An awareness of what is put into your mouth is the first step of getting healthier. Every bite of food can be either healing or harmful to you, and the choice is .... yours. What will you choose? Relearn how to make the improved healthier versions of your favorites and experience a reduction of chronic inflammation, digestive upsets, migraines, brain fog, anxiety, and much more. The elimination diet journey is a bio-individual path that leaves you lighter, healthier, and happier. Explore these healing recipes to start your journey to the new and improved you! R. I. G. H. T Diet for Autoimmunity A guide with recipes free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar By Darshi N. Shah AuthorHouse Copyright © 2015 Darshi N Shah, INHC, CNT, CPT All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-5049-5934-6 Contents DEDICATIONS, iii, FOREWORD – Dr. Tom O'Bryan, v, FOREWORD – Dr Dede Selamat Sutedja, vii, PREFACE, ix, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, xiii, INTRODUCTION, xix, CHAPTER ONE – WHY YOU?, 1, CHAPTER TWO – WHAT NOW?, 4, CHAPTER THREE – RECIPES, 11, AFTERWORD, 130, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, 131, APPENDIX A: Autoimmune Diseases (AARDA), 132, APPENDIX B: Digestive Spices and Properties, 136, APPENDIX C: Food Preparations, 139, APPENDIX D: Cooking Methods, 141, APPENDIX E: Edible Oils, 144, APPENDIX F: Special Equipment, 149, GLOSSARY, 151, RESOURCES, 155, ENDNOTES, 163, CHAPTER 1 WHY YOU? After accepting that I was very ill with a complicated disorder, some of the first questions I asked myself were, "why me?" and "what now?" After experiencing this journey and uncovering some insights, I hope I can provide you with some structure for understanding and a perspective that helps you make better decisions about your health. Today, we know that there are over 100 diseases related to autoimmunity. Our immune system makes an error and attacks our own body. These assaults can occur on any organ, muscle, or system. What causes this? And why did autoimmunity target you? Dr. Alessio Fasano, a world-renowned gastroenterologist and expert, says that in order for autoimmunity to occur, there must be 3 contributing factors: 1. Genes: a predisposition to some autoimmunity 2. Environment: a trigger that activates your immune system 3. Weakened intestinal permeability: a weakened interplay between genes and environment; sometimes referred to as "leaky gut" