The Autoimmune Protocol. Autoimmune disease is an epidemic in our society, affecting an estimated 5. Americans. But it doesn’t have to be. Although genetic predisposition accounts for approximately one- third of your risk of developing an autoimmune disease, the other two- thirds comes from your environment, your diet, and your lifestyle. In fact, experts are increasingly recognizing that certain dietary factors are key contributors to autoimmune disease, placing these autoimmune conditions in the same class of diet- and lifestyle- related diseases as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. This means that autoimmune disease is directly linked to our food choices and how we decide to live your life. ![]() The important differences between the GAPS Diet and Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) and which is best for reversing autoimmune disease.
Hi, I have just read thru anti-inflammatory paleo diet.what on earth do I eat thenI am very discouraged and how long do I leave out these foods, it’s bad.It also means that we can manage and reverse autoimmune disease simply by changing how you eat and making more informed choices about sleep, activity, and stress. The root cause of all autoimmune diseases is the same: our immune system, which is supposed to protect us from invading microorganisms, turns against us and attacks our proteins, cells, and tissues instead. Which proteins, cells, and tissues are attacked determines the autoimmune disease and its symptoms. In Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the thyroid gland is attacked. In Rheumatoid Arthritis, the tissues of your joints are attacked. In psoriasis, proteins within the layers of cells that make up your skin are attacked. However, the root cause is the same. Foods can be viewed as having two kinds of constituents within them: those that promote health (like nutrients!) and those that undermine health (like inflammatory compounds). Other foods are obvious fails because they have a relative lack of health- promoting constituents and are rife with problematic compounds—good examples are gluten- containing grains, peanuts, and most soy products. But many foods fall into the amorphous world of gray in between these two extremes. Tomatoes, for example, have some exciting nutrients, but they also contain several compounds that are so effective at stimulating the immune system that they have been investigated for use in vaccines as adjuvants (the chemicals in vaccines that enhance your immune response to whatever you’re getting immunized against). The biggest difference between a standard Paleo diet and the Autoimmune Protocol is where we draw the line between “yes” foods and “no” foods in order to get more health- promoting compounds and fewer detrimental compounds in our diet. Those who are typically quite healthy can tolerate less- optimal foods than those who aren’t. You can think of the Autoimmune Protocol as a pickier version of the Paleo diet; it accepts only those foods that are clear winners. As such, the Autoimmune Protocol places greater emphasis on the most nutrient- dense foods in our food supply, including organ meat, seafood, and vegetables. And the Autoimmune Protocol eliminates foods allowed on the typical Paleo diet that have compounds that may stimulate the immune system or harm the gut environment, including nightshades (like tomatoes and peppers), eggs, nuts, seeds, and alcohol. The goal of the Autoimmune Protocol is to flood the body with nutrients while simultaneously avoiding any food that might be contributing to disease (or at the very least interfering with our efforts to heal). It is an elimination diet strategy, cutting out the foods that are most likely to be holding back our health. After a period of time, many of the excluded foods, especially those that have nutritional merit despite also containing some (but not too much) potentially detrimental compounds, can be reintroduced. While the Paleo diet is sometimes labeled as a fad diet, its health benefits are supported by scientific research. The body of research pitting Paleo against other dietary strategies is in its infancy, but the studies that have been performed uniformly support Paleo. They prove that it beats out other recommended diets, even the Mediterranean diet, for weight loss, management of diabetes, improvement of cardiovascular disease risk factors, and reversal of metabolic syndrome. Studies have also shown that it has therapeutic potential for the debilitating autoimmune disease secondary progressing multiple sclerosis. And while anecdotal stories cannot be used to validate any dietary approach, the tens of thousands (and counting!) of people who have successfully used variations of the Paleo diet, including the Autoimmune Protocol, to mitigate and even completely reverse their diseases is compelling. How Does The Autoimmune Protocol Work? The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol works by addressing four key areas known to be important contributors to chronic and autoimmune diseases. Drawing on insights gleaned from more than 1,2. Nutrient density. The immune system (and indeed every system in the body) requires an array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and amino acids to function normally. Micronutrient deficiencies and imbalances are key players in the development and progression of autoimmune disease. Focusing on consuming the most nutrient- dense foods available enables a synergistic surplus of micronutrients to correct both deficiencies and imbalances, thus supporting regulation of the immune system, hormone systems, detoxification systems, and neurotransmitter production. A nutrient- dense diet further provides the building blocks that the body needs to heal damaged tissues. Gut health. Gut dysbiosis and leaky gut are key facilitators in the development of autoimmune disease. The foods recommended on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol support the growth of healthy levels and a healthy variety of gut microorganisms. Foods that irritate or damage the lining of the gut are avoided, while foods that help restore gut barrier function and promote healing are endorsed. Hormone regulation. What we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat affect a variety of hormones that interact with the immune system. When dietary factors (like eating too much sugar or grazing rather than eating larger meals spaced farther apart) dysregulate these hormones, the immune system is directly affected (typically stimulated). The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol diet is designed to promote regulation of these hormones, thereby regulating the immune system by proxy. These and other essential hormones that impact the immune system are also profoundly affected by how much sleep we get, how much time we spend