The Connection between Food and Autoimmune disorders

Your body’s immune response is a marvelous defense system. It protects against foreign invaders, injury, and infection through a complex communication system between your body’s cells and the chemical signals they produce. If you have an healthy immune system, this communication is clear and specific; the body can tell the difference between a foreigner and itself.

An autoimmune disease is any condition where a person’s immune system has a abnormal immune response and mistakenly attacks along with damaging its own bodily tissues.  This leaves the immune response is flawed, and the communication system breaks down where it can’t distinguish the body’s tissues from foreign cells.

Close to 24 million (7%) people in the United States are affected by an autoimmune disease and scientists have identified more than 80 clinically distinct autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmunity is the No. 2 cause of chronic illness, according to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), a nonprofit health agency dedicated to increasing awareness of autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases can affect nearly every part of the body.

There was a study done by  The Multiple Autoimmune Disease Genetics Consortium (MADGC) in 1999. In this study, they describe a unique collection of 65 families comprising 300-400 individuals.  To qualify, a family must have at least two of the eight autoimmune diseases chosen for the study.  These core diseases include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type 1 diabetes (T1D), multiple sclerosis (MS), autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto thyroiditis or Graves disease), juvenile RA, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis), psoriasis, and primary Sjögren syndrome. The main objective was to see if they could identify genes that several autoimmune diseases have in common.

The researchers followed these families around for 5 years and taking detailed histories through mailings and office visits, researchers hope to get some idea of pertinent environmental factors, and which ones appear to be most relevant to which genetic profiles. Factors likely to be scrutinized include infectious and noninfectious agents, drugs, vaccines, food, dietary supplements, organic solvents, ultraviolet light, stress and stressful life events, and occupational exposures.  They found there was a common between autoimmunity and inflammation that couldn’t be ignored. Inflammation helped to set the stage per say for everything else to fall into place. You certainly dont have to study tens and tens of thousands of people to see an association with an environmental factors.

So, what is the connection between Food and Autoimmunity. There is this big lie that we have all got stuck in and we are not looking at the most obvious solution.

All of this abuse on our bodies is disrupting our body’s normal rhythms and being able to function properly.  There is scientific evidence available that support the effectiveness of the AIP diet in the management and treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Food is thy medicine, right?
Actually, it can work one of two ways. Food can be thy medicine or food can be thy death. Food affects your gut health and along with increasing or decreasing the inflammation in your body. Unfortunately, our western world diet is full of foods that have a bad impact on both your gut, inflammation and immunity. The truth is the foods that we are consuming are creating an epidemic of illness in America.  We are actually nutrient starved and very malnourished.  American’s are suffering from over consumption of refined oils, refined grains and these processed food like food products. The typical American Standard diet lacks nutrients that are absolutely essential for good health.

Your gut is your portal to health. It houses 80 percent of your immune system, and without your gut being healthy it is practically impossible to have a healthy immune system.  A properly working digestive system (your gut) is vital to your health.

Did you know that your gut is the largest component of your immune system? Around 1,000 different species of bugs live in your gut. Your gut has been linked to contributing to weight loss and for overall improvement of numerous symptoms, including depression, anxiety, brain fog, skin problems, hormonal issues, immune weaknesses, digestive problems, fatigue and of course the elephant in the room; Autoimmune disorders.

Inflammation is one of the common traits of an autoimmune disease. You must eliminate the foods that may be causing inflammation in the gut.

Think about what you’re putting in your body. Either you’re fighting disease or feeding disease. You must get a concept of nutrient density.  Gluten, dairy and soy products create inflammation in the digestive tract. If you have inflammation in the digestive system undigested proteins leak into the blood stream creating a heightened immune reaction that often makes issues worse and can lead to a leaky gut which causes other problems.

The autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet is designed to help reduce inflammation in the body to relieve symptoms of autoimmune disorders. The AIP diet is also based on a belief that autoimmune conditions are caused by a “leaky gut”, which is medically now referred to as altered intestinal permeability. Which is when undigested proteins leak into the blood stream creating a heightened immune reaction.

We are all individuals and each one of us are unique with our own metabolic and nutrition efficiency needs. There are many different AIP diets and many wonderful books to purchase or you could merely do you own research online.


The Keto AIP-

Foods to potentially avoid include grains, soy, lectins,  legumes, dairy, all processed foods, refined sugars, fake sugars, industrial seed oils, eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, gum, alternative sweetener, emulsifiers, and food thickeners.  It focuses on keeping your blood sugar in check along with clean eating, low GI fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, hormone- free high quality meats.

(I am currently following the Keto Autoimmune Protocol)


The paleo Diet-

Foods to potentially avoid include grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods, refined sugars, industrial seed oils, eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, gum, alternative sweetener, emulsifiers, and food thickeners.

The anti-inflammatory diet-

This is much similar to the Mediterranean diet. it focuses only anti-inflammatory foods like fish, olive oils, fruits, vegetables, legumes,  nuts and seeds.

A plant-based diet-

This diet is plant based. It focuses strongly on vegetables, fruits, nuts , seeds, healthy oils, legumes and beans.

A glute-free diet-

Gluten is found in grains such as wheat, barley, rye, and a cross between wheat and rye.  It focuses on avoiding gluten which is found in many foods.

They all  have common threads, specific dietary changes need to be tailored to the person. There is no one size fits all.  Life isn’t a 1 size fits all solution.  Each one of us are unique and we are biochemically individually wired and what works for one person may not work for another. We are extremely complex and each person should be valued independently. My reason for having a leaky gut, inflammation and an autoimmune disorder might not be your reason. Each day we encounter is different for each of us. Every Cell in your body responds to the foods you eat, the products you put on your body to the house hold chemicals that you purchase for your home. No matter which one you decide to try

By eating nutrient-rich foods and avoiding inflammatory ones, the AIP diet aims to heal any holes in the gut.
Resets the immune system
Prevent the autoimmune response
Reduce symptoms of autoimmune diseases
Prevent the occurrence of secondary autoimmune diseases
People who do the AIP diet should follow it strictly for a few weeks and then slowly reintroduce foods that they have avoided.
The idea is to see if there is a reaction when the food is reintroduced. If there is a reaction, the suggestion is that a person should exclude this food from their diet long-term.






Breaking the Chains of Hypothyroidism: Unlock The Secrets That Help Women Begin to Heal and Get Out of Hypothyroidism Survival Mode

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J. Donath, K. Landsteiner, “Uber paroxysmale haemoglobinurie,” Munchen Medicine Wochenschr, 51:1590-3, 1904.

D.L. Jacobson et al., “Epidemiology and estimated population burden of selected autoimmune diseases in the United States,” Clin Immunol Immunopathol, 84:223-43, 1997.

K.G. Becker et al., “Clustering of non-major histocompatibility complex susceptibility candidate loci in human autoimmune diseases,” Proc Natl Acad Sci, 95:9979-84, 1998.

M. Anderson, “Crohn’s: An autoimmune or bacterial-related disease?” The Scientist, 15[16]:22, Aug. 20, 2001.


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