Evelyn Thai overcame life-long eczema that she thought was just part of her family genetics. She also stopped her progression of vitiligo. In this interview, she honestly shares her curving path to health, including stress-eating impulses she had to overcome, and the importance of the mind-body connection. She learned that healing isn’t just about physical symptoms. It’s about mental and emotional health as well.
78% of autoimmune patients are women, and some diagnoses are 2-3 times more common among women of color. When it comes to healthcare, ideally we all get the same treatment, but many people have experienced some form of bias in the doctor’s office. Research shows this leads to serious health consequences. How can we address a problem this big – both as patients who want to get the best care, and as a community that cares about excellent healthcare for all? My guest is Dr. Maggie Cadet, a rheumatologist who is passionate about eliminating disparities in healthcare.
Vegetables are the foundation of the Paleo AIP Food Pyramid, and salads are a great way to get plenty of variety. But no one has time to chop vegetables for every meal. The solution is easy – chop your vegetables in advance for quick lunches all week. But how do you keep them fresh? Which need airtight containers, and which need to breathe? What are some easy options for dressings and proteins? I answer these questions and more in this blog post. I’ve been keeping my own salad bar at home for years!
We hear a lot about the mind-body connection, but what are its uses and what are its limits? Are there techniques we can use to minimize pain and manage it better? How does the stress response increase pain’s intensity? How does guarding against pain add a second layer of tension that can make pain worse? Vidyamala Burch has lived with chronic pain for over 40 years. Learning how to survive and thrive started as a personal goal and later became her professional mission. She’s an author, educator, and cofounder of Breathworks, a non-profit organization that teaches Mindfulness-Based Pain Management to individuals and organizations around the world.
Many people think of the AIP as simply a list of foods you can and can’t eat, so how can intuition play a role? And if your intuition tells you to eat junk food, that derails health goals rather than supports them, right? So, how can these things possibly go together? In this podcast episode, we bust some myths about both of these dietary philosophies and see how they might be blended for autoimmune health.
Most traditional meatloaf recipes include egg and bread crumbs. Eggs are meant to hold it together, and the bread crumbs are meant to improve the texture. (A meatloaf with nothing but meat tends to be hard as a rock.) For this Paleo AIP recipe, I did some experimenting and it turns out that shredded vegetables serve both purposes. The end result is the best-tasting meatloaf I’ve ever had!
There are over 100 different autoimmune diseases, and it takes an average of 4 years and 5 doctors to get an accurate diagnosis. I know many of you have been through this, or are going through this right now. Let me introduce Dr. William Mitchell, whom I call the Diagnosis Detective. He’s a naturopathic doctor who works in rheumatology. One of his passions is helping people cut through the chaos surrounding autoimmune diagnosis.
While all of us would like to be overnight success stories, the autoimmune journey is rarely that simple. Healing isn’t linear. It takes trial and error to find what works for our unique bodies, which hopefully leads to growing improvement over time. Dan’s story is an inspiring one of strength, resilience, and persistence. He shares the details with us today.
This is one of the most popular podcast episodes – for good reason! Let’s be honest. The paleo autoimmune protocol is hard to do, and some people have a harder time than others. In this podcast, I invited 3 health & nutrition coaches onto the show, to share techniques that help their clients maintain a healthy lifestyle against all temptations and obstacles. All three of these ladies have personal experience following the autoimmune protocol for their own health as well. Let’s help each other succeed!
Sleep has a direct connection to autoimmune health. Lack of sleep increases inflammation, increases our susceptibility to infection, and stimulates the immune cells that become overactive with autoimmune disease. It’s one of the reasons poor sleep is such a common trigger of autoimmune flares. Yet sleep isn’t always as simple as just going to bed. What if you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep? There are things you can do! Here are my top ten tips.
Self-soothing behaviors are the things we do to comfort ourselves in the moment, especially under stress. Sometimes those behaviors are healthy and double as self-care. Other times, they are the opposite of healthy. Most of us have impulses in both directions. What drives those impulses? How can we get in the habit of soothing ourselves in ways that both comfort us and support our health? My guest is Dr. Lili Wagner, a psychologist with over 20 years of experience treating patients. She’s also trained in nutrition, has 3 autoimmune diseases herself, and understands this topic both personally and professionally.
Why does food intolerance increase with autoimmune disease? And why are some people able to reintroduce foods successfully while other people struggle? In this episode, I speak with a leader in the autoimmune health community: Dr. Datis Kharrazian. He’s a clinician, researcher, author, and expert on this issue. He shares the root causes behind this loss of tolerance, as well as practical tips to heal and expand food tolerance again.
Are you curious (or confused) about the AIP food reintroduction process? I created this interview series so you could hear about other people’s experiences. Pooja Parikh has hidradenitis suppurativa. In this interview, she shares which foods she was able to reintroduce successfully, which reintroductions “failed”, how she discerned the difference, and what she learned along the way. The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) has 2 phases: elimination and reintroduction. It’s this second phase where we learn how to expand and personalize the diet for our unique bodies.
Many people with autoimmune disease struggle with anxiety as well. In this episode we talk about why that’s true, how anxiety can interfere with our lives, and share practical tips for addressing it in the moment, as well as strategies for reducing it long-term. My guest is Dr. Maureen Pierce, a health psychologist who specializes in working with people with chronic pain and chronic illness, as well as first responders.
This is one of the most highly recommended foods on a healing diet, because it supports digestion, detoxification, immune function, skin health, eye health, brain health, joint health, and more. But not everyone loves the flavor. In this article, I share multiple ways to make this healing food a treat for your taste buds, too!
Most of you are familiar with Dr. Terry Wahls. She’s a physician with multiple sclerosis who reversed her symptoms dramatically, going from a wheelchair to a bicycle after implementing diet and lifestyle changes. That program is now called The Wahls Protocol and has been the subject of multiple medical studies, proving its effectiveness for others as well. In this episode, we summarize all the research, from the very first study to the current clinical trial comparing the Wahls & Swank diets for patients with MS. We also talk about a future clinical trial which will compare the Wahls Protocol to medication.
Have you noticed that if you pause and take a slow, deep breath, you feel a little bit calmer? Deep breathing taps the relaxation response. For people with autoimmune disease, this is an amazing power at our fingertips, since stress is a common trigger of autoimmune flares. In this blog post, I share four of my favorite deep breathing techniques. You can use them as “medicine in the moment” to alleviate your anxiety, give you an energy boost during the day, or help you fall asleep at night. You can also make deep breathing a daily practice. Just a few minutes can make a big difference.
Note to listeners: This podcast was recorded early in the pandemic in March 2020. While the advice on diet, lifestyle, and mindset still applies, scientifically we didn’t have full knowledge of the pandemic. For more up-to-date information, listen to the following episodes: In Episode 154, we discuss what increases and decreases risk for a severe COVID-19 infection outcome for people with autoimmune disease. In Episode 175, we talk about Long COVID Syndrome. And in Episode 187, we answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines for people with autoimmune disease.
Because diabetes is so common and there are different types, many people don’t realize that Type 1 is an autoimmune disease. The beta cells in the pancreas are attacked, and the body can no longer make enough insulin. Emily was shocked when she got her diagnosis, but as you read this interview, you’ll see that she is the epitome of an empowered patient. Not only did she identify the symptoms and go to the doctor quickly, she also implemented diet and lifestyle changes that made blood sugar management much easier. These same diet and lifestyle changes also eliminated the eczema she had been experiencing for years.
Flares are one of the scariest parts of autoimmune disease. They’re unpredictable, often very painful, sometimes disabling, and always disruptive to our plans. In this episode, three autoimmune warriors share their best tips for making it through autoimmune flares with strength and self-compassion. We talk about favorite foods, lifestyle hacks, mindset techniques, and more.
I started my healing diet and lifestyle back in 2012, and I have so many favorite recipes. But a frequently asked question from my readers is this: Which do I make most often? Here’s my personal Top 10!
Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones become weak and brittle, and it’s usually associated with aging. But it turns out that autoimmune disease increases our risk of getting this condition at a younger age. In this episode, we talk about why this is true and what we can do to prevent and reverse it. What tests are available? What treatments are helpful? What self-care steps are most effective for maintaining our bone health? My guest is functional medicine physician, Dr. Amy Nett. She answers these questions and more.
While not everyone has a sweet tooth, a lot of us do, and it’s often hard to break the sugar habit. Why is that so true? It turns out there are a lot of forces driving those cravings: emotional, psychological, and even biological. It’s no wonder they’re not easy to resist. In today’s episode, we dive into the details. My guest is holistic psychologist Dr. Vickie Bhatia. We discuss everything from the gut microbiome and brain chemistry, to the emotions surrounding food, to the psychology of habit change. Most importantly, we share practical tips for making empowered food choices, and breaking the sugar craving cycle.
Two of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases in the world affect the thyroid. Hashimoto’s Disease causes hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid). Graves’ Disease causes hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid). Conventional doctors will often say that diet and lifestyle have no impact on these conditions, but one-by-one, patients are discovering the powerful difference they can make in their own health. Debra’s story is inspiring for the dramatic improvements she’s gained, but also her persistent and holistic approach. There’s no area she doesn’t consider in making her health the best it can be, and her life as full and joyful as possible.
If you’ve ever experienced brain fog, anxiety, or mood issues alongside your autoimmune symptoms, you’re not alone. Doctors know that mental health issues often increase with an autoimmune diagnosis, and a new scientific discovery might explain why. There are cells in the brain called microglia that are actually part of the immune system. And just as our body’s immune system can go into overdrive and cause chronic inflammation with autoimmune disease, the same thing can happen in our brains. My guest is science journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa. Her latest book is called The Angel and The Assassin, and it’s all about these little brain cells and how they can help us or harm us.
Can CBD oil alleviate autoimmune flares and symptoms? Can it sometimes harm instead of help? What does the research say? Are some brands more trustworthy than others? What’s the right dosage? In this article, I answer these questions and more.
If you’re a regular listener of my podcast, you know that I often start my shows with personal stories, where my guests share their health journeys from rock bottom to reclaiming a vital life. But at a least once a year, I dedicate an episode to back-to-back healing stories, and I make an effort to speak to people with different autoimmune diagnoses each time. In this episode, we talk about Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Endometriosis, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Vasculitis, Celiac Disease, Type 1 Diabetes, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Antisynthetase Syndrome, and also Autoimmunity in general. And if you want to hear the prior Healing Stories podcasts, check out episodes 1, 14, 30, 43, 61, 87, and 113. Let’s inspire each other!