outside, how much and what kinds of activity we get, and how well we reduce and manage stress. Immune system regulation. Immune regulation is achieved by restoring a healthy diversity and healthy amounts of gut microorganisms, restoring the barrier function of the gut, providing sufficient amounts of the micronutrients required for the immune system to function normally, and regulating the key hormones that in turn regulate the immune system. Inflammation is a factor in all chronic illnesses, and this is one area where the foods we eat can make a huge difference. In some cases, an immune system that isn’t regulating itself properly directly causes the illness; in others, inflammation is merely an element of the illness or a contributor to how the illness came about—but it is always a player and a problem. What this means is that reducing inflammation and giving the immune system the resources it needs, as well as the opportunity to regulate itself, can help in every single chronic illness. This is important because inflammation is strongly influenced by what we eat, how well we sleep, how stressed we are, and how active we are. And this is why chronic illness can respond so positively to changes in diet and lifestyle. Food has therapeutic potential for every chronic illness—but that’s not the same thing as calling food a cure. Depending on the illness you’re struggling with, how long you’ve had it, how aggressive the disease is, and what confounding factors you’re dealing with, dietary changes may get you as far as a complete reversal of your disease, or they may slow the progress of your illness, or they may simply improve your quality of life. These are all successes worth celebrating. Good food may not be the miracle cure you’re hoping for, but it’s pretty darn powerful all the same. As you adopt the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, your food choices become focused on consuming the nutrients to support this healing—foods that provide everything your body needs to stop attacking itself, repair damaged tissues, and get healthy again: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats to sustain a normal metabolism, build new tissue, and produce hormones, important proteins, and signaling molecules; and the full range of fat- soluble vitamins, water- soluble vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to get rid of inflammation, regulate the immune system, and support the normal functioning of all the body’s systems. What To Eat and What To Avoid. Following the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol diet involves increasing your intake of nutrient- dense, health- promoting foods while avoiding foods that may be triggers for your disease. In summary, the rules of what to eat are: organ meat and offal (aim for 5 times per week, the more the better)–read more here. Green vegetables. Colorful vegetables and fruit (red, purple, blue, yellow, orange, white)Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, kale, turnips, arugula, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, watercress, mustard greens, etc.)Sea vegetables (excluding algae like chlorella and spirulina which are immune stimulators)Edible Fungi, like mushroomsherbs and spicesquality meats (grass- fed, pasture- raised, wild as much as possible) (poultry in moderation due to high omega- 6 content unless you are eating a ton of fish)quality fats (pasture- raised/grass- fed animal fats . It is very simply an extremely nutrient- dense diet that is devoid of foods that irritate the gut, cause gut dysbiosis and activate the immune system. Natural Ways to Prevent and Reverse Autoimmune Illness. As a followup to our look at the root causes of autoimmune illness, this post reviews several natural ways to protect yourself against autoimmune illness. From your mouth to your rectal pouch, the lining of your digestive tract is continuous with the skin that covers your body. The same goes for exogenous toxins like synthetic chemicals found in cosmetic products. If you are suffering from an autoimmune condition, chances are good that your digestive tract is not as healthy as it can be, and that the effects of ? The loss of lining integrity that we are talking about is microscopic, which doesn’t make it any less harmful than it is. In general, you can safely assume that your digestive tract lining is in need of significant repair if you have symptoms of an autoimmune illness and you have one or more of the following symptoms of digestive tract dysfunction: Excessive, foul- smelling gas production. Ill- defined discomfort in your abdomen following meals or even during meals. Chronic constipation and/or diarrhea. So how do you go about restoring the health of your digestive tract? First, recognize that your body’s self healing mechanisms are already hard at work to repair any damage that exists within your body, including within your digestive tract. Just as your body predictably works to heal a cut on your skin the moment the cut is created, your body is constantly on the alert for trouble spots throughout your body and will always work to repair damaged areas. The difference between your digestive tract and your skin is that you can see your skin and clearly determine if your daily choices are helping or hindering your self healing mechanisms as they work to repair a cut. But when it comes to your digestive tract, it is not as easy for you to know how your daily food and lifestyle choices are helping or hindering your body’s attempt to heal damaged areas. If you could see with your eyes how a specific food that you ate over lunch – say a hot dog or a turkey sub – was putting stress on your digestive tract lining and preventing it from making progress in healing, you would certainly be well motivated to avoid such foods. And once your daily food and lifestyle choices consistently support your body’s ongoing efforts to restore the health of your digestive tract, recovery of your health is well within your reach. When you want a cut on your skin to heal as quickly as possible, you know that you must do the best you can not to disturb that area. Leave it alone and let your healing mechanisms do exactly what they are well designed to do all the time. Do not give it any unnecessary stress. Which takes us to our next major point.. Adopt Eating Habits that Facilitate Optimal Digestion. Perhaps the single most important eating habit that you can adopt to facilitate healing of your digestive tract is to chew your foods thoroughly. Ideally, you want to chew your foods until liquid. Your teeth are designed to mechanically break down food, while the rest of your digestive tract and organs are designed to chemically break down your food. Whenever you do not chew well, your digestive tract and organs take on the burden of trying to accomplish what is much easier for your teeth to