

Autoimmune Diseases
A healthy immune system fights germs, budding cancers, and other harmful threats. Autoimmune diseases develop when our immune system mistakenly attacks our own healthy tissue. This may lead to inflammation and damage to joints, nerves, skin, tissues, muscles, and other organs.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease characterized by persistent pain and stiffness, along with progressive joint destruction, particularly in the hands and feet, leading to crippling deformities. How might we prevent and treat it?
In a famous 13-month-long randomized controlled trial of plant-based diets for rheumatoid arthritis, patients were put on a vegan diet for three and a half months, then switched to an egg-free lacto-vegetarian diet for the remainder of the study. Compared to the control group, who didn’t change their diet at all, the plant-based group had a significant improvement in morning stiffness within the first month, halving the number of hours they suffered joint stiffness. Pain dropped from five out of ten down to less than three out of ten. The plant-based group also reported subjectively feeling better and experiencing significant improvement in their grip strength, fewer tender joints, less tenderness per joint, and less swelling, with the added benefit of losing about 13 pounds. They also had a drop in inflammatory markers in their blood. Why? One way plant-based diets may help is by decreasing exposure to an inflammatory compound found in animal products.
Arthritis may also be triggered by Yersinia bacteria, which reportedly sickens nearly 100,000 Americans yearly. In every outbreak for which a source has been found, the culprit appears to be contaminated pork. Studies have found that within a year of contracting Yersinia food poisoning, victims appear 47 times more likely to come down with autoimmune arthritis, and the bacteria may also play a role in triggering an autoimmune thyroid condition known as Graves’ disease.
Not only may plant-based diets improve or even eliminate arthritis symptoms, but specific plant foods may provide some relief. For example, açai berries showed modest benefit for osteoarthritis sufferers. Tart cherries appear to be so anti-inflammatory that they can be used to treat a painful type of arthritis called gout. Delicious dietary treatments are much welcomed, as some gout drugs can cost $2,000 a dose, carry no clear-cut distinction between nontoxic, toxic, and lethal doses, or can cause a rare life-threatening side effect in which your skin detaches from your body.
Image Credit: ttsz / Thinkstock. This image has been modified.
Popular Videos for Autoimmune Diseases


Does Nutritional Yeast Trigger Crohn’s Disease?
Is the exaggerated reaction of many Crohn’s disease patients to baker’s, brewer’s, and nutritional yeast...
Sodium & Autoimmune Disease: Rubbing Salt in the Wound?
There are two ways in which salt may drive autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis,...
How to Treat Asthma with a Low-Salt Diet
Cutting two teaspoons of salt’s worth of sodium from one’s daily diet can significantly improve...
Does Paratuberculosis in Meat Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?
The majority of specialists in the field agreed that paraTB in meat and dairy likely...
Does Paratuberculosis in Milk Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?
“Fear of consumer reaction” led the U.S. dairy industry to suppress the discovery in retail...
Meat Consumption & the Development of Type 1 Diabetes
Eating meat during breastfeeding is associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, perhaps...
Preventing Crohn’s Disease with Diet
Diets centered around whole plant foods may help prevent Crohn’s disease through the benefits of...
Why Do Plant-Based Diets Help Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis may be triggered by autoimmune friendly fire against a urinary tract infection bacteria...
Eczema Treatment with Coconut Oil, Mineral Oil vs. Vaseline
Natural topical remedies for eczema, including licorice root gel, St. John’s Wort cream, and emollients...
Treating Asthma & Eczema with Plant-Based Diets
Pilot studies on treating allergic eczema and severe asthma with dietary interventions have shown remarkable...All Videos for Autoimmune Diseases
-
The Effects of Obesity on the Immune System and Kidney and Liver Diseases
What are the effects of weight loss on natural killer cell function, our first line of immune defense against cancer, as well as kidney function and fatty liver disease?
-
Fasting for Autoimmune Diseases
Various fasting regimens have been attempted for inflammatory autoimmune diseases such as lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic urticaria, mixed connective-tissue disease, glomerulonephritis, and multiple sclerosis, as well as osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia.
-
Fasting for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Fasting, followed by a plant-based diet, is put to the test for autoimmune inflammatory joint disease.
-
Type 1 Diabetes Treatment: A Plant-Based Diet
Is it possible to reverse type 1 diabetes if caught early enough?
-
Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Lupus
Green smoothies are put to the test for the autoimmune disease SLE (lupus).
-
The World’s Largest Fasting Study
Buchinger modified fasting is put to the test.
-
Does Intermittent Fasting Increase Human Life Expectancy?
Alternate-day modified fasting is put to the test for lifespan extension.
-
Is Aloe Vera Gel the Best Treatment for Lichen Planus?
We shouldn’t ever swallow aloe vera, but how does using it topically for a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease compare to steroids?
-
The Role of Dairy & Gluten in Canker Sores
Does excluding dairy products, food additives, and gluten-containing grains from one’s diet help those with recurring canker sores (aphthous ulcers)?
-
Eczema Treatment with Coconut Oil, Mineral Oil vs. Vaseline
Natural topical remedies for eczema, including licorice root gel, St. John’s Wort cream, and emollients such as coconut oil, mineral oil, and petroleum jelly, are put to the test.
-
Eczema Treatment with Evening Primrose Oil, Borage Oil vs. Hempseed Oil
Are there dietary supplements that can help with atopic dermatitis?
-
Dietary Cure for Hidradenitis Suppurativa
What is the role of dairy- and yeast-exclusion diets on arresting and reversing an inflammatory autoimmune disease?