Welcome To Your Road Map To Vital Health.
Diet And Auto Immune Problems
Autoimmune problems like so many health problems in the modern era are on the rise. Rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, Psoriasis and type one diabetes to name a few.
Medically the focus has been on pharmaceutical drugs but there is also a lot of clinical evidence that diet can have a big positive impact. The clinicians I listen to are typically medical experts who work in this field and see the results first hand.
I have a mild form of Ankylosing Spondylitis which is an auto immune condition which affects the spine. Fortunately I manage mine through diet and exercise but some with more severe versions can die from this disease.
The common factors identified as problems in autoimmune diseases include wheat, gluten, dairy and sugar rich processed foods.
I tested the theory because of strong knee pain in both knees first thing in the morning. My left knee was reconstructed 35 years ago and my right knee 8 months ago. Both as results of martial arts injuries. At nearly 60 I felt like I was 90.
But at just 3 days into my 30 day no grains and no sugar test my knee pain was down about 50% and continues at the time of writing.
I did blood tests 31 days apart and two markers of great interest C Reactive protein and ESR. These are both measurements of inflammation and both improved dramatically.
I’m not claiming that this diet will cure these problems but if a person feels better by not eating processed foods then there cannot be any harm.
With regard to type 1 diabetes you need to carefully monitor yourself and discuss this with your doctor. You may be interested to know that before insulin was available for type 1 diabetics the treatment was a ketogenic diet.
That means you burn ketones instead of sugar. This is achieved by eating no sugar, no grains, no processed foods, but you do eat fats and protein.
This diet also gets great results for children with epilepsy and shows promise in improving autism.
For myself and my clients I recommend no sugar or grains or any processed foods, plenty of non-starchy vegetables, some fruits and good serves of saturated fats. Of interest in my 30 test I lost 4.5 kilos (11 pounds) and my cholesterol ratio improved.
I recommend to start with this and then later move to restrict dairy and eggs if necessary. The bottom line is you are never hungry and you get to eat plenty of good foods.
My challenge is to try this, because unless you do you will never know what you could achieve for your self.
Wishing you Great health and happiness
Ian & Dr Susan Newton