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Many diseases can be avoided either with a healthy diet or by following the principles of a healthy lifestyle.
Unfortunately, this rule does not apply to autoimmune diseases. They can be triggered by completely ordinary foods, even those considered healthy.
What are autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune diseases occur when our immune system is overly active and, for some reason, starts to consider even healthy cells and tissues a threat.
As a result, our immunity begins producing antibodies that mercilessly attack and destroy these healthy tissues and continue doing so regardless of our pain or bodily inflammation.
The most common types of autoimmune diseases include:
- rheumatoid arthritis (joint pain and inflammation)
- multiple sclerosis
- type 1 diabetes
- lupus
- Hashimoto’s disease
- inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis)
Some scientists have found that our diet, usually the consumption of highly processed foods, is behind the emergence of these diseases. The cause is their content of various types of salts that excessively stimulate the helper T-cells of our immune system.
And the result is not pleasing — nearly one in six people currently suffers from some form of autoimmune disease.
If you happen to be one of them, don’t panic!
You can alleviate or even completely cure most of these diseases by identifying the food responsible and then eliminating it from your diet.
Here are 5 foods that most often contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases:
1. Sugar
Processed sugar is a common culprit of these diseases.
It’s not only because it constantly sabotages your immune system’s fight against illness, but also because regulation of its level in the blood can often get out of control.
If you can no longer resist sweets, at least significantly reduce sugar and replace it, for example, with honey or natural sweeteners such as stevia.
2. Quinoa
Quinoa is currently a very popular food in various healthy recipes due to its high content of fiber, protein, and iron.
Nevertheless, it is also a relatively risky food for the development of autoimmune diseases.
Why?
The culprit is its high content of saponins that damage the intestinal lining, resulting in excessive stimulation of your immune system.
Therefore, if you suffer from or are predisposed to some autoimmune disease, it’s better to avoid quinoa.
3. Gluten
Yes, the well-known gluten. People who suffer from gluten intolerance or celiac disease usually avoid gluten.
Besides them, those who struggle with an autoimmune disease should also stay away from it.
Gluten even in relatively healthy people increases the chance that your immune system will switch into an overstimulated mode and trigger an autoimmune disease.
4. Milk and dairy products
Nowadays it’s good to avoid milk and dairy products not only because of their content of antibiotics and growth hormones that are widely used in cattle farming.
Another reason is that milk, even organic, has the potential to act as an allergen that activates the body’s immune response.
It is usually due to the protein casein, which naturally occurs in all milk and provokes inflammation in the body.
5. Milk chocolate
Unfortunately, although we dislike doing so, we must include milk chocolate on this list.
Since it is a dairy product, regardless of its healthy cocoa content, it often triggers allergic reactions in the body similar to other dairy products.
