Autoimmune disorders affect people in ever-increasing numbers – Grave’s Disease, MS, lupus, Celiac’s Disease – these diseases can be crippling, cause pain and limit mobility to various areas of the body.
Although many people with autoimmune diseases choose to manage their conditions with diet and exercise – eschewing inflammatory foods, taking prescribed medications, and using natural remedies – many still struggle with their illnesses every day. Here are some factors that can make your autoimmune disease worse without you knowing.
1. Eating Certain Foods
While many peoples’ first reaction to being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder is to clean up their diets, eating “cleaner,” organic foods. However, just because a food is organic doesn’t mean that you should necessarily be eating it, especially when you have an autoimmune condition.
Nightshade plants like tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers can have an inflammatory effect on people with autoimmune disorders, as can grains – even those with no gluten – eggs, and dairy. All of these are notorious for being difficult to digest, and anything that compromises digestion can cause a flare-up of your autoimmune condition.
2. Lack Of Live Probiotics
People with autoimmune diseases often have an imbalance of gut flora, which can lead to many digestive conditions such as Candida. To remedy this, make sure that fermented vegetables are part of your diet – kimchi and sauerkraut are good sources of “good” bacteria, as are apple cider vinegar and non-dairy kefirs.
3. Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metals are common in seafood, personal hygiene products, paint, smoke and soda cans – so they’re a lot harder to avoid than you might think.
Heavy metals are associated with many different health conditions, some of which include autoimmune diseases, and heavy metal toxicity can cause a whole host of symptoms including chronic pain, memory problems, paralysis, fatigue and other conditions associated with autoimmune conditions.
Make sure you are tested for heavy metal toxicity if you have an autoimmune disorder – removing heavy metals from your system can make a huge difference in your quality of life.
4. Lack of Live Enzymes
Lack of live enzymes in your diet can be another factor in autoimmune disease. While the human body produces many different digestive enzymes, the process of digesting food can deplete your natural enzyme stores – and most peoples’ diets don’t replenish their depleted enzyme stores. Salads, fresh juices and smoothies are a good place to start for promoting digestive health.
There are many other factors that could contribute to making an autoimmune condition worse such as vitamin D deficiency, reliance on prescription medications and so on.
Addressing these issues head on could be your key to better overall health, even if they won’t make your autoimmune disease go away entirely.