The Diet as Medicine: The Power of Lifestyle Habits to Control Autoimmune Diseases

Abstract

Autoimmune diseases are a family of conditions that result from a malfunction in the immune system. The immune system mistakenly targets healthy tissue in the body, causing severe inflammation and pain in the part that it targets. While research of the diseases has come a long way, there are still a lot of questions unanswered about their origins and treatments. There are no known cures for any of the over 80 identified diseases, and treatment involves reducing the conditions activity to as low as possible. Still, autoimmune patients often live with constant levels of discomfort and impaired quality of life. The aim of this research is to determine the efficacy of dietary factors and lifestyle habits to positively impact the state of an autoimmune patient’s condition. This research seeks to observe the ability of lifestyle factors to aid, or potentially replace, current medical interventions and improve the quality of life of autoimmune patients. Subsequently, it was found that an individual’s dietary and lifestyle habits played a large role in the state of their diagnosed condition and had a preventative effect on the development of autoimmune diseases. Specifically, increased intake of omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber had a large positive effect on numerous conditions. Furthermore, shifting focus away from processed foods to whole, nutrient-dense foods improved disease severity, gut microbiota, and reduced risk. Overall, modifying behavior to emphasize healthy lifestyle habits has both a healing and protective effect on many autoimmune diseases.