Healing with Food Newsletter

Prevent Autoimmune Disease

I recently consulted with Sally whose story is similar to many of my clients. She is deeply fatigued and has nerve pain. What used to be minor complaints (memory problems, headaches, and insomnia) are increasing in both frequency and intensity. Her doctor says she has adrenal exhaustion and he suspects an autoimmune disease.

The immune system is your homeland defense. A weak immune system means more frequent colds and infections. Then with a little self care and rest, your immune system bounces back. Unfortunately, this is not the case with an autoimmune disease.

If stress and toxins too often place your adrenal glands on red alert, your immune system becomes hyper vigilant and hyperactive. It then mistakenly attacks your very own cells. This is termed an autoimmune disease. There are numerous autoimmune diseases (see below) with widely varying symptoms. Often they become increasingly debilitating unless, that is, you rebuild and strengthen your immune system.

An immune system on overdrive is rather like a manic person on a cleaning rampage who, while dusting her china shelf, inadvertently destroys her prized Dresden porcelain. We can all relate to being more accident prone when we're overworked and overwhelmed. It is the same with a frazzled immune system. Continually stress your defense system and its failures become more serious. This is Sally's situation.

To overcome and prevent disease, immune self-care is a must. Thus, Sally is reducing the stress in her daily life, reducing her social obligations and identifying and eliminating the toxins in her diet and environment. For all people wishing to prevent autoimmune disease, please consider the same. Detox and Cleanse specifically offers such support along with many of my posted articles and recipes.

Autoimmune Diseases include:
Addison's disease, Ankylosing spondylitis, Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS), Aplastic anemia, Autoimmune hepatitis, Autoimmune Oophoritis, Celiac disease, Chron's disease, Diabetes mellitus type 1, Gestational pemphigoid, Goodpasture's syndrome, Graves' disease, Guillan-Barre syndrome (GBS), Hashimoto's disease, Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, Kawasaki's Disease, Lupus erythematosus, Multiple sclerosis, Myasthenia gravis, Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome (OMS), Optic neuritis, Ord's thyroiditis, Pemphigus, Pernicious anemia, Primary biliary cirrhosis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Reiter's syndrome, Sjogern's syndrome, Takayasu's arteritis, Temporal arteritis (Giant cell arteritis), Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia and Wegener's granulomatosis.

A dysfunctioning or weakened immune system contributes to maladies ranging from the common cold and cancer to:
Alopecia universalis, Behcet's disease, Chagas' disease, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Dysautonomia, Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, Endometriosis, Hidradenitis suppurativa, Interstitial cystitis, Lyme Disease, Neuromyotonia, Psoriasis, Sarcoidosis, Scleroderma, Ulcerative colitis, Vitiligo and Vulvodynia.

May you be well nourished!

Rebecca Wood