The Effects of Diet on Autoimmune Disease By Stephanie Walsh, MNT, CEPC, CPT T
he human body is a beautifully complex thing. It constantly directs every system in your body to maintain optimal health. Whether in response to stress, inflammation, or foreign
invaders a series of checks and balances keeps your body operat- ing smoothly. One significant piece of health maintenance is your immune system. When it is working correctly you can fight off infections, recover from illness more quickly, and have limited or no allergic responses to your food and environment. However, when your immune system is not working properly, the potential for autoimmune diseases is a real threat.
A Healthy Immune System Your body is an evolutionary genius when it comes to im-
munity. You have two major defense systems: innate and adaptive immunity. Your innate immunity was passed down from your parents and ancestors, with some minor tweaks each generation. Innate immunity senses and repairs damaged tissue, elimi- nates aging cells and detects harmful cells such as viruses. Your adaptive immunity is more sophisticated and adapts based on your diet and environment. Adaptive immunity recognizes and categorizes nonself dangerous cells and coordinates a targeted attack with minimal damage to other tissues and cells. These two immune systems work together to distinguish what is harmful, mount specific attacks on those dangerous and damaging cells, and remember these destructive characters for next time.
A healthy immune system needs to distinguish between four basic categories: nonself harmful intruders such as viruses, self- created but harmful molecules like uric acid, safe but nonself cells like healthy commensal bacteria living in your gut, and safe “self” cells such as all healthy human cells in your body. Your immune system is constantly learning and relearning which cells are a threat to health and which cells are safe. To help with the learn- ing process, your cells have receptors on the outside telling your immune system, “Hello, I am me, I am safe!” These “self” recep- tors allow the immune system’s checks and balances to operate smoothly. What happens if your body gets mixed messages?
When Immunity Goes Awry
Unfortunately, despite the ingenuity of the human body, your immune system can still get confused and mistakenly tag “self” cells as harmful. When this occurs your immune system will attack healthy cells. This is the very definition of autoimmunity. In this case your immune system is in overdrive and produces antibodies that target specific cells in the body. Which cells your immune system mistakenly attacks will dictate which autoim- mune disease presents.
According to The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, there are close to 100 different autoimmune diseases. Additionally, over 23 million people in the U.S. suffer from at least
www.elmmaine.com 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
