I was all ears for the Autoimmune Summit that was put on by Dr. Amy Myers, MD. It was a free week long summit and featured many experts in the autoimmune field. I will share with my blog readers some of the highlights so you can feel like you were listening right along with me! Autoimmune disease begins in the gut so focused healing must look at the gut. Somewhere in your past history you may have had an insult to the gut which compromised the integrity of your gut lining. The insult might be caused by repeated ingestion of foods that can contribute to increased permeability of the intestinal lining (e.g. sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, legumes, nightshade vegetables, legumes, grains). Because there are a lot of foods that you could be reactive to, I recommend food allergy testing along with testing for yeast for starters. Your autoimmune disease could be the result of an infection of some sort that you had or have (c.difficile infection in my past hx), yeast, bacteria or parasites could play a role here also. Whatever the cause was, it has essentially created a situation where your gut is leaky or more permeable than it should be; this means incompletely digested food proteins can be absorbed into your bloodstream across the intestinal lining triggering the immune system to go on high alert for these dangerous invaders. Molecular mimicry can then cause the immune system to react against your own tissues if the amino acid sequence in the food protein is similar to a sequence found in your own tissues. This is one theory as to how autoimmune disease gets started. The first essential step then is to remove the offending insults that you can control in your diet.
Remove any bad bacteria, yeast, parasites from the system through specific targeted eradication of infectious organisms. Replace any nutrient deficiencies that may be detected.You might uncover deficiencies in Vitamin A, Vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, or iron for example. Supplement enzymes as needed or phytogens to improve digestive function. Use aggressive probiotic and prebiotic factors to restore gut function. Repair integrity of intestinal lining using targeted support factors like glutamine and herbs like Vaccinium vitis-idaea. Foods that are supportive to the gut include kim chi, raw sauerkraut, leeks, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke and asparagus. Omega 3 from wild seafood sources and insoluble fiber from veggies contribute to healthy gut bacteria. If you can stomach it, try eating organ meat such as liver which has increased nutrient density and is a source of cobalamin (Vit. B12) as well as Vitamin A and D. These are a few ideas to start you eating in a more targeted way to balance your immune system. Please book into see Dr. Vinge if you want to find out more about treating your autoimmune disease using naturopathic medicine. Please google autoimmune summit if you want to purchase the seminars that were featured on the autoimmune summit.