If you are struggling with an autoimmune disease and tired of medication, this article is for you. Or if you’ve been experiencing, for no apparent reason, slight depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, allergy symptoms, or digestive issues this article will help. Rather than using quick fix solutions like medications, pain killers or caffeine to manage your symptoms, you need to stop the problem at the root cause. Unfortunately, this method of root-cause healing is something most doctors won’t pursue. It’s much easier for them to write a prescription and move on. But usually at the cost of your own health. In this article, I’ll teach you how you can do it yourself.
The root cause of your autoimmune symptoms might be a food intolerance. One or several of the foods you are consuming could be the trigger. It’s estimated that 1 in every 5 people have a food intolerance (1)… which is a lot of people. Food intolerances can cause persistent and non-obvious symptoms. Many people become accustomed to these symptoms and live with them for their entire lives.
Removing the foods you are intolerant to can lead to life changing results, especially if you have an autoimmune disease. Though identifying these foods can be tough, since there aren’t reliable tests. The best way to discover the foods you are intolerant or sensitive to is an elimination diet. These are becoming more and more popular, even for those without autoimmune disease.
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What is an elimination diet?
An elimination diet is a simple, multi-step dietary plan that helps you identify which foods you’re intolerant or sensitive to. You first remove all suspect foods that may cause symptoms. After several weeks your symptoms will go away as you begin to reach your optimal state. You can then begin the reintroduction phase. In this phase you slowly add foods back in, one at a time, to see which you can tolerate. However, you might find that you feel so good you don’t want to reintroduce foods and risk a flare.
Why is it effective for autoimmune disease?
Elimination diets have been used for decades (2). Yet many practitioners don’t see them as a reliable treatment for autoimmune disease. It is becoming more and more clear that certain foods can be a trigger for autoimmune disease, not just allergies (3, 4, 5, 6). An intolerance to gluten in Celiac disease is just one example. Read my post on Psoriasis for more evidence.
Foods we are intolerant to disrupt the lining of our digestive tract, which leads to a condition known as leaky gut (Figure above). The gut lining acts as a defense to foreign substances, only allowing necessary water and nutrients into the body. When this lining becomes damaged it opens up and allows food particles, pathogens, and other bad things in. These foreign substances can then trigger inflammatory responses (7).
Furthermore, the proteins that make up these foreign particles can look similar to the proteins that make up our own tissue. When the invader gets in, the immune system forms an attack against it. In a process known as molecular mimicry, your immune system can mistakenly attack your own tissue (8).
By removing foods that damage the gut, it’s able to heal and close up. Preventing particles from getting in and triggering inflammation. Assuming you aren’t under high amounts of stress or exposed to other toxins, you should notice a relief in symptoms. You might find you don’t need your medication any longer and feel better than you ever have before.
What are the downsides?
There are no real downsides of an elimination diet. Some people say removing so many foods can lead to nutrient deficiencies. When done properly, you should be getting all the nutrients you need.
Sure you’ll be missing out on many of your favorite foods. But once you realize how good you can feel, you won’t miss a thing. In my opinion, no food is worth having a bad psoriasis or arthritis flare.. If you have an autoimmune condition and have suffered severe flares you know what I mean.
How to do an elimination diet?
I believe the best way to go about an elimination diet, especially for those with autoimmune conditions, is a strict carnivore diet. Just meat, water and salt. No plants. As crazy as it sounds this approach is becoming very popular for its effectiveness. A quick google search for “Carnivore Diet and Autoimmune Disease” will show you tons of success stories.
If you are coming from the typical Standard American/Western Diet, I suggest a slow transition. Around 4 to 6 weeks. Switching to a purely carnivorous diet over night can upset the bacteria in your gut. All of the sudden loads of bacteria are’t getting the food they prefer, which can cause them to act out. This can lead to side effects that can persist for weeks. Here is a great resource to get you started! I also recommend reading Dr. Shawn Baker’s book The Carnivore Diet.
