An autoimmune disease is a serious medical condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks the tissues, cells, and organs in the body. This makes it difficult to fight pathogens, causing vulnerability to infections. Examples of autoimmune diseases include inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Grave’s disease, celiac disease, and more.
Causes
While it’s still not clear what causes the immune system to misfire, researchers suspect environmental factors like exposure to solvents or chemicals play a role. Another suspected trigger is a diet containing high sugar, high fat, and highly processed foods that cause inflammation.
Naturopathic treatment for autoimmune diseases
While drugs can be used to address an autoimmune disease, they often leave our bodies with side effects. To work on the root cause of the problem, it’s important that you take a natural approach. Here are some effective naturopathic treatments;
Eat anti-inflammatory foods
Nutrition has a huge effect on this condition. An anti-inflammatory diet reduces inflammation which is the root cause of illnesses. You should consume leafy greens, omega-3 wild fish, corn oils, fruits, and nuts. In addition, take more culinary herbs and spices like garlic, turmeric, and ginger. Needless to say, you need to avoid processed foods and sugars.
Exercise regularly
When you have an autoimmune disorder, you’ll experience joint and muscle pain, nausea, headache, depression, and difficulty sleeping. Thankfully, a low-impact exercise will tremendously improve your quality of life. You should consider exercises like weight training, swimming, outdoor cycling, rowing, and step climbing. It’s prudent that you keep a journal of your daily activities to adjust your routine accordingly. Not to mention, you should start low on your workouts and then work your way up to more challenging tasks. Remember, you don’t need to necessarily go to the gym, just start moving around more often. Avoid being stationary for extended periods of time.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is one potential treatment option for autoimmune diseases. There is some evidence that acupuncture may help to regulate the immune system and reduce inflammation. In addition, acupuncture may also help to improve symptoms associated with autoimmune diseases. However, more research is needed to confirm these benefits. If you are considering acupuncture as a treatment for your autoimmune disease, be sure to discuss this with your healthcare provider.
Personalized herbal formals
Do you feel like you are always sick? Do you catch every cold that goes around? If so, you may be interested in learning about herbal formals. Herbal formals are natural remedies that can help boost your immune system and keep you healthy. There are many different types of herbal formals available, so it is important to do your research before choosing one. Talk to your doctor or a qualified health professional to find the right herbal formal for you.
Implement dietary supplements
Supplements like probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, quercetin, rutin, and vitamins keep your immune system functioning properly. What’s more, they eliminate toxins and free radicals that compromise the immune system. A word of caution, these supplements should not substitute your whole foods.
Practice stress management
When you have an autoimmune disease, it’s important that you learn how to deal with stress. Depending on the progression of your condition, you may not be able to do deep relaxation techniques. Nevertheless, you can practice easy relaxation techniques like deep breathing, yoga, and massage. These will help you immensely on your healing journey.
Sleep up to 8 hours
Multiple studies suggest that there is a close relationship between lack of sleep and your immune response. Ideally, our immune system is regulated by cytokines (signaling molecules) which are highest at night. Pro-inflammatory cytokines allow you to sleep more encouraging your body to recover from illnesses. Besides that, sleep helps to conserve body energy in case of an attack.
Low dose immunotherapy
Low dose immunotherapy is a treatment that uses very small doses of an allergen to build up a patient’s tolerance to it. This therapy is becoming more and more popular as people are looking for alternatives to traditional allergy medications. While the science behind low dose immunotherapy is still being studied, there is evidence that this approach can be helpful for some people with allergies. If you are interested in trying low dose immunotherapy, talk to your doctor about whether it might be a good option for you.
Fix the gut
It’s estimated that 70% of our immune system lies in our gut. When the intestinal lining is damaged, toxins can easily seep into the bloodstream. The easiest way to heal the gut is to avoid eating foods rich in gluten.
Test for heavy metal toxicity
Heavy metals like mercury and lead can make you sick. We’re exposed to these toxins from the fish we eat and from cosmetics.
Final thoughts
If you have an autoimmune disease, you may get frustrated by using conventional medicines. It’s important that you follow the above naturopathic approaches to treat and prevent this condition. Of course, you must be patient and the results will be worth it.