Antioxidant foods: Berries, green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, cruciferous vegetables (kale, cabbage, etc.), beans, tomatoes and beets. Omega-3 fatty acids: Olive oil, fish oil, flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts or soybeans.
Use nutrients such as fish oil, vitamin C, vitamin D, and probiotics to help calm your immune response naturally. Exercise regularly — it's a natural anti-inflammatory. Practice deep relaxation like yoga, deep breathing, biofeedback, or massage, because stress worsens the immune response.
The right diet can help ease pain and heal autoimmune diseases. In general, avoid caffeine, alcohol, sugar, grains, dairy and red meat, and focus on fruits, vegetables, healthy fats and fish.
The Autoimmune Protocol Diet
Foods to avoid include grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods, refined sugars, industrial seed oils, eggs, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, gum, alternative sweeteners, emulsifiers, and food thickeners, said Romano.
Avoid high doses of vitamin C, beta carotene, cat's claw, echinacea and ginseng, among others. Why add fuel to the fire? Doing so may cause you to slip out of remission and into more misery. I'll share some tips in the space provided, but there are so many other nutrients.
Abstain from Eggs
To a person with autoimmune, they can cause havoc that probably wouldn't happen in a healthy person. Eggs can allow proteins (usually lysozyme, from the egg white) to cross the gut barrier where they don't belong and contribute to molecular mimicry.
Foods such as red meat, dairy, pastry, and beverages containing caffeine and alcohol trigger systemic inflammation, aggravating the autoimmune disease.
The exact cause of autoimmune disorders is unknown. One theory is that some microorganisms (such as bacteria or viruses) or drugs may trigger changes that confuse the immune system. This may happen more often in people who have genes that make them more prone to autoimmune disorders.
Protection against autoimmune diseases
Comparatively, within the acquired immune system, the caffeine content within coffee potentially suppresses the proliferation of Th1 and Th2 cells. As a result, coffee can reduce the damage caused by the release of cytokines due to overactive T- and B-cells.
Products made with cow's milk can trigger inflammation. Some anecdotal evidence suggests that eliminating dairy products may reverse some autoimmune conditions. Focus on Healthy Plant Foods. You should incorporate a variety of clean foods like green leafy vegetables, berries, and nuts.
AIP approved fruits include: Apples. Apricots. Bananas.
Cow's milk alternatives
Coconut milk is the best non-dairy milk alternative. It is AIP-friendly. Oat, hemp seed, almond, flaxseed, and cashew milks are not AIP-compliant because they come from nuts and seeds. Still, they are a better option than cow's milk to heal your gut and reduce symptoms.
Other good whole-grain cereal choices include oatmeal and cream of wheat. Scientists believe that a low diversity of gut bacteria can contribute to some autoimmune diseases like Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis. Fortunately, we can improve our microbiome with better food choices.
Antioxidant foods: Berries, green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, cruciferous vegetables (kale, cabbage, etc.), beans, tomatoes and beets. Omega-3 fatty acids: Olive oil, fish oil, flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts or soybeans.
Orange, tomato, pineapple and carrot juices are all high in the antioxidant, vitamin C, which can neutralize free radicals that lead to inflammation. Tart cherry juice has been shown to protect against gout flares and reduce OA symptoms.
Inflammation and Immune System — Lemons contain antioxidants, which are powerful contributors in the fight against everything from the common cold to serious diseases like cancers, arthritis, and autoimmune disorders.
No single autoimmune disease was reliably prevented by vitamin D supplementation. Only when the numbers of all the autoimmune diseases were combined did researchers see a benefit. The benefit of vitamin D was more obvious when only the final three years of the study were analyzed.
Multiple studies reinforce the positive effects of probiotics on patients with UC. In one study, researchers found that VSL#3 (an eight-strain probiotic including lactobacilli, bifidobacilli, and Streptococcus thermophilus) significantly increased remission and positively impacted patients with UC [4] [5] [6].
Psychological stress is reported to be a risk factor for autoimmune diseases, including Graves' disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Different types of stress and the length of time that stress is present might also affect the presentation of inflammatory autoimmune disease.