24% Of American Women Silently Suffer From These Painful Conditions Leading To Life Threatening illness

I recently attended a health conference near Atlanta, Georgia. One of the keynote speakers Dr. Tom O’bryan was speaking on the topic of autoimmune disease. I didn’t expect to learn anything substantially important in his talk because up until that time I thought autoimmune disease maybe effected 1 in 100 or 1 in 200 people. Turns out I was quite wrong. 17% of the American population suffers from autoimmune disease in one form or another.

75% of people who suffer from autoimmune diseases are women. So the 17% is a general number across the entire population but 24% of women are directly effected. That’s almost 1 out of 4 women in America.

50 Million Americans suffer from approximately 160 diagnosable diseases listed here by the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), I may be one of two off on that number because it’s big and counting is a process in and of itself.

These diseases and conditions include things like diabetes, thyroid disease, psoriasis, acne, fibromyalgia, arthritis, lupus, celiac disease, depression, hashimoto’s disease, addison’s disease, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease,  Crohn’s disease and other brain and memory related diseases. The list goes on and on and on.

Autoimmune disease is an inflammatory based condition. Inflammation is now known as one of the causes of many diseases, not just autoimmune disease. To better understand the cause of autoimmune disease we need to look deeper into the cause of inflammation.

Autoimmune disease occurs when the gut has an inflammatory response to something that knocks the homeostasis off course. This could be anything that disrupts the balance. Allergies including hidden allergens, infections, environmental toxins, foods or drinks that are inflammatory and stress are causes of inflammatory related conditions.

If we continue to put our body and gut into a pro-inflammatory state either knowingly or unknowingly it will only continue. How do you know what causes inflammation in your gut? That’s an important factor. Really, the truth is that for everyone it’s different.

If I eat a food I may be fine with it but if you eat it your gut have an inflammatory response. Specific foods and drinks effect everyone differently. At the same time we do know and now have statistical data that suggests that certain factors such as specific foods, drinks, allergens and other factors can spark inflammation in the majority of people.

With that knowledge we can at least make progress, if not go a long way…

Chronic systemic inflammation (SI) is the result of release of pro-inflammatory cytokines from immune-related cells and the activation of the immune system.

Your gut environment, such as your diet, stress, ingestion of chemicals knowing or unknowingly is what stirs this into motion.

Removing the culprits is key. The body is doing it’s job by responding with inflammation. Inflammation is a barrier the body gives specific areas in order to assess the damage and begin to repair. It’s a good and necessary thing.

If you stop giving your body the factors that cause the inflammatory response the gut and autoimmune response to send antibodies will decrease. This decrease is what you want and need.

How Leaky Gut Effects Autoimmune Disease Sufferers

When you eat a food over a period of time that causes dysbiosis in your gut it wears down your intestinal lining. The intestinal epithelial barrier is a sort of lining along the wall of your intestines. If that wall is compromised over time by foods that weaken it then it can actually form ‘cracks’ if you will where food particles leak into the bloodstream. These particles are seen as foreign invaders by the immune system and this triggers the autoimmune response to send an antibody to see what’s going on.

If these foods aren’t taken out of the diet and good foods and nutrients reintroduced to heal the epithelial barrier then autoimmune disease will continue to be an issue and struggle.

So What Feeds Autoimmune Diseases?

Each person will have a different nail in the coffin so to speak. There are general guidelines that can help you in the dismantling of autoimmune disease though. According to one of the leading experts in the field Dr. Tom O’bryan (watch his video series on autoimmune disease by clicking here) we can start with something that effects most of us negatively, especially those with an autoimmune disease.

1. Gluten: Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye. It contains 2 tough to digest proteins that typically cause an inflammatory response in most people. Gluten creates gaps in the epithelial barrier lining the intestines and over time food will leak into the bloodstream causing an antibody, autoimmunity pro-inflammatory based response. Consumption of gluten foods over time will lead to an inflammatory gut response as well as a leaky gut. Taking gluten out of your diet in all aspects is a big step towards improvement.

Dr. Tom also recommends the following nutritional additions:

1. Prebiotic foods: Such as artichoke, dandelion greens, raw garlic, raw leeks and bananas. These foods contain a precursor to feeding probiotics which are good gut flora that heal and repair the gut.
2. Turmeric: Turmeric is a great source of curcumin which is one of the best anti-inflammatory agents on the planet. You can add turmeric to your diet or simply eat more curry. You can also get a highly beneficial and bio-available source of turmeric in supplement form with a special 10% discount for Healthy Wild And Free readers only by messaging me on facebook here.
3. Vitamin D (Hormone): Vitamin D is an important hormone that plays a role in heart health and immune health. A common unknown fact is that it also plays an important role in ‘controlling the gates of the bowels’ and is responsible for improving gut health and immunity. One study that found that IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) sufferers had a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. IBS effects the gut in various ways such as bloating, diarrhea, gas and constipation. It helps to regulate bowel movements and immune function which is approximately 70% located in the gut. You can get the majority of vitamin d simply by getting outside and getting sunlight without sunscreen. You can get a liquid vitamin d supplement here.
4. Colostrum Supplement: Think of colostrum as the precursor to breast milk like a prebiotic is a precursor to a probiotic. It is rich in antibodies which arm the immune system to be a strong immunomodulator.  This is very valuable for strengthening and rebuilding the immune system as if it was ‘rebirthed’ in a sense. Colostrum is something babies ingest with breast milk in early stages of life to build the immune system in the first place. You can get a good quality colostrum supplement here.
5. Betrayal The Series: Betrayal the series is a documentary series starting November 14th. It will last 7-days and hosts 85 experts speaking on the topic of autoimmunity. These are doctors, scientists and people who have healed their autoimmune disease successfully. If you suffer from any autoimmune disease (or think you may) then I highly recommend watching the series by signing up for the event here. It’s going to be very valuable.