2013 in the journal PLoS ONE, identified 10 studies that found that a decrease in vitamin D levels was associated with an increase in lupus symptoms. You can get the benefits of vitamin D from food and supplements. The sun also provides vitamin D, but the sun can do more harm that good for lupus patients.
Source; Lupus News Today
