Originally posted by Dr. Davis on 2015-01-16
on the Wheat Belly Blog,
sourced from and currently found at: Infinite Health Blog.
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of WB Blog articles.
How NOT to have
an autoimmune condition

Autoimmune conditions are becoming increasingly
common. Estimates vary, but it appears that at least 8-9% of the
population in North America and Western Europe have one of these
conditions, with The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association
estimating a higher value of 14%. They are conditions that involve an
abnormal immune response directed against one or more organs of the
body. If the misguided attack is against the thyroid gland, it can
result in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. If it is directed against
pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin, it can result in type 1
diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). If it
involves tissue encasing joints (synovium), it can result in rheumatoid
arthritis. It if involves the liver, it can result in autoimmune
hepatitis, and so on.
While it requires a genetic predisposition towards
autoimmunity that we have no control over (e.g., the HLA-B27 gene for
ankylosing spondylitis), there are numerous environmental triggers of
these diseases that we can do something about. Identifying and
correcting these factors stacks the odds in your favor of reducing the
autoimmune inflammation, pain, organ dysfunction, even reversing the
condition altogether.
Among the most important factors to correct in
order to minimize or reverse autoimmunity are:
Wheat and grain elimination–If
you are reading this, you likely already know that the gliadin protein
of wheat and related proteins in other grains (especially the secalin of
rye, the hordein of barley, zein of corn, perhaps the avenin of oats)
initiate the intestinal “leakiness” that begins the autoimmune
process, an effect that occurs in over 90% of people who consume wheat
and grains. The flood of foreign peptides/proteins, bacterial
lipopolysaccharide, and grain proteins themselves cause immune responses
to be launched against these foreign factors. If, for instance, an
autoimmune response is triggered against wheat gliadin, the same antibodies
can be aimed at the syapsin protein of the central nervous system/brain,
resulting in dementia or cerebellar ataxia (destruction of the
cerebellum resulting in incoordination and loss of bladder and bowel
control). Wheat and grain elimination is by far the most important
item on this list to reverse autoimmunity.
Correct vitamin D deficiency–It
is clear that, across a spectrum of autoimmune diseases, vitamin D
deficiency serves a permissive, not necessarily causative, role
in allowing an autoimmune process to proceed. It is clear, for instance,
that autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes in children,
rheumatoid arthritis, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are more common
in those with low vitamin D status, much less common in those with
higher vitamin D levels. For this and other reasons, I aim to
achieve a blood level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 60-70 ng/ml,
a level that usually requires around 4000-8000 units per day of D3
(cholecalciferol) in gelcap or liquid form (never tablet due to poor or
erratic absorption). In view of the serious nature of autoimmune diseases,
it is well worth tracking occasional blood levels.
Supplement omega-3 fatty
acids–While omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, from fish
oil have proven only modestly helpful by themselves, when cast onto the
background of wheat/grain elimination and vitamin D, omega-3 fatty
acids compound anti-inflammatory benefits, such as those exerted via
cyclooxygenase-2. This requires a daily EPA + DHA dose of
around 3600 mg per day, divided in two. Don’t confuse EPA
and DHA omega-3s with linolenic acid, another form of omega-3 obtained
from meats, flaxseed, chia, and walnuts that does not not
yield the same benefits. Nor can you use krill oil with its relatively
trivial content of omega-3s.
Eliminate dairy–This is
true in North America and most of Western Europe, less true in New
Zealand and Australia. Autoimmunity can be triggered by the casein
beta A1 form of casein widely expressed in dairy products, but not by
casein beta A2 and other forms. Because it is so prevalent in
North America and Western Europe, the most confident way to avoid this
immunogenic form of casein is to avoid dairy altogether. You might be
able to consume cheese, given the fermentation process that alters
proteins and sugar, but that has not been fully explored.
Cultivate healthy bowel
flora–People with autoimmune conditions have massively
screwed up bowel flora with reduced species diversity and dominance
of unhealthy species. We restore a healthier anti-inflammatory panel
of bacterial species by “seeding” the colon with
high-potency probiotics, then nourishing them with prebiotic
fibers/resistant starches, a collection of strategies summarized in
this Wheat
Belly Blog post and in greater detail in Wheat Belly Total Health. People sometimes
view bowel flora management as optional, just “fluff”–it
is anything but. Properly managing bowel flora can be a
make-it-or-break-it advantage; don’t neglect it.
There you go: a basic list to get started on if
your interest is to begin a process of unraveling the processes of
autoimmunity. In some conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and
polymyalgia rheumatic, full recovery is possible. In other conditions,
such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and the pancreatic beta cell
destruction leading to type 1 diabetes, reversing the autoimmune
inflammation does not restore organ function: hypothyroidism
results after thyroiditis quiets down and type 1 diabetes and
need for insulin persists after pancreatic beta cell damage. But note
that the most powerful risk factor for an autoimmune disease is
another autoimmune disease–this is why so many people
have more than one autoimmune condition. People with
Hashimoto’s, for instance, can develop rheumatoid arthritis or
psoriasis. So the above menu is still worth following even if you
cannot hope for full organ recovery.
More discussions like this, i.e., how to stack
the odds in favor of reversing or NOT having numerous health conditions,
can be found in Wheat Belly Total Health.
