8 Principles of Our Autoimmune Lifestyle Program

Principles to follow:

1. Eat Whole-Food Plant-Based Meals, mostly raw.

The gut microbiome (or the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in the gut) plays a key role in regulating the immune system. If the microbiome is out of balance, it will negatively affect the immune system and the converse is true as well. Restoring a balanced microbiome is one of the keys to restoring health and there is no better way to restore the proper gut microbiome balance than eating whole-foods that are plant-based.

Eating plant-based provides you with much fiber (the stuff that feeds that bacteria) and healthy live bacteria. Also, when you eat foods that are uncooked, these raw foods can contain healthy bacteria and nutrients that would get destroyed in the cooking process. When you eat fresh plant-based foods, you are getting pre and probiotics direct from the source! We recommend that your meals contain as much as 70% raw plant-based foods. This will help to restore the proper balance of friendly vs. non-friendly bacteria, which helps reduce the risk of potentially pathogenic bacteria colonizing the gut.

Raw salads served with dressings or pesto made with a large variety of fresh greens and herbs are highly recommended to build up good gut bacterial speedily. We recommend that you get a daily serving of greens!

2. Grow your own plants.

If you want to have a healthy microbiome, you want to make sure that the plants that you eat are healthy and have healthy bacteria to pass on to you! One of the best ways to do this is to have your own vegetable or herb garden. A lot of food can be grown in a small space. For those who don’t have enough space to have a garden, growing herbs and greens in pots on a porch or patio also works.

It is important to use good soil to produce healthy plants. Soil should be clean, free of pesticides and weed killers--especially glyphosate. Adding worm castings to the soil aerates and improves overall structure while providing beneficial nutrients for the plants.

It is ideal to grow several varieties of different greens and some herbs. Having a variety of different greens will provide a variety of different bacteria for the gut and feed a variety of gut microbes.

3. Eliminate processed foods and refined oils.

We live in an extremely toxic world and our food is also susceptible to this exposure. Chemicals, used in the food supply chain and included in many processed foods, impact negatively on our immune system.

We recommend preparing your meals from their food sources, rather than from boxes or cans. Processed foods typically have chemicals added to make them stable for long shelf life. These preservatives will have a detrimental effect on the gut and microbiome. Canned foods will have plastic byproducts due to the plastic that lines each can. Many people turn to “healthy” processed foods” such as veggie meats, dressings, sauces, ketchup, and spice mixes. In addition to not having healthy ingredients that improve health, these foods tend to be higher in salt, sugar, and are loaded with excitotoxins that have an effect on the gut and brain.

Refined and roasted oils readily become rancid and are stripped of their whole plant nutritional benefits. Why not eat the whole olive instead of just the olive oil? Why eat roasted or flavored nuts and seeds instead of fresh raw nuts or seeds? We recommend freezing or refrigerating any foods that contain high amounts of fat, like nuts or seeds, to prolong their freshness and keep them from becoming rancid.

4. Soak and Sprout.

Lectins, or antinutrients, can bind to the intestinal wall and cause inflammation. Whole, plant-based foods--especially pseudograins, grains, nuts, legumes and seeds--tend to be high in lectins. Decreasing lectins can be accomplished by soaking these high-lectin foods. Sprouting these foods further decreases lectins and can greatly increase the nutrient content and availability.

5. Avoid grains and nuts temporarily.

We have found that many individuals in our programs have inflammatory reactions to grains and nuts. We recommend removing grains and nuts from the meal plan temporarily, until the inflammatory symptoms have resolved. When the gut and microbiome are healed these foods can be reintroduced. However, we recommend that certain foods like wheat (gluten) and high-risk GMO foods like soy and corn continue to be eliminated. Oats may be causing more issues an increasing number of individuals and may also be a grain that one may need to avoid indefinitely.

6. Consider testing for food sensitivities.

We have used Enterolab.com and have found their testing to be quite helpful. This is an IgA test of stool. A doctor’s prescription is not necessary.

7. Use Anti-inflammatory herbs.

Herbs contain high levels of anti-oxidants. Among those with the highest levels are: mint, marjoram, thyme, whole leaf stevia, rosemary, saffron, oregano, dill, celery, chives and basil. These seasoning herbs should be liberally included daily in your meal plan.

8. Use Super Healing foods.

We recommend all these super foods in our meal plan, especially turmeric, onion and garlic. Ginger is another super healing food that we include every other week. Turmeric is used at 1-2 teaspoons a day; Garlic, 2-4 raw cloves a day; Onion, ¼ to ½ of a red or yellow onion a day. These are super anti-inflammatory foods that will help speed the recovery process and will also keep the gut microbiome healthy.

“For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 30:17

References:

1 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190226112241.htm

2 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181218123123.htm