accomplish. If you have dental or jaw problems that make it difficult to chew well, consider blending your foods in a blender or a food processor. Chewing your foods and liquids well allows your saliva and digestive enzymes to mix in with your foods and liquids, and begins the process of digestion right in your mouth. Chewing well encourages physical and emotional rest while eating. Just as the connection between your mind and body can cause you to sweat when you are nervous, having a feeling of gratitude while you chew your food can help your digestive organs break down your food and assimilate nutrients into your blood. Once you condition yourself to chew well and to eat with a grateful heart, the next habit to adopt to promote optimal digestive tract health is to.. Avoid Eating More Protein than You Need. As mentioned previously, a significant cause of autoimmune illness is the formation of antigen- antibody complexes that can float around in your blood and get deposited into your tissues, which can cause inflammation and accompanying discomfort. And a chief cause of formation of such immune complexes is the leakage of incompletely digested protein into your blood. Chewing your food well will certainly help to minimize the amount of undigested protein that can make it into your blood. But to stay optimally well, it is equally important to avoid eating more protein than your body needs. In general, it is best to eat no more than half of your body weight of protein, in grams, per day. This means that if you weigh 1. A three- ounce piece of beef, chicken, or fish contains approximately 2. But don’t forget that every food that you eat, including fruits and vegetables, contains protein. So if you eat three ounces of animal- based protein for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you are almost certainly eating more than 7. A cup of broccoli, cooked spinach, or corn contains approximately 5 grams of protein. A cup of peas contains over 8 grams of protein. Even a medium- sized potato contains almost 5 grams of protein. If you eat plenty of vegetables and legumes, it is not difficult to get enough protein to be optimally healthy without eating any animal foods at all. I am not suggesting that you need to be a strict vegan for the long- term to recover from and prevent autoimmune illness. Rather, I am striving to illustrate how easy it is to eat more protein than you need, which is a critical mistake when addressing autoimmune illness. My clinical experiences have led me to believe that animal- based protein, especially when cooked at high temperatures, tends to contribute to antigen- antibody complex formation in people with autoimmune illness more easily than plant- based protein. To best support recovery from autoimmune illness over the long- term, I recommend eating no more than one three- ounce serving of animal- based protein per day, cooked using a low temperature technique, such as steaming or boiling. If possible, I even recommend staying away from all animal- based protein for a period of six months to give your digestive tract complete rest from having to digest animal protein. During such a time, it is best to avoid eating large amounts of protein- dense plant foods as well, such as nuts, seeds, and legumes. So long as you eat plenty of vegetables, especially green ones like broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage, you will get plenty of protein for your daily needs. After six months of avoiding animal protein and going light on protein- dense plant foods, you can gradually increase your protein intake until you are eating approximately one gram of protein per day for every two pounds of your body weight, with no more than one major serving of animal- based protein. Now that we have emphasized how important it is to avoid over- consumption of protein, let’s take a close look at how you can choose to.. Eat Foods that Optimally Nourish and Cause Little to No Harm. The best food groups for preventing and reversing autoimmune illness are vegetables, whole grains, and fruits. Ideally, you want to eat just these food groups (with perhaps very small amounts of legumes) for a period of six months to give your body the rest and nutrients that it needs to best support a full recovery. Eat a fresh salad every day that includes plenty of dark green lettuces and colorful vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, shredded zucchini, and shredded red beets. For concentrated healthy fat intake, add an avocado, as well as a simple salad dressing made out of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and a touch of honey if you like a little sweetness to your dressings. Steamed vegetables are also an excellent food group for overcoming autoimmune illness. You can eat a lot more broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, red beets, and other hardy vegetables when they are steamed than you can when they are raw. Steaming such foods can actually help you extract more nutrients out of them. Steaming can also soften the fiber found in these foods, which can be helpful if your digestive tract is sensitive to large amounts of raw fiber. Try eating steamed vegetables with healthy salad dressings or even soups that can serve as nourishing and flavorful sauces. You can make vegetable soups by boiling vegetables and then running them and the water that they are boiled in through a blender or food processor. Eating vegetables in their raw state allows you to benefit from naturally occurring enzymes that are destroyed with cooking. Eating vegetables that are steamed or boiled allows you to eat more of them and extract more nutrients out of them than you can when they are raw. So eating both raw and cooked vegetables positively diversifies your intake of health- promoting nutrients. Freshly pressed vegetable juices provide intact enzymes, and because they are nutrients that have already been extracted from fibrous vegetables, they provide a concentrated batch of nutrients that are readily absorbed into your system and able to nourish your cells. If possible, do your best to include at least one freshly pressed vegetable juice in your diet on a daily basis. Whole grains are also rich in B vitamins and a wide variety of minerals. Just be sure to soak whole grains in water for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, before cooking. Doing so makes whole grains easier to digest and also prevents potential problems with mineral absorption. The bran of whole grains contains a substance called phytic acid, which can bind onto calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorous in your digestive tract, preventing them from entering your blood. Soaking whole grains helps to neutralize phytic acid and prevent such binding from occurring in your digestive tract.
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