4 Steps To Reverse (Most) Autoimmune Issues

First thing to know…

Autoimmune diseases don’t have to be a lifelong plague!

Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Hashimoto’s, multiple sclerosis, and Type 2 Diabetes are certainly serious conditions that will negatively impact your life and impair an active lifestyle.

Many people spend their entire lives struggling to manage and treat these conditions, and end up spending years in constant pain and discomfort.

But there is hope. The happy truth is: autoimmune conditions can be reversed.

They can be prevented and managed, and your health can be restored—with the right treatments.

And no, we’re not talking about some new medication or supplement.

We’re talking about simple, natural solutions that will help you to renew your body, reboot your immune system, and repair the damage done by autoimmune conditions.

We’ve got 4 steps of a 14-step autoimmune disease-reversing protocol, which will start you on the road to permanent solutions to improve your life in significant, visible ways.

1. Eliminate Environmental Toxic Exposure

Did you know that exposure to environmental toxins can directly increase your risk of autoimmune disorders?

That’s right! One 2015 opinion piece [1] provided a wealth of information linked environmental exposures to toxins and human autoimmune disease.

These toxins include, but aren’t limited to:

• Silica exposure
• Smoking
• Solvents
• Heat shock proteins
• (from burned red meats
• and meat products)
• Asbestos
• Nuclear radiation
• Mercury

As the study concluded, “Environmental exposures can also commonly result in immune activation and autoimmunity without evidence of a defined autoimmune disease. Greater understanding of how different environmental exposures result in different disease phenotypes and varying degrees of severity will help identify the mechanisms and checkpoints that control development of autoimmunity and autoimmune disease.”

For your health’s sake, try to identify areas in your life where you might be exposed to environmental toxins. 

For example, in your food and drinking water (if they’re contaminated with heavy metals), in the plastic containers you use round the house (which may contain phthalates), in the air you breathe (often polluted), and in the cleaning chemicals and solvents you use.

Reducing environmental exposure to toxins can be an excellent first step toward reducing the “immune load” on your system and thereby reducing immune (and autoimmune) activity in your body.

2. Identify Food Sensitivities

Did you know that there is a direct link between food intolerances/sensitivities and autoimmune conditions?

One observational study [2] found that food intolerances actually triggered an infection-like response in the body, which increased immune activity significantly and potentially caused it to attack healthy cells (auto-immunity).

Gluten intolerance is probably the most common food sensitivity linked to autoimmune conditions (such as Celiac disease) [3]. The low quality of refined wheat products sold in most supermarkets provide very little in the way of nutrition but increase the infection-like response in your body. (And as our article Tuesday indicates, the toxins ON the wheat can be an issue, too.)

As one study [4] explained, “Gluten affects the microbiome and increases intestinal permeability.”

It boosts oxidative stress and affects epigenetic behavior. It is also immunogenic, cytotoxic, and proinflammatory. Gluten intake increases apoptosis and decreases cell viability and differentiation. 

The same goes for low-quality, highly processed dairy products. Not an issue for most vegans, but certainly for many vegetarians. 

While dairy (lactose) allergies aren’t as common as gluten allergies, they can still trigger negative internal reactions and contribute to higher auto-immunity. [5]

Studies have shown [4] that gluten-free diets can help to reduce auto-immune activity and essentially “reboot” your digestive system.

It may be a good idea to test out a few weeks of gluten-free eating to see how your body responds. (And dairy-free if you consume it.) 

You may find that the difference is night-and-day, and you feel exponentially better because these food intolerances aren’t causing your body to attack its own healthy cells.

Once you reset your body, you can try to incorporate small quantities of organic high-quality versions of the two foods and see how well your body can tolerate them. 

3. Cut Sugar and Carbs

In a perfect world, you would follow a diet that is 100% free of refined sugars and simple, processed carbohydrates.

Sadly, in our real world, refined sugar and processed carbs are everywhere, in virtually everything we eat. It’s pretty much impossible to cut them out completely!

However, it’s still worth cutting them as much as possible. Studies have proven that there is a direct link between these foods and autoimmune conditions.

You see, when you eat a lot of sugar, those sugar molecules attach to protein molecules in your bloodstream, producing what are called “Advanced Glycated End-Products”, or AGEs.

These AGEs damage more proteins around them, turning healthy cells into “broken” cells that your body sees as dangerous.

In fact, as one study proved [6], “Interaction of AGE with RAGE (receptors for AGEs) leads to intracellular signalling, and subsequent expression of adhesion molecules, chemokines, pro-inflammatory cytokines and up regulation of RAGE itself.

“The AGE-RAGE interaction might act as a pro-inflammatory loop in these patients, contributing to chronic low grade inflammation rendering these individuals susceptible for development of accelerated atherosclerosis.”

Eating refined sugars and processed, simple carbohydrates will directly impact your health and cause your body to attack itself.

The good news is that you can still enjoy natural sugars in moderation and whole, complex carbohydrates (fruits and veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds, etc.).

And make it a personal goal to cut out all unhealthy processed sugars and carbs to reduce auto-immune activity.

4. Limit Pesticide and Herbicide Exposure

Let’s be honest: no one walks through fields of crops while pesticides and herbicides are being sprayed. That just doesn’t happen.

But you can be exposed to these toxic chemicals by eating foods that contain pesticides—what the Environmental Working Group call the “Dirty Dozen” [7].

These foods include:

• Spinach
• Collard greens
• Kale
• Mustard greens
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Nectarines
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Pears
• Tomatoes
• Celery
• Peaches
• Bell
• Peppers/Hot peppers

Herbicides and pesticides have been directly linked to autoimmune conditions. 

One study [8] found that “residential and workplace insecticide exposure is associated with risk of ARD in post-menopausal women. Although these findings require replication in other populations, they support a role for environmental pesticide exposure in development of autoimmune rheumatic diseases.”

For the sake of your health, buy organic veggies and fruits that are grown without the use of pesticides and herbicides. 

Even if it’s too expensive to buy everything organic, at least make sure that you choose organic fruits and veggies on the list above. That will go a long way toward reducing your exposure to toxic chemicals.

Now, though these four steps will go a long way to relieve autoimmune challenges, they are just the starting point! 

You will discover 10 more important steps to supporting recovery when you download the…

14-Step Protocol to Reverse Most Autoimmune Conditions