How to Heal Autoimmune Disease

How to heal autoimmune disease is what I found myself Googling over ten years ago. After giving birth to our youngest son I knew something was off in my body I just didn’t know what or how to fix it.

The first three areas of focus when healing autoimmune diseases (disorders) are Food, Gut Health, and Stress. Focused changes in these three areas and I have healed my autoimmune system and believe you can too.

My blood test answered my first question, what the heck is going on with my body?

My test results showed I was hypothyroid.

My very next question was, how do I cure it? My doctor’s response was there is no cure this is something you must live with for the rest of your life and manage it as much as possible.

This was simply inescapable.

This leads me to start my research. Our health is our responsibility. Ten years later I hope to share all that I have learned and done to heal my body to save you so much time so that you find healing even faster than I did.

To read more about what is hypothyroidism click here. If you are interested in hearing my story click here.

How to heal autoimmune disease naturally

First, to understand how to heal autoimmune disease naturally we must quickly cover what autoimmune disease is.

Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system which is the body’s defense system against Invaders becomes confused.

In other words, the body is fighting something whether it’s an infection, toxins, allergens, or stressful responses. But somehow the immune Army cannot distinguish a friend from a foe.

Autoimmune disease affects more than 60 million Americans and that number is growing rapidly.

Many people with autoimmune diseases go untreated for years before being diagnosed. once a patient is diagnosed they are often having chronic symptoms at which point can be very hard to heal.

There are also autoimmune flare-ups that often coincide with big events throughout our lives such as childbirth, menopause, travel, new jobs or business ventures, and so on.

Times in our lives of big psychological stressors. These are referred to as Autoimmune Flare-ups.

More on Autoimmune flare-ups in a moment.

Autoimmune disease/disorder is When the autoimmune system is abnormally low and activity or abnormally high activity.

Many cases of autoimmune overactivity are when the body attacks and damage has its own tissues.

Autoimmune deficiencies or diseases are when the body’s ability to fight Invaders decrease, causing vulnerability to infections.

Autoimmune diseases or disorders are in the endocrine system of our body.

Including:

● hypothalamus
● pineal gland
● pituitary gland
● thyroid and parathyroid
● thymus
● adrenal glands
● pancreas
● ovaries

What is an autoimmune flare-up?

Simply put an autoimmune flare-up is an event in which symptoms worsen or intensity because of additional stressful conditions. Different autoimmune diseases have different symptoms.

Symptoms range from fatigue, brain fog, muscle pain or stiffness, hair loss, weight gain, and so forth.

Autoimmune flare-ups are most common during times of our lives with more physical stressors.

In women, this could be during puberty, following childbirth, or even at menopause.

Notably, that 80% of all those who experience autoimmune disorders are women.

That raises an important question about factors in the development of autoimmune conditions.

Flare-ups may also be caused or worsened by certain foods that cause inflammation in the body, including processed sugars and carbohydrates, artificial sweeteners, wheat products, factory-farmed meat, and dairy with hormones.

Times, when hormones are higher or lower than normal the body undergoes a high amount of physical stress often for a prolonged period of time.

Dr. Mark Hymans interview doctor Cynthia Li on How to Heal Autoimmune Disorders they both stated undergoing massive amounts of physical stress and lack of sleep during medical school. Another great example is a body undergoing a prolonged period of abnormal physical stress.

What are the most common triggers of autoimmune flare-ups

Good and Bad Stress

Anything that places stress on our immune system has the potential to trigger an autoimmune flare-up.

Even good stresses like traveling, getting married, having babies all kids put your body under an additional strain especially if one is already experiencing symptoms of autoimmune disease.

Studies on travel have indicated it to be one of the top triggers for autoimmune flare-up symptoms because it often means changing eating habits, sleeping habits, and often changing our daily routines.

The body’s natural reaction to changes in routine is stress on the body. Stress on the body worsens autoimmune disease symptoms.

Adjusting to travel stressors such as sleeping patterns, dietary restrictions, and simply the logistics of getting to our destination can be stressful.

