Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own cells and tissues. More than 80 autoimmune diseases have been identified, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Researchers increasingly recognize that autoimmune diseases can involve a complex interaction among genetics, environmental exposures, infections, the immune system, and other factors. Nutrition, the gut microbiome, metabolic health, exercise, sleep, and stress are also being studied for their possible roles.
Physicians and researchers including Terry Wahls, Susan Blum, Mark Hyman, Datis Kharrazian, Jeffrey Bland, and Rangan Chatterjee offer provocative ideas about the possible connections among nutrition, lifestyle, gut health, metabolism, and autoimmune disease.
Some of their claims go beyond what has been established by clinical research. In this section, I want to look at those ideas alongside more conventional autoimmune research and distinguish between what is well established, what is promising, and what remains uncertain.
Roger Streit