You are probably familiar with the term "autoimmune". You might have seen the social media posts stating, "I just wish more people understood what an autoimmune disease is." It is true that most people do not display symptoms, and those with autoimmune issues have a difficult time expressing how they feel. It is also true that if you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's, Celiac, Sjogren's, etc., you will most likely prone to having more than one.
This is a subject that I have been researching for years, ever since being diagnosed with crohn's disease in the 80's, and why I do what I do.
So, what is it exactly? Autoimmune means that the body has an immune reaction to substances naturally present in the body. In other words, the immune system attacks “self.” This can happen in most tissues in the body and, accordingly, there are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that have been named and described, the root being increasing inflammation in the body. Many autoimmune diseases are rare and have been the subject of very limited research but as a group, are common, affecting 7-10% of the population, with women being more affected.
Autoimmune diseases can be extremely difficult to diagnose and often present with vague, nonspecific symptoms like fatigue, odd pains, or skin rashes. Given the prevalence, along with the lack of scientific understanding and the vague symptoms, autoimmune diseases have become something of a “catch-all” in the public mind. If an illness goes undiagnosed, is composed of a collection of nonspecific symptoms, people might naturally wonder about “autoimmune.”
Autoimmune disease is extraordinarily complicated. There are several intertwined factors that may affect risk of autoimmune disease:
- Genes (especially celiac and ankylosing spondylitis)
- Infections
- Environmental factors (including diet, sun exposure, and tobacco use)
- Gut health (which includes the bacteria living in your intestine and their activity.
Leaky gut is a condition that always accompanies any autoimmune disease and treatment with probiotics has been shown to improve outcomes for patients. Having a healthy colony of beneficial bacteria is crucial for your immune function, your ability to absorb nutrients from food, and your ability to keep the intestinal barrier healthy so that partially digested food and other pathogens and bacteria don't get into the bloodstream.
There is no "cure" for autoimmune diseases, unlike what I thought years ago when the crohn's went into remission then returned with a vengeance, culminating in having a foot of my colon removed. At the time of diagnosis, there was no internet where I could play online doctor. The doctor treating me at first never took the time to educate me and continued to prescribe multiple medications. When I asked him what foods I should eat or not eat, he told me that food had nothing to do with this. By the time there was internet, I was too sick and tired and had resigned myself to thinking that this was my way of life. My story goes deeper, and I usually share more with whoever wants to hear. But I need to share the most important part of my journey: how finding the RIGHT resources and learning how changing my diet and lifestyle enabled me to be in remission and stay that way.
It is not just diet, but there is evidence that psychological factors can be a trigger. There are two ways in which our thoughts and emotions can impact GI health. First, we have a nervous system in our GI tract called the enteric nervous system that operates independent of our autonomic and central nervous systems. Also, there are psychological profiles of people who are more inclined to develop and maintain irritable bowel, even when they do all the right things to fix it.
I love sharing and teaching and go into more detail and depth regarding these conditions in my classes. Taking the steps to control your health is the best thing you can do. Keeping informed is the best way to make choices and there are many opportunities to learn.
1. Sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.
2. Check out the classes on my website. Most are available through zoom.
3. Schedule a health assessment and find out which program will work best for you.
4. Email me to learn about the healthy food offerings.
5. Email me to learn about becoming a member of Wellness Forum Health for more learning opportunities and exclusive content. (It's the best thing I ever did!)
Liz Fattore
Licensed Food Over Medicine Health Professional
Resources:
Thomas Campbell, M.D.
Pam Popper, PhD, ND
Your Wellness Lifestyle Starts HereIt is estimated that our bodies are 60% water, making it important to stay hydrated for good health. Every day, our bodies lose approximately 10 cups of water through perspiration, urination, bowel movements, and breathing. Water needs to be replaced through a combination of food and the water we drink. Water in food varies, so we need to make sure we drink at least 64 ounces daily.
Water contains electrolytes and important minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron, which are all essential to good health. Water also carries nutrients and oxygen to every cell, assists in removing waste products and toxins from the body, and helps to control our internal temperature.
Most people, however, live in a state of chronic dehydration. Signs of dehydration include fatigue, poor skin condition, constipation, fluid retention (because the body thinks it is in a drought situation), dry eyes, and worsening of allergies and asthma symptoms.
Dehydration can also cause much more serious problems. A research group looked at the association between fatal coronary disease and intake of both water and other fluids for over 20,000 men and women between the ages of 38 and 100. Subjects who consumed more than 5 glasses of water per day had a lower risk of fatal heart attack than those who drank fewer than two glasses per day. The development of coronary artery disease increased with higher intake of fluids other than water. The researchers stated that the reason is that whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hematocrit, and fibrinogen (independent risk factors for coronary heart disease) are influenced by hydration status. They wrote that one of the reasons why coronary events tend to take place in the morning is that people do not drink water while sleeping and are the most dehydrated in the morning on waking.
A good rule is to assume that you are dehydrated if you are drinking less than 8 cups of water each day. You also need more water if you exercise and/or if you spend time outdoors when it is hot.
Water is what our bodies need; juices and other fluids are not good substitutes. Water is absorbed through the stomach walls, which allows it to reach cell tissues quickly. Flavored water (adding limes or lemons) takes significantly longer to be assimilated into the body for hydration.
