Being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease can be overwhelming. While you may have many questions about treatment and how to manage you condition, a few myths can complicate the full picture. Let’s dispel a few myths about managing your autoimmune disorder.
Myth 1: Your Diet Has Nothing to do With Your Illness
Conventional medicine will tell you that you have an autoimmune disease simply because your immune system is over reactive. What is often left out of the picture is that your diet can be making your symptoms worse. Chronic gut inflammation, food sensitivities, low-grade gut infection and toxic chemicals in our diet are thought to be related to our increased incidence of autoimmunity. Addressing gut dysfunction and food sensitivities are critical aspects of healing and thriving with autoimmune diseases.
Myth 2: You Are Destined for a Life of Illness and Disability
Statistics show that autoimmune disorders are one of the top causes of disease and disability in young women today. However, that does not have to be the case for you. By finding a functional medicine practitioner and a trusted medical team you can approach your autoimmune disease to treat your entire body, mind and spirit. A multifaceted approach that includes diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes can not only give you symptomatic relief but also change your outlook on your diagnoses and health.
Myth 3: Prescription Medications Are Your Only Hope
Often times patients believe that prescription medications are their only hope in relieving symptoms associate with their diagnoses. While prescription medications can be necessary in cases of severe autoimmunity, supplements like probiotics, vit D, turmeric and omega-3 fatty acids can decrease the inflammation and aid your immune system. Taking nutrients to heal the lining of your gut and finding supplements to support your current therapies can help ease your autoimmune inflammation. Mind-body interventions such as yoga, meditation, and acupuncture are also wonderful in treating symptoms associated with autoimmune disease.
Finding a health practitioner to help you approach you autoimmune disorder with a variety of methods such as your diet, your stress level, sleep habits, and reducing your toxic exposures can be key to unlocking restored health and wellness.
Learn more about functional medicine at the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center (What is Functional Medicine?) and how functional medicine can help you with your autoimmune disease (7 Reasons Why Functional Medicine Rocks).