Changes in season

Changes in the season have a huge impact on how well our autoimmune system Keeps Us healthy. As an example, the natural changes in weather may cause joint pain for those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis or muscle stiffness or difficulty breathing which are all symptoms of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Gut dysbiosis or Leaky Gut

The unhealthy gut microbiome is probably the number one or number two trigger to an autoimmune flare-up. Small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a condition we’re natural bacteria in our intestines Thrive and grow out of control. This causes bloating and other uncomfortable side effects.

Gluten

Anyone with autoimmune disorders often finds themselves gluten intolerant. Eating foods containing proteins can Cascade the inflammatory reaction of the body.

Sugar and Dairy

Avoiding sugar and Dairy which are often too common foods that trigger inflammation resulting in an increased risk for an autoimmune disease flare-up is key but often for many

Seasonal illnesses

Anytime the immune system is fighting off a virus the autoimmune symptoms can worsen as they are under additional strain when the body’s focus is taken elsewhere.

Too much or excessive exercising

We have all heard the saying more is not always better. Certain people may need to remain aware that certain types of exercises can actually hurt the autoimmune system.

Overtraining or participating in endurance activities that are too strenuous may cause autoimmune flare-ups.

High-intensity workouts can further inflammation in people with autoimmune conditions. remember to pay attention to how your body is feeling and respond accordingly.

Just because one type of exercise regiment is good for one person does not mean it’s good for everyone.

How to heal autoimmune disease with food

When it comes to how to heal autoimmune disease food has got to be one of the first areas that. There are many types of food that cause inflammation.

Inflammation is the biggest enemy of autoimmune disorders.

People follow the autoimmune protocol diet or the AIP diet. The AIP diet aims to reduce inflammation, pain, and other symptoms caused by autoimmune disorders.

Many who have followed the AIP diet report improvements in the way they feel and reduction and many of the common symptoms of autoimmune disorders.

Eliminating foods such as inflammatory foods reduce having a leaky gut syndrome. When our cut is balanced in order it takes the load off of our endocrine system.

Here is a great article that goes in-depth about the AIP diet for more information click here.

How to treat autoimmune disease

Autoimmune disease does require treatment the healing process can take many years.

We recommend taking the functional medicine approach.

Functional medicine focuses on the body as a whole versus Western medicine that just focuses on one issue at a time.

Even if you’re one of the lucky ones that find a physician who can correctly diagnose autoimmune disease mainstream medicine falls short when it comes to treatment.

Instead of addressing the cause of autoimmunity which is the functional medicine approach many practitioners treat the symptom. This is not getting to the root of the problem.

Dr. Mark Hyman compares this approach to using aspirin to treat a person’s pain caused by standing on the tack.

The pain is clearly coming from standing on the tack – so instead of covering pain by taking aspirin – he recommends getting off the tack.

This is a great analogy in taking a holistic approach which is functional medicine.

Rather than using aspirin to suppress the symptom of autoimmune disease you want doctors to determine what is causing the illness.

Once you were able to get to the root cause then you can formulate a natural treatment plan.

Dr. Hyman suggests that:

● adjusting your diet to control inflammation
● work on healing & strengthening the gut
● getting tested for food allergies and toxicity levels
● exercise
● reduction of stress
● considering supplements for deficiencies

To be the best and most natural healing approach through function functional medicine.

Conclusion

The best approach to naturally healing autoimmune disorders is the holistic approach. As an example, hypothyroidism is not an isolated issue.

Treatment with focus only on the thyroid will not get to the root of the problems it will merely cover or minimize the symptoms associated with the thyroid.

Looking at the body as one unit.

Fully connected shows us that healing involves many things such as changing the diet to eat organic whole unprocessed foods that do not cause more damage (ie: inflammation) to the body.

To examine overall gut health. 80% of our immune system is located in the digestive tract.

Being mindful of reducing or eliminating outside stressors will all lead to the progression of healing the endocrine system as a whole.

Do you have other tips tricks or things that have led you to heal? Share them with us!