Today’s post is about what I learned from Dr. Josh Axe at the Healthy Gut Summit 2015. I have to mention that Dr. Axe is one of my favorite “go to” guys for all things health and nutrition related. During the Summit he discussed autoimmunity and how it affects the gut, or maybe I should say how the gut affects autoimmunity.
If a person has an autoimmune disease, in layman’s terms, the person’s body is having an abnormal immune response. There is an immune attack on the body’s tissue. It causes inflamed or leaky gut among many other symptoms. (If one has leaky gut, substances escape through the lining of the gut, out into the body, the body detects it and has an automatic immune attack). According to the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA), autoimmune diseases affect up to 50 million Americans. Dr. Pamela Smith, who spent 20 years as an ER doctor and now works in functional and nutritional medicine and was at the Healthy Gut Summit said that there are now 104 different autoimmune diseases! That is staggering to think about. If you, yourself, are not affected by an autoimmune disease, I’m pretty sure you probably know someone who is. (a list of the different types of autoimmune diseases)
Dr. Axe stated that a leaky gut causes inflammation which causes food intolerances and autoimmunity. Some symptoms might be bloating, fatigue, skin issues, weight gain, or adrenal fatigue. It is not all bad news…..there are ways to heal the gut, and in turn help you feel better. Stay away from grain and sugar (two big foods that cause inflammation in the body). Get serious about not eating genetically modified foods (GMO’s). Conventional dairy is hard on the gut and vegetable oils are not healthy fats. A diet high is phytic acid causes a myriad number of problems. On his site he states, “Phytic acid (phytate) is a mineral blocker and enzyme inhibitor found in grains, nuts, seeds and beans which can serious health problems in our diets.The main reason phytic acid has become an issue today is because we have stopped ancient food preparation techniques such as sprouting or sourdough fermentation which kills off the phytic acid.
According to research published in the The Lancet a diet high in phytic acid will create mineral deficiencies and cause osteoporosis…” (see what else Dr. Axe says about phytic acid--a very interesting article)
Instead, we should eat foods for healing! Foods that are easy to digest, plenty of vegetables and fruits, saturated fats, and the essential amino acids of proline and glycine (found in bone broth). Read about these amazing amino acids, here.
Educating one’s self on how to eat clean, and eat for optimum health should be everyones goal! There are many wonderful foods out there, that will allow us to feel better, look better, and have more energy. None of us should settle for the Standard American Diet (SAD).
It Just Dawned On Me 