Autoimmune disease refers to the condition where your immune system starts attacking your body instead of foreign diseases and threats. As a result, one might experience symptoms including swollen glands, joint pain, muscle pain or swelling, fatigue, recurring fever, digestive issues, and more. Most common autoimmune diseases include inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and more.
According to the data published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, more than 80 known autoimmune diseases are affecting around 24 million people in the United States. However, many of such conditions are considered incurable by western medicines.
But there’s another way of treating autoimmune diseases: adopting the holistic approach. The holistic approach to treating autoimmune disease focuses on curing the underlying cause instead of just symptoms.
Adjust Your Diet To Control Inflammation
As inflammation is a significant cause of autoimmune disease, adjusting your diet and including anti-inflammatory foods (while avoiding inflammatory ones) is an excellent first step in managing your symptoms. For example, you can add the following food items:
- Organic greens and other vegetables.
- Grass-fed, pasture-raised meat
- Avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, and other “good” fats
- Berries and other organic fruits
Simultaneously, you should eliminate inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy products, alcohol, refined sugar, processed foods, artificial flavors/sweeteners, GMOs, and trans fats. Moreover, you can make the following dietary changes:
- Eliminate highly processed or refined foods.
- Eat more plant-based foods.
- Eliminate added sugars.
- Get an adequate amount of protein, plus healthy fats and oils.
- Also, add some fermented foods.
Strengthen Your Gut
Your gut is the key to good health. It accounts for 80 percent of your immune system, and having a healthy immune system is nearly impossible without a healthy gut.
Having a leaky gut is one of the major causes of developing an autoimmune disease. When your gut is leaky, the tight junctions that normally hold the walls of your intestines together become loose. This results in undigested microbes, food particles, toxins, and other substances escaping and entering your bloodstream, causing a massive increase in inflammation that triggers or worsens any autoimmune condition.
Reduce The Toxic Burden
It’s no secret that you are constantly exposed to many toxic chemicals. Human bodies are bombarded with toxins daily due to pollution in the air, contaminants in the water, pesticides in food items, and a combination of chemicals in different products.
Toxins are not simply washed or rinsed away; your body absorbs them. Therefore, you have two main goals for reducing your toxic burden: prevention and detoxification. Toxin exposure can be avoided or reduced by reducing your use of plastic, eating organic foods, filtering your air and water, and using toxin-free body products.
The second goal, detoxification, entails supporting your detox pathways by getting enough vitamins and nutrients required by your liver, staying hydrated, and engaging in activities that cause you to sweat, such as exercising.
Reduce Your Stress Level
The more you learn about chronic stress, the more you realize its damage to the body. As stress is linked to various inflammatory conditions, figuring out how to manage yours can help relieve current autoimmune disease symptoms while potentially preventing future illness.
Reducing stress, whether through meditation, exercise, prayer, art, or any other activity you enjoy, is highly beneficial in reducing inflammation and giving your immune system a well-deserved break so that it can get back on track.
Identify Hidden Allergies Or Sensitivities
Individuals with autoimmune diseases may have food sensitivities or allergies, or their diets may be high in naturally inflammatory foods. Dairy and gluten are the most common food items that can trigger allergies. A doctor will be able to work with you to identify foods that trigger your autoimmune response due to a food sensitivity or allergy and will be able to assist you in developing a treatment plan for eliminating such factors from your diet.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise on a regular basis is a natural anti-inflammatory. It can also help you strengthen your immune system, as a compromised immune system can make everything worse. To stay in shape, you don’t have to go to the gym, run on a treadmill, or pump iron. Instead, begin moving around more, cycling, dancing, walking, and having fun.
The Bottom Line
It can be a constant struggle for those diagnosed with an autoimmune disease to manage the symptoms that come and go. However, there are numerous natural ways to help yourself, either independently or in collaboration with healthcare providers. The first step is identifying the symptoms and avoiding everything that can trigger them. You can also take supplements for autoimmune disorders.
However, if you’re experiencing any allergies due to food items or any new medicines, take note of it and consult with your healthcare provider immediately.