It is better to drink water in-between rather than with meals, since drinking water with (or immediately after) a meal can dilute stomach acid, making digestion more difficult. Avoid drinking water or other fluids with meals unless you are thirsty and hungry at the same time.
Children should be taught to make water their first choice of drink at an early age, with water the primary beverage after weaning. Water needs for children are lower than for adults, so they should consume 50% of their weight in ounces daily.
References: Informed Health/Wellness Forum Health
The Bone Broth Craze
One of the biggest promoters is The Weston Price Foundation and its followers. The organization features a section called “Broth is Beautiful” with many unsubstantiated health claims and recipes. Health claims include that fish broth helps boys to grow into strong men; can make childbirth easier and is a cure for fatigue. The website says that Americans need healthier fast food, and suggests that “brothals” in every town would be the answer to this need. The Foundation also states that some of the best ingredients for making bone broth are hooves, feet, and heads because they are the most gelatinous parts of animals. [1]
A new book by Weston Price disciples Sally Fallon and Kayla Daniel called Nourishing Broth provides even more folklore and is advertised as including the science behind broth’s unique ingredients, and how broth can heal pain and inflammation, improve digestion, reduce allergies, cure Crohn’s disease, help people with eating disorders, and even improve outcomes for cancer patients. [2]
People have been making broth for centuries, but it seems that only recently, and at the prompting of groups like the Weston Price Foundation, that magical properties have been attributed to it. Fallon and Daniel claim that boiling animal and fish bones, skin, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments results in a gelatinous liquid that promotes the growth of collagen and builds strong bones. They also claim that bone broth is a great source of two key amino acids – proline and glycine – which are important for maintaining collagen and healthy tissues.
There are several problems with these claims, one of which is that eating collagen does not promote collagen growth. Collagen, like everything else we eat, is broken down into many things, including its constituent amino acids, and the body uses them to make many things like enzymes and hormones, as needed. Furthermore, many other nutrients are needed to make collagen, and plants are much better sources of those nutrients than bone broth. Additionally, cystine and proline are non-essential amino acids which means that they are synthesized by the body and do not need to be consumed in food.
Fallon and Daniel state that part of the value of bone broth is that it is made at home from scratch, that home-made bone broth is better than store-bought broth, and that food prepared at home is generally always better. We all agree. However, there are much safer and more nutritious things to make at home that broth from the heads of dead animals.
Safety is an issue. While the nutrient content of bone broth varies, it can be quite high in both fat and protein from animal sources. I looked at several recipes online and protein per serving was as high as 16-20 grams, and fat content was as high as 50%. Research is quite clear that diets that include copious amounts of animal protein and fat increase the risk of diseases like coronary artery disease, diabetes, and cancer.
A significantly bigger concern is the potential for lead contamination as a result of consuming bone broth. Animal bones have been shown to contain high quantities of lead, and broths made with those bones have higher concentrations of lead than the water from which the bone broth was made. [3] The deleterious effects of excess lead exposure are well-known, which provides another reason to avoid bone broth.
[1] Weston Price Library
[2] Nourishing Broth
[3] Monro J, Leon R, Puri B. “The risk of lead contamination in bone broth diets.” Med Hypothesis 2013 Apr;80(4):389-390
Do you have leftover rice?
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December 2022
I encounter two kinds of people that enter the holiday season: it's the Christmas "all you can eat buffet and I will put myself into a cookie coma" or "I will stress about every bite that goes into my mouth and have obsessive conversations with all my friends and family about their food choices". (I'll confess, I was kind of the second person. Don't judge me.) The first person usually ends up disgusted by December 31, vowing to make all kinds of changes. "I will start at the first of the year". Most of us have said that without having a clear strategy on how to start.
There is a fine line between being concerned and proactive about health vs being obsessed about making good choices. Concerned and proactive is good; obsessed and spending every waking moment thinking about what you are going to eat, and other related issues is counterproductive.
If you have started your health journey with us using the Wellness Forum Health food pyramid, you have learned that it is a journey to dietary excellence, not dietary perfection! It is the totality of your dietary pattern that determines your health outcomes. A healthy eating plan, exercise, sleep, and hydration is the goal. When you know that you are on the road to dietary excellence, your mindset changes. When you are stressed and obsessed about every bite that you take, your physical response to food negatively changes, which causes overeating and weight gain. Once your optimal dietary pattern is established, eating a few cookies on the holiday is not a game changer unless it leads to binge eating. There are psychological benefits to being with your loved ones around a table of food and enjoying their company. Make family and friends your focus, not food.
Tips to navigate the holidays:
Eat a healthy and filling breakfast (oatmeal, smoothie)
Eat a salad before going to a holiday party (be mindful of hidden sugar and oil in bottled dressings)
Eat extra vegetables at meals
Don't go back for seconds
Eat fiber for gut health (fruit, veggies, potatoes, legumes)
Stay hydrated (64 oz of water daily)
Watch your alcohol consumption
Focus on enjoying people and conversation, not food
Remember that cookies are treats, not daily food
Save the date for Saturday, January 21, for our Food Over Medicine special event New Perspectives on Weight Loss. This will be free event presented by Dr. Pam Popper via live zoom. Details coming soon. You will learn:
How calorie restriction can cause weight gain
Why fitness trackers and other devices can contribute to weight gain, not weight loss
How weight loss can increase hunger
Strategies for permanent behavior change
How to have your cake and lose weight too!
Lifestyles of lean and healthy people
Have a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday!
Liz