My first go at an elimination diet was done using the Autoimmune Protocol Diet (AIP) in late 2022. I first heard of AIP from Dr. Amy Meyers in her book The Autoimmune Solution. This diet excludes all the universal autoimmune triggers (listed below).
- eggs
- dairy
- nuts and seeds
- soy
- gluten
- alcohol
- grains
- nightshades
- added and natural sugars
I think this approach works well for many people and is a great place to start. It was great for me for the first year or so. Then, in early 2023 I had a bad flare that I couldn’t get under control. Later that year, I cut everything from my diet except meat and salt. My psoriasis was gone within 5 days. I’ve since gotten off of all my RA medications. Now when I do have a small flare (usually from alcohol I occasionally drink) I’ve found that my gut and skin recover much more quickly.
All plants, even the ones allowed during AIP, contain defense chemicals that can disrupt the gut and cause nutrient deficiencies. This is why I recommend a meat only elimination diet to start, especially if you have autoimmune disease with severe symptoms. It’s the simplest and quickest way to achieve results. It’s difficult to determine what might be causing flares if you continue to eat many different things. With a carnivore diet there’s no confusion. You remove all variables.
Reintroduction Phase
After several weeks of this meat only elimination phase you can begin reintroduction. Depending on how damaged your gut was, it may take anywhere from 1 to 3 months or even longer to fully recover. Ultimately, you’ll know best when to experiment with new foods. When your symptoms are gone and you feel your best, your body is ready.
To reintroduce a food, eat small amounts of it over the course of a day. Then go back to meat only for several days. It’s important to wait for several days after a new food trial because it can take up to a week for a reaction from an intolerance or sensitivity to kick in. After a week, if you don’t have a flare or experience other symptoms, that food is likely okay! If you do have a flare, remove that food again to reintroduce later on (or never again).
It’s very important that you only introduce one food at a time, so you know for certain which foods are okay and not. Take it SLOW. A seemingly okay food in moderation might not trigger symptoms, but if you over do it you could have a relapse. Reintroduction of foods can take time. Be patient, you will soon discover what your body can tolerate.
Create your motivation
An elimination diet can be challenging. Especially the one I’ve recommend. You’ve been eating a certain way for so long you may feel stuck, like you’ll never change. You may also be struggling with the belief that it’ll work. Why would you want to remove all the fun from your diet if you were going to continue to feel like shit and rely on medicine? Based off personal experience and countless success stories I’ve heard, I can promise you, this technique is effective. It really is life changing.
If a carnivore diet is too strict for you, that’s okay. I’d recommend starting with the AIP or Wahl’s Protocol if you want to continue eating plants. It’s important to start at a level you can maintain. If this approach doesn’t work after a few weeks, remove more foods.
It’s important to realize that autoimmune diseases are chronic. They last your lifetime. As sad as it sounds, there is no cure or surgery that will get rid of it indefinitely. However, just because you have an autoimmune disease, doesn’t mean you have to suffer from the symptoms forever! Remission is achievable, it just takes time and patience. Trust me it’s worth the effort.
Conclusion
There are too many people on the internet telling us what we should and shouldn’t eat. We constantly hear biased recommendations like “meat is bad”, “meat is good”, “vegetables and fiber are necessary”, “dairy isn’t good for you” or “don’t eat too much protein…” The list goes on. Everyone thinks they know the proper human diet that we should all be following. The reality is, nutrition is not one sized fits all. Everyone reacts differently to different foods. I do think their is an human optimal diet that everyone should follow, but that’s for another post.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you. Everyone deserves to reach their optimal state and feel their best. I believe a carnivore elimination diet is the best way to achieve that. A goal worth striving for is to live the most optimal life you can, while not relying on medications and drugs to combat symptoms. If you only have one shot at life, why wouldn’t you want to feel your best 100% of the time?
I encourage you to try an elimination diet and explore what might be holding you back from achieving your optimal health. A diet as strict as this can be challenging, but when done for the right reasons can feel effortless. Once you realize how good you can feel by simply removing foods you are intolerant to, you won’t want to go back!
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