autoimmune disease
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Success StoriesSee articleI’ve Been an Athlete All My Life, But Going Plant-Based Is What Made Me Healthy
I was raised on a standard American diet (SAD)—lots of meat, dairy, and highly processed foods. I started competitive swimming at age 6, and I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism and celiac disease at age 12. The doctors started me on thyroid hormone replacement therapy, which I continued to take for years. Throughout middle and […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Said Goodbye to Animal Products—and Acid Reflux, High Blood Pressure, and Debilitating Arthritis Pain
I’m from the South, and I grew up on foods like fried chicken, instant mashed potatoes, white rice, and pork. By the time I was a teenager, I was carrying extra weight, and I was diagnosed with scoliosis. As an adult, I continued eating the same way. On top of being overweight, I started experiencing […] -
Success StoriesSee articleFrom Rock Bottom to New Heights: My Plant-Based Recovery from Liver Disease
For much of my life, my diet mainly consisted of sweets, sodas, fast food, and other ultra-processed foods. But after I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016, I was motivated to reconsider how I ate. My husband began researching the links between nutrition and cancer, and he shared fascinating studies and documentaries with me. […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI’m Keeping Crohn’s Disease in Check with a WFPB Diet
I grew up eating home-cooked meals that my mother prepared for us every day in our small kitchen after she got home from work. Although Mom eventually switched to a vegetarian diet (after nearly choking on a tough steak cooked on an outdoor stove during a family camping trip), the rest of us continued to […] -
HealthSee articleAutoimmune Diseases and Diet: Here’s What You Need To Know
What Are Autoimmune Diseases? Your immune system plays a critical role in protecting your body against infection and disease. In autoimmune diseases, an unknown trigger causes the immune system to produce antibodies that—rather than fight infections and ward off diseases—attack the body’s own tissue. The following list comprises just a few of the vast number […] -
WellnessSee articleWhat Is Lupus? A Rheumatologist Breaks Down Causes, Symptoms, and Lifestyle Strategies That Can Help
Systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disease. Lupus can affect any of the body’s organs but most commonly affects the joints, skin, and kidneys. Lupus can range in severity from mild to life-threatening, depending on the organs involved and the degree of the symptoms. An estimated 5 million people worldwide […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI’m Keeping Lupus in Check with an Oil-Free Vegan Diet
My first of four autoimmune diagnoses came in 2007 after I fell off a horse and broke my leg in four places. I needed surgery, and a few weeks later my foot and leg developed burning pain, extreme sensitivity, swelling, and blotchy, discolored skin. After consultations with two orthopedic surgeons I was told I had […] -
Success StoriesSee articleOvercoming Myasthenia Gravis Symptoms on a Plant-Based Diet
In the fall of 1992, I started feeling some minor muscular weakness. I didn’t think too much of it, until one day I woke up and couldn’t open one eye. I went to my doctor, who sent me to a neurologist. I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a rare neuromuscular disease. I was told that […] -
Success StoriesSee articleAs a Rheumatologist, I’ve Helped My Patients and Myself with a Plant-Based Diet
Growing up, I ate a standard American diet. Fast food, French fries, steak, and pizza were the norm for me. When I was 17, I went on the Atkins diet in an attempt to get stronger, and I ended up developing gout, which is a form of arthritis. In the years following, I suffered many […] -
WellnessSee articleNew Review Shows Plant-Based Diet May Reduce Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
A plant-based diet may benefit individuals who experience rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a review of clinical trials and observational studies published in Frontiers in Nutrition in September 2019 by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. A chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that causes […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Keep My Rheumatoid Arthritis in Check with Plants, Not Pills
Not wanting to go on medication indefinitely, Erika Cline decided to try a plant-based diet to treat rheumatoid arthritis. In March 2016, when I was 28, I was diagnosed with a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis. Prior to that, I’d spent many years dealing with chronic fatigue, brain fog, numbness, dizziness, anemia, and the list […] -
Success StoriesSee articleI Overcame Lupus and Freed Myself from Medications with a Plant-Based Diet
Five years ago, on the first Friday of April, I took myself to the hospital just like I did the first Friday of every month. It was my monthly infusion day when I was hooked up to an IV to kill off parts of my immune system and blood cell stimulators. My friends helped me […]
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