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Diet & Autoimmune Disorders

Mar 9, 2011 | By Adam Dave, MD
Diet & Autoimmune Disorders
Photo Credit Sardines grillées image by Bruno Bernier from Fotolia.com

As a class, autoimmune diseases include a variety of conditions with many different manifestations united by one commonality: autoimmunity is characterized by your body attacking itself. These disorders affect as many as 2 percent of Americans, according to Robbins' "Pathologic Basis of Disease." They are difficult to treat and involve a progressive loss of physical and mental function, making autoimmunity a terrible burden for both sufferers and their supporters alike. Though treatment often involves immunosuppressive drugs, dietary factors may favorably influence disease outcome. Before starting any new diet, talk to your doctor.

Autoimmune Disease

A quarter million Americans are diagnosed with one of the 40 separate autoimmune diseases each year. Women are nearly three times as likely to be afflicted as men. The most common of these diseases include multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, type 1 diabetes and rheumatic heart disease. The disease names may sound very different, but they are often considered as a group because they can occur in the same populations and involve the same disease processes.

Immune Function

In a healthy immune system, your body recognizes foreign invaders by specific protein tags that exist on the membranes of cells. These are called antigens. Your body produces antibodies that bind to these antigens and target the invaders, whether cancer cells or viruses, for destruction. In autoimmune dysfunction, your body mistakes self-antigens, your own proteins, for foreign invaders, and launches an immune response against itself. The tissue affected differs by disease. In arthritis it is the joints, in diabetes the pancreas is involved. But the result is the same -- destruction of healthy tissue with a resulting loss of function.

Cow's Milk

There are many theories as to what causes autoimmune disease. In "The China Study," T. Colin Campbell argues that proteins in certain foods stimulate an immune response. Because these proteins may be similar to human proteins, the result is that over time your body loses the ability to distinguish the foreign proteins from your own proteins, and both are destroyed. Campbell explains that this is seen in type 1 diabetes, in which infants fed cow's milk develop an immune response to the pancreas. Damage to the pancreas reduces its ability to produce insulin, the hallmark of the disease. Campbell notes that in countries where cow's milk consumption is highest, incidence of type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis, is increased.

Vitamin D

Incidence of autoimmune disorders is also higher in countries that are farther from the equator. This may be due to diminished exposure to sunlight, posits Campbell. Sunlight is a significant source of vitamin D. Vitamin D can enhance your immunity and decrease your risk of autoimmune disease, notes the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Assuring you get adequate amounts of vitamin D, either by sunlight exposure or through intake of dietary sources, may reduce your risk of developing autoimmunity and decrease disease severity, Campbell concludes. The recommended intake is 600 to 800 international units per day for adults. Food sources include fatty fish, liver and eggs.

Omega-3s

Autoimmune diseases characteristically involve pain and inflammation, and eating foods that inhibit these processes may provide relief, according to "Integrative Medicine." Author David Rakel, M.D., recommends eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids as part of an anti-inflammatory diet. Sources of omega-3s include fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, egg yolk, flaxseed and walnuts. Leafy green vegetables contain significant amounts. The recommended intake of omega-3 is 1 to 2 g per day.

References

Article reviewed by JudithT Last updated on: Mar 9, 2011

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