The first book Sarah Ballantyne wrote has a ton of science but it’s less of a cook book. In fact it’s mostly about the AIP diet and lifestyle and the research she’s found to back it up. It’s a long book and goes deep into the immune system too.
https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391
You would need to look into this further to see if it's a good idea, but AIP is an elimination diet. It's primarily geared to people with autoimmune conditions, but if you'd be seeing a rheumatologist I'm guessing there's some overlap. It certainly is focused on lowering inflammation. If you implement it properly it's very healthy, but people tend to have a month or two where they aren't eating in a balanced way as they get the hang of the diet, you wouldn't want to take any risks with that. Another issue is that if you're not able to move that much you would need someone else to do a lot of the food prep. So, something to look into. https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2YXTGNRA34SHL&keywords=sarah+ballantyne+autoimmune+protocol&qid=1666991120&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjQxIiwicXNhIjoiMS44OSIsInFzcCI6IjIuMjEifQ%3D%3D...
Read this book if you want all the details on the diet:
https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391
Basically, to stay fully compliant, in the elimination phase, avoid all grains, dairy, nightshade vegetables, added sugar, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, coffee, alcohol, nuts and seeds as well and seed based spices (like cumin).
I did this combined with a handful of supplements (fish oil, Tumeric, ginger, Boswelia, vitamin D, L-glutamine) and saw some solid improvements. I was down to needing a meloxicam about 1x a week.
Once my doctor prescribed Sulfasalazine after my diagnosis, I’m basically pain free unless I cheat on my diet.
The second phase of the diet is reintroduction. Slowly, one food at a time, add things back to see if you have a reaction. I’ve now found I can tolerate small amounts of cheese and almonds.
i saw someone on youtube recommend following the AIP diet and she used this book to guide her through it. definitely more of a natural approach but it's a very strict diet. i tried it for a while but i've been on and off. hope this helps!
Some of the books I read had suggestions for what order to reintroduce things in. I'm pretty sure The Paleo Approach was one of the books that had a pretty comprehensive list for how to do reintroductions.
But I mostly was just like, "okay, I really want this back in my diet so I'm going to try it." So I only lasted a few weeks without eggs because they're my favorite food, I was feeling pretty good, and I just really didn't think they were a problem for me.
Then I think some of the next stuff I did were various nuts because I'm pretty active outdoors (climbing, trail running, hiking and so on), so I really wanted more options for food to bring on adventures that I wouldn't have to worry about spoiling.
I had originally wanted to try tomatoes pretty early on, but I kept reading things that made it seem like they could be a big trigger for a lot of people, so I held off on eating those for probably about a year.
So yeah, it was kind of a combination of what those lists suggested and what I really wanted to eat again.
I don't plan to ever try dairy or gluten containing grains; things I've read have suggested those things are probably no-nos forever, and it's just not worth it for me. Life's been just fine without legumes and other grains, too, but I think if I was planing on doing any traveling where some of those foods might be staples of the place I'm visiting, I would maybe try some of those things before the trip, just so I would know for sure if I can handle it.
I don't have an autoimmune disease, but I read this book on how paleo helps with autoimmune disease. I really like it; it's a great book. It's a bit science heavy and kind of reads like a textbook.
If you are now on Metho I'm sure your aware that alcohol should be limited. But I have since cut it out completely. Once I really started listening to my body I noticed that even one drink would put me in a world of hurt.
And like others, I am on an anti-inflammation diet. I do feel healthier overall making dietary changes. It has been slow small improvements but I hope over time to notice greater change.
My biggest guide for nutrition is The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne It is very informative and thorough.
I hope you find what works for you :)
Because you have an autoimmune disease, I think it is very important that you get this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936608391?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
The diet in the book varies slightly from a normal paleo diet, and it is too complicated for me to explain here, but a good place to start would be going on a gluten-free diet. The author harps over and over again about how gluten causes leaky gut and leaky gut ultimately causes autoimmune disease.
Just look for Paleo Approach. It's the diet I picked up at the end of last year and it's given me the best results, and is a good framework for starting to test what might specifically be causing your problems.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune/dp/1936608391
I read the Paleo Approach by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne.
https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391/ref=nodl_
Here’s a link to her Blog which has a lot of the info for free. Search for “What to Eat on the Autoimmune Protocol”.
Here’s here Health IQ bio. She has a PhD surrounding Medical Biophysics and focused on inflammation. She helped pioneer the AIP diet.
I'm using the old version of reddit in the browser so I don't know exactly how it might work in other configurations but somewhere there's something like "About this subreddit" which should have links to Dr. Ballantyne's site and book and some other resources.
Actually here: https://ultimatepaleoguide.com/autoimmune-protocol/
https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-here/the-autoimmune-protocol/
https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391
Dr. Sarah Ballantyne has a great in-depth breakdown online as well as a book, The Paleo Approach. On YouTube, Michele Spring and RealWorldAIP have a lot of useful information on implementing the diet as well as recipes/substitutions. There's also r/AutoImmuneProtocol here on Reddit.
Bummer!
>endometriosis
Regarding this, I would encourage you to look into the "autoimmune protocol" if you haven't already. It's basically an elimination "diet" (it's not a diet...you know what I mean lol. Maybe "program" is a better word?) to help with autoimmune issues . Below I linked a book that changed my wife's life completely. If you search through the comments, you'll find people who found relief from endometriosis following it. My wife was crippled with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of like 25 for two years until she changed her diet. Now she's roughly 90% better. https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoImmuneProtocol/
Glad to help! My wife bought this and it helped her. Just know that it often reads like a medical journal, but it will explain why the change in food is needed. "Paleo approach" by Sarah Ballantyne. https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoImmuneProtocol/
This is a controversial topic as you will have noticed. There is the autoimmune protocol (AIP, a more restrictive version of the paleo diet) which is based on the idea that you
a) avoid everything that might in the least be inflammatory or otherwise unhealthy to your gut, and
b) maximize nutrient density.
Basically, you end up with lots of veggies, meat, fish, fruits, salads, fermented stuff. No grains, no sugar, no alcohol, nothing industrially processed, no legumes, no nightshades, no nuts, no seeds, and a few more 'no's.
It is based on solid science in its food selection (as in it is generally known that the things that are prohibited do actually cause inflammation or otherwise harm the gut) but there isn't yet a lot of solid evidence that it does work for treating IBDs, although there are some preliminary (!) study results, see links below. Apart of that, there's lots of anecdotal evidence. Speaking for myself, I can only say that I've been following it for more than four years now, and I still happily stick with it because I do feel it helps. I don't take any medication beyond mesalacine, and, very occasionally, oral budesonide. I will, of course, never know whether that is really due to the diet (and other lifestyle changes - getting enough sleep is absolutely key for me) or at least partly also just luck on my part.
The key source on this is Dr. Sarah Ballantyne's website, who originally designed the protocol. (Also besides the AIP specifically, the website is just a trove of valuable and accurate scientific information about food, inflammation, gut health, and other topics!) Yes, she makes a living of it now, I think (though I never bought anything from her), so judge for yourself. But there is a large community now, and several cookbooks specifically for the diet also by various other authors.
On a more general note, it seems pretty clear by now that the avalanche of autoimmune diseases is caused by something in our Western lifestyle, so I personally find it more than plausible that it can also be at least partly fought by means of lifestyle changes.
https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-here/the-autoimmune-protocol/
https://autoimmunewellness.com/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5647120/
https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391/
Some things from top of my mind to research at regarding auto immune diseases.
Paleo Diet. There is a lot of good research that supports Paleo diet suppression of auto immune diseases.
Good books:
https://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Approach-Reverse-Autoimmune-Disease/dp/1936608391
https://www.amazon.com/Wired-Eat-Cravings-Appetite-Determine/dp/0451498569
​
Wim Hof method
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaaB6ZlakgA
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0225749
​
Take care!
Autoimmune diseases are all associated with inflammation, and inflammation starts in the gut..many neurotransmitters are created by gut microbiota and most of our immune system actually resides in the gut:
The latest research also shows that the brain and gut communicate through the gut-brain axis so the state of your gut health has an effect on mood disorders and behavior.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5772764/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/gut-bacteria-on-the-brain/395918/
I have been able to partially re-pigment my vitiligo (I'm about 50% repigmented after a year) by eating a Paleo AIP diet with particular focus on my gut microbiome. I also completely reversed my Crohn's symptoms and depression during this time period. Though it's entirely possible to heal on your own (if you have the time and energy to devote to a lot of reading & research) the alternative is to find a good functional medicine doctor, preferably one that has an understanding of ancestral health with a track record of treating people with autoimmune conditions. If you can't find someone who fits that criteria locally many work remotely and can order tests and bloodwork without an in office visit.
Conventional medicine doctors have no training in health, only in acute care and managing the symptoms of disease. They prescribe medications and refer to specialists but will never help you get to the root cause of your problem (s) because that is not what they are trained to do. Shocking but most doctors take one class in nutritional science and that is the scope of their knowledge on the subject. Our acute care medical system is great for broken limbs, surgeries, or treating life threatening infections but completely useless when it comes to healing long term, chronic conditions.
There is a lot of great information online but books are often a more condensed and targeted source of information that help you avoid the needle in the haystack frustration. I found a lot of help and useful information in these books in particular:
"The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body"
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936608391/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
"Healthy Gut Healthy You"
"The Paleo Cure"
Any time, buddy :)
The book that helped change my attitude towards sleep and how to do it correctly is a fun look at tons of large-, small- and anecdotal-scale studies on sleep called Night School by Richard Wiseman
The one that helped me understand how my digestive system works and how to eat so that it functions properly is the massive, zombie-bludgeoning tome The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne Don’t let the cover and title scare you, it’s not a cliche, upper-middle class fad diet book. She deep dives into how the whole digestive system works in the larger system of your body and makes it very understandable. I was eating a food pyramid + junk food Canadian diet before and now that I’m not constantly full of inflammatory food my bp symptoms are so much better. I am still bipolar; it’s not a cure, but diet is massively linked to mental illness.
As to the weed: cut back, friend. I was an almost every day smoker. Told myself all the same stuff, it’s not physically addictive, it’s helping take the edge off my mood, etc. Seriously, I tracked my mood, diet, sleep and habits meticulously for 2 years. Weed was the biggest factor in mood swings. Always 2 days later. I enjoy it maybe twice a month now when I want to do something nice for myself like a happy sativa and a beach stroll or to make housework more fun. I save so much money I now use for cooler, far more memorable experiences and it takes so little bud now to get a nice toasty high going. A wise pothead once said to me: weed should be used to enhance life, not avoid it.
Good luck!
There should absolutely not be different protocols, that's pretty frustrating that you've found so many options, makes it really hard to know who to trust.
This is the blog of the doctor who wrote the AIP Bible https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-here/the-autoimmune-protocol/
Here is her book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936608391/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_OADCBb8SHX85R
This is my source of truth and is the best place to start imo.
Pork sausage I would be cautious of because there could be "natural flavors" or non compliant spices.
So, what is your diet then? Only no lactose, everything else allowed?
I have also found that diet is critical for psoriasis. I used to be sensitive to complex carbohydrates, which would always cause a flare-up. Since they are everywhere, the diet was very restrictive to say the least. But then I came across a condition called SIBO (Small intestinal bacteria overgrowth), which basically is colon bacteria living in small intestine and consuming those carbohydrates and causing gastro-intestinal symptoms and producing byproducts, which cause intestinal inflammation ("leaky gut") and trigger a flare-up. I successfully treated SIBO with antibiotics (Rifaximin + Neomycin - see dosage info at http://www.siboinfo.com) and now the difference is night and day. I can eat any carbohydrates with no problem, but I have found some foods to be problematic though:
Whenever I stay away, everything heals up nicely. But when I'm not careful and eat something with tomatoes in it (such as burger with tomato-based dressing), I get a flare up.
Book that helped me on my research: The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body
If you're really interested in how diet can affect auto-immune disease, I've been reading this great book called The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paleo-Approach-The-Sarah-Ballantyne/dp/1936608391 She has a great website too, called The Paleo Mom http://www.thepaleomom.com/ and you can get a good flavour of what her book is about from there.
I originally came from SCD to try and manage my symptoms and had good success, but didn't stick to it longterm enough, and reverted back to normal diet, but then flared up again funnily enough. I'm following it again but with the bonus knowledge I've gained from The Paleo Approach so I've learned what foods are particularly vicious towards auto-immune disease and what encourages heeling. Bone broth being particularly great as you've found doing the intro, and boosting vit D3 and Omega3 foods as much as poss through food mainly, with a wee top up of multi -vitamins each day.
When you haven't got bone broth to hand, as its a bit if chore to make continuously, I have a couple of glasses of hot fruit juice with a spoonful of gelatine in. Gelatine has been proven to aid digestion, and is supposedly quite good at helping babies cope with consuming milk, so may help if you are finding issues with dairy related products. I only have hard cheeses myself and cope well with the SCD yogurt anyway, but the bonus effect of it suppisedly helping to heal the mucosal lining jn your intestine makes it worth a punt. This is gelatine made from animals products by the way.
On the idea of Paleo diet, there is also what's called the auto-immune protocol which is a bit like the SCD starter diet in a way, give that a google for more info.
Has your mom looked into the "autoimmune protocol"? It's a way of eating and some MS patients react extremely well to the "diet".
My wife was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis (sleeping 16 hours/day, pain, etc.) and after changing what she ate she's like 90-95% back to normal, without pain, etc..
Hope this helps!