Here are a few of the best books/articles I recommend, and then a summary of my key takeaways below.
Key Resources
A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet & Disease, by Dr. Shilpa Ravella. This book explains how most modern diseases are caused by inflammation; how inflammation is largely directed by the gut microbiome; and how the gut microbiome is determined by the foods we eat. She summarizes the research on specific types of foods that lead to the recommendations below.
The Blood Sugar Solution, by Dr. Mark Hyman. This book, from the director of functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, is more focused on diabetes and obesity than on autoimmune conditions, but the underlying pathways and nutritional recommendations are the same. I like this book because it gets into some of the practical lifestyle suggestions in areas where there is less evidence or where it would be very burdensome to make complete changes.
“Lifestyle-related disease in Crohn’s disease: relapse prevention by a semi-vegetarian diet” by Chiba et al (2010) published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. This clinical study by a team of GI doctors showed that their semi-vegetarian diet (also wheat-free; allowed fish 1x/week and meat 1x/2 weeks) resulted in a 94% remission maintenance rate among IBD patients who adhered to the diet, compared to 33% for those consuming a typical diet. This was the first medical study that really convinced me that we had to try dietary interventions!
Key Findings:
- Most modern diseases links to inflammation. Inflammation is our body’s natural response to invaders (germs) and it usually keeps us safe. But in modern society, we expose our bodies to so many mildly harmful things (plastics, processed foods, etc.) that our immune systems are constantly agitated and have low-grade inflammation all the time, damaging our natural pathways and causing chronic disease.
- Most of our immune system starts in our gut (our colon, or large intestine). This is because food is the biggest/most common source of foreign elements to our bodies. Our microbiome is the countless tiny germs that reside there – some “good” (i.e., beneficial to our health) and some “bad” (detrimental to our health). The overall composition matters – you want more of the good, and a greater diversity.
- Sugar, Processed Foods and Meat/Dairy feed more of the bad bacteria, causing them to multiply and Plants feed more of the good bacteria. This is the basis for the recommendation of a Whole Foods, Plant Based Diet.
- Specific foods are particularly helpful:
- Omega 3’s actually repair and recalibrate your immune system. People usually think of fish, but fish is an animal product so needs to be kept in moderation. Flax, chia, hemp, seaweed and walnuts are good plant-based sources of Omega 3’s
- Unsaturated fats (olives, nuts, seeds, avocados) protect against inflammation-linked diseases
- Naturally fermented foods have low levels of a wide variety of beneficial bacteria, which is better than commercially available probiotics and yogurts that often have high quantities of just a few strains
- Others are particularly harmful:
- Trans fats, Processed Meats (bacon, sausage), excessive Sugar and Salt cause rampant inflammation
- Emulsifiers/Stabilizers/Gums like Carageenan have been definitively linked to IBD. Evidence is inconclusive on others like Xanthan Gum that can actually be classified as “organic” if they’re derived from organic sources – even though they are definitely lab-made processed foods! Watch out for Gluten Free products and Alternative Milk products at the grocery store – most of them have gums/other lab-made stabilizers to keep them from separating!
- Do as Little as Possible to your food
- Whole Foods are best – e.g., fruit skins and fiber often have compounds in them that help prevent spikes in blood sugar (which lead to inflammation). Same with refined “white” flours
- Cooking on high heat and frying cause inflammation
- Wheat is a Problem for Many:
- Wheat was hybridized and created a version with high levels of inflammatory proteins called ATI’s – that’s why so many people have so-called gluten intolerances – it’s not actually the gluten but rather the ATI proteins. This is particularly common among people who already have autoimmune challenges.
- Lifestyle Changes also Fight Inflammation:
- Fasting can break the the inflammation cycle. A “plant-based fast” where study participants ate ~50% of normal calories all from whole plant food sources was even more effective because it both stopped the cycle and repopulated the gut with beneficial bacteria
- Reduce Stress! Sleep, yoga, exercise, mindfulness, etc.
- Forest bathing – i.e., long walks in the woods. Tree particles help fight inflammation
- Don’t smoke, obviously
- Avoid plastics, especially microplastics (water bottles, fast food wrappers, etc.)
- A healthy gut can handle occasional treats. This was one of the most interesting findings, and also a key to making a major dietary overhaul more achievable. There was a study showing that eating a steak caused a major inflammatory response in a normal gut, but that same inflammation didn’t occur for people whose guts were trained on a plant-based diet. So if you are eating right on a regular basis, you can have that birthday cake!