*Please note we are not doctors, and therefore cannot diagnose, treat, or prescribe. This is our own personal story.
A little over a year ago, my obstetrician sent me to a teaching hospital over an hour away because I had over twelve consecutive monthly yeast infections. My specialist had me take Diflucan every single day of my life and go for a liver function test at ten days. This medication made me feel miserable, and to be honest, it didn’t even work. So, my doctor switched me to another medication that would cost me over $1,000 per month.
I also had terrible psoriasis on my elbows, and it was starting to spread to other parts of my body. It was extremely itchy, painful, and made me miserable. The specialist explained to me that this was all related to something autoimmune (she never really gave me an exact diagnosis), and that when one would flare, the other would likely flare as well. However, when I asked her if my diet could help control this, she insisted that it would not help (I asked her again about this at a recent visit, and she said she meant going on an extremely restrictive candida resistant diet would not help). If you suspect you might have an autoimmune disorder, you can read more at the nih.gov website for autoimmune disorders.
My husband found out he was diabetic around the same time, and to help him with his food struggles, I decided to begin eating a paleo diet. This meant we didn’t eat any refined carbohydrates, anything with starch, and we mostly ate vegetables, fruit, and meat. So this meant I couldn’t have sugar in any foods, sweets, soda, crackers, chips, etc. We eventually learned about how to eat based on the autoimmune paleo diet, or autoimmune protocol (AIP), and I have only had two flares in the last year. This is basically a modified version of the paleo diet.
Autoimmune disease is when your body cannot distinguish between the proteins in your body versus foreign invaders like bacteria, parasites, etc. We believe that by removing foods that trigger inflammation in the body (which in turn creates psoriasis and other autoimmune symptoms), you are able to eliminate the body’s inflammation response and allow the body to heal. This is exactly how I have eliminated my flares of candida and psoriasis.
We had already been learning more about a wellness lifestyle through our use of Young Living essential oils, and had worked really hard to clean up our diet and nutrition. We also started eliminating chemical toxins in our home, and we both started feeling much better. Take a few minutes to read my wellness story about my journey to restored health.
I have found so many helpful websites like autoimmune-paleo.com, thepaleomom.com, and more. I also have several oily friends who follow the AIP protocol as well. I can’t even begin to tell you how much better I feel since I have switched to this eating plan. I have flared twice in the last year, when I went off plan, and that was enough to kick me right back into following the plan closely. The symptoms are not worth the guilty pleasure of foods that make my body feel so poorly. I have also been able to get to a healthy BMI, and I feel wonderful.
We have recently started an AIP recipe section of the site. Make sure to check out our autoimmune paleo recipes.
Comment you AIP questions below, or let us know what you think of the autoimmune protocol.
Copyright: atasitseli / 123RF Stock Photo
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