Does What You Eat Affect Your Autoimmune Disease?

One of the questions I get asked the most is, does what you eat affect your autoimmune disease? Autoimmune disease is the result of massive amounts of inflammation in your body. What you put into your body will directly affect whether you are increasing inflammation or decreasing it. 

For each person what increases and decreases inflammation will be different. But there are also things that will help anyone with autoimmune disease. Removing all refined, processed, and manufactured food. Basically, if it comes in a package, has words you can’t pronounce, or more than 5 ingredients, don’t eat it. 

When I first found out I had autoimmune disease I thought I was pretty healthy. I was vegan, I walked my dog several times a day, and I did yoga daily. I ate a ton of fruits and vegetables. You can imagine my surprise when my doctor told me I needed to cut out all gluten, dairy, and sugar. Dairy was easy since I was vegan and didn’t eat it. Sugar and gluten, on the other hand, put me over the edge. I came home and was so angry. I ate a lot of sugar and gluten and the thought of giving it up was really scary. I didn’t even know where to start.

Since I didn’t know what else to do, I dove in with both feet. I got rid of all the sugar and gluten in my house and started trying to find things to replace them. I didn’t know how to replace sugar so I allowed myself one piece of really good dark chocolate a day. I replaced white flour with corn.  It seemed like a good idea but corn isn't necessarily good for people with sensitive digestive systems. What I was only just beginning to understand is that my body was so inflamed and until I was able to decrease the inflammation I had to be really careful about what I put in it.

I returned to my doctor a few months later, hopeful. I ended up finding out that almost everything I was using as a substitution had become an irritant to my system. I was developing food sensitivity after food sensitivity. I was frustrated to say the least. 

I wanted to give up but I also knew I wanted to feel better. I started researching foods that were anti-inflammatory in nature. I also researched sugar and gluten and how inflammatory they were. I started to really pay attention to how foods made my body feel. I payed attention to what made me feel bloated, what made my joints hurt, what gave me energy, and what made me feel more exhausted. 

The more I experimented the more interested I became in the effects of food on my body and how food can truly become medicine. What I put in my body either helps me to heal or creates disease.

This didn’t happen overnight. It has been a work in progress for the last 15 years. 

If you find yourself in a similar situation, just start somewhere. Make one small change. Don't wait, do it today. It can be to drink more water and less soda, to stop eating fast food, to cut out fried foods, to add more whole grains in to your life, to eat more fruits and veggies. You can pick anything that will help decrease inflammation in your body. 

You can make the changes to help you feel better. It won’t happen overnight but as you start to feel better it will fuel you to continue to make changes. You will make mistakes along the way. And you know what? That is ok. You will be learning as you go. If you need help getting started I’m here for you! Just hit the button below to reach out.