AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Does diet help with autoimmune diseases?

What does the term autoimmune disease mean? The immune system is a complex network of cells and chemical substances. Its normal role is to protect the body and to deal with infections caused by bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that invade the body. When someone suffers from an autoimmune disease, the immune system erroneously attacks its own body, targeting cells, tissue and organs in the body.

The defence system in autoimmune individuals is not malfunctioning, it is hyperactive. It reacts to anything and cannot distinguish what belongs to the body and what is foreign. Individuals with autoimmune diseases lose the main feature of their defence system, which is immune tolerance. While the defence system ought to tolerate itself, in the case of autoimmune diseases it no longer tolerates it and strikes against it.

The avoidance of excessive stress, tension and pressure, coupled with exercise and good diet, are as important and following a proper course of treatment.

A good, personalised eating plan can help with the following:

• Better absorption of nutrients and therefore better psychological and physical performance.
• Better absorption of medicines in the current course of treatment and therefore better results with fewer side effects from them.
• More correct release of hormones and therefore an improved immune system which does not operate in overdrive.
• A better mood due to the deliberate increase in serotonin (the mood hormone) via increased levels of vitamin B from the right sorts of food.