Multiple Autoimmune Diagnoses- your advice

[helper]

I suffer from a variety of autoimmune and other issues that I've mostly successfully treated with meds, lifestyle changes and diet. I've just started following AIP more as an experiment to advise a friend who has similar ailments. I'd like to know from those of you who have what I call "kitchen sink" diagnoses what your best advice would be. I'm not looking for medical advice, just nutritional experiences.

This friend lives in a college dorm and will be interning in Europe this summer. Do you think a regular Paleo Diet would be useful if she can't manage AIP? What components do you think are most helpful? What foods should she focus on eating or focus on eliminating if she can't do everything. Currently, she's dairy, gluten and sugar free.

She has been diagnosed by doctors with: chronic fatigue syndrome, adrenal fatigue, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, celiac disease, Raynauds, PCOS, IBS, candida, GERD, hormone imbalances, and chronic pain. I look at that list and suspect almost certain hypothyroidism, too. The only treatment she's received is antidepressants.

I suggested a very regimented sleep schedule (as if that is even possible in college). And I also suggested AIP or GAPS as her best options, but at a minimum she should focus on eating real food, not processed. She should avoid soy and grains as much as possible. She should try to eat plenty of all kinds of vegetables. She should try to eat some meat and fish, preferably from animals raised in a healthy way (pastured, wild caught, grassfed). She should most importantly focus on eating healthy fats such as butter, ghee, lard, tallow, olive oil, coconut oil, and make sure to stay away from oils like canola, soy, corn, vegetable, etc.

She did tell me that she's learned from past experience that low carb makes her worse (I've had the same experience as have many thyroid sufferers). She was told to avoid saturated fat like coconut oil and almond butter for her PCOS (I'd not heard that one...is that common advice?).

What advice would you give?

[rheagan]

Oh my goodness! My heart goes out to your friend, but it sounds like you've given her some great advice to get started! She's made a good start by dropping the dairy, gluten, and sugar. When you were listing her illnesses I was thinking hypothyroidism myself, too.

I've experienced anxiety and chonic widespread pain in connection with my Hashimoto's. With respect to diet, the two biggest things that helped me were going AIP and doing an elimination diet for food sensitivities. There was a fair amount of overlap between the two, but there are some foods that are AIP that give me a great deal of trouble if I eat them (lemon and beef are the biggest ones). I also struggled with estrogen dominance and the AIP was extremely helpful for resolving that as well. If your friend can't manage AIP, I think going paleo would still be helpful to reduce inflammation and stabalize hormones, she just might not see the same level of results she would see on the AIP. But I would really encourage her give it a try if possible. There is a helpful "SAD to AIP in SIX" program available to help with the transition.

I would also agree that low carb can make things worse, especially when you are dealing with homorone imbalances and thyroid issues. She should be eating at least 100g of carbs per day, and that's just a minimum. I have heard of avoiding saturated fat for PCOS, but that was in the context of the "saturated fat is bad/will make you fat/raise your cholestrol levels" mantra, which we now know is not the case. Your body needs healthy fats, including healthy saturated fats, to balance and stabalize hormones like insulin and estrogen, which is the key to resolving PCOS!

She might also want to try introducing fermented foods and drinks to address the candida. Water kefir, kombucha, or homemade sauerkraut are quite easy and cheap to make and provide some great gut-healing benefits in addition to helping crowd out the candida. She will want to take it really slow at first to avoid a die-off reaction.

Another gut healing food that is pretty economical is bone broth. And even if she doesn't go AIP, incorporating organ meats into her diet will help provide her body and gut with a lot of healing nutrition as well.

Sorry this is so long. That's just what I could think of off the top of my head! Best of luck!

[helper]

Thank you so much, both for confirming some of what I told her, and for giving me more information and resources to pass on to her. I just looked at the SAD to AIP in SIX program and it looks very useful so I'll suggest that to her. I make my own fermented foods, but I hadn't mentioned them to her...good reminder of how helpful they are. I think the biggest challenge is the college situation. She has a mini refrigerator and a microwave in her dorm; other than that, she's at the mercy of the college cafeteria.