10 Tools To Start Reversing
Your Autoimmune Disease
Living with an autoimmune disease can be a lonely experience. Many
people wait years to find out why they're sick, and once they're finally
diagnosed, they receive few options from their doctor.
The
problem with the mainstream model of care is an outdated model that
treats your body like a machine with separate parts. You're diagnosed
with a disease,
and it's matched with a corresponding pharmaceutical drug. If you can't
be diagnosed, you're often labeled as depressed and given an
antidepressant. You're referred from specialist to specialist:
gastroenterologists, endocrinologists and rheumatologists, and given
more drugs, namely immunosuppressants or steroid therapy. In reality,
your body is a complex, interconnected web of brilliant biochemistry.
There are no magic pills.
In my last article,
I went over the causes for the epidemic rise in autoimmune conditions.
Autoimmune conditions often start with a genetic susceptibility, but
there are many external factors that are also linked with autoimmunity.
The old view of genetics was that if your mom or dad had a disease, you
were predestined to have this health condition.
Today, however,
science takes into account the field of epigenetics, or the lifestyle
and environmental factors that instruct your genes how to be expressed.
The foods you eat or don't eat, the nutrients you are taking or not
taking, your stress levels, sleep habits and exposure to toxins are
dynamically determining your gene expression. So instead of viewing
genetics as an immutable verdict on your life, we have to take into
consideration how these epigenetic factors are turning on and off good
and bad genes.
When it comes to autoimmune conditions, once
that genetic switch has been turned on, it doesn't turn off again. With
that said, the autoimmune response can be dampened and reversed
tremendously, naturally. It's up to us to modulate our immune systems
and regain our health. Here are some great tips to start taking your
health back into your own hands and reclaiming your life:
1. Know the level of your gut permeability.
Your gut is where the majority of your immune system resides. When your guts protective lining is compromised, it can give rise to an autoimmune response throughout your body. I run labs
to look at the level of my patients gut permeability so we can address
this major underlying component to regaining ones health.
2. Heal your gut.
Once you know the level of your gut permeability and whether you have
any secondary issues like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
or chronic bacterial, yeast or parasitic infections, you will want to
start the healing process. There are many approaches to this aspect of
health, but for here's some great general information on natural ways to heal the gut.
3. Know your antibody levels.
Depending on your specific autoimmune conditions, there will be
elevated antibodies, proteins that are a part of your immune defense
system. Knowing your specific antibody levels will help gauge your
healing process from an objective lab perspective. Knowing your antibody
levels associated with other relevant autoimmune disorders will give
you insight to any secondary issues to deal with.
4. Avoid gluten.
If you have an autoimmune condition, you don't really need a lab to
know you should avoid gluten. This protein, which is found in wheat,
spelt, rye and barley, is linked to many autoimmune conditions. Though I do run comprehensive gluten intolerance labs
for some autoimmune cases to definitively know the level of their
intolerance, removing gluten for 60 days, then reintroducing it, can
also be a helpful test for some people.
5. Find your cross-reactive foods and remove them.
Even gluten-free grains like corn and rice can flare up the immune system in some people. Molecular mimicry
occurs your body confuses your own body tissue for the similar proteins
found in some foods, is something that I see very often in my practice.
Find out if you are having any cross-reaction with the food you are
eating. This can be very helpful for people who have cleaned up their
diet but are still having symptoms.
6. Make detoxification a regular practice.
People with autoimmune conditions can also have altered detoxification
pathways, so helping your body on a daily basis to remove toxins is a
good idea for people with autoimmune conditions. Eating a variety of
green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach and avoiding sugar and
processed foods will aid your body in many different ways.
7. Add green tea and turmeric into your diet.
8. Avoid refined table salt.
Table salt has been shown to aggravate and increase some autoimmune conditions.
9. Manage stress.
It's no surprise that chronic stress is like gasoline for an autoimmune
condition. Many of my patients even noticed the onset of their
condition to have first appeared during very stressful life events.
Regular practice of meditation or tai chi can help give you tools to
better manage stress and balance your immune system.
10. Increase your glutathione levels.
This important nutrient
is also deficient in many people with poor health. Eating plenty of
sulfur-rich vegetables like onions, cabbage and broccoli aid in
methylation, a biochemical pathway which produces glutathione naturally.
Bringing it all together
Autoimmune
disease is not curable, but can be manageable, and there's so much you
can do naturally to put your autoimmune into remission. These tips are
great steps to reversing autoimmune disease and living a vibrant,
healthy life. I've seen countless people with horrible autoimmune
symptoms completely regain their health
Source: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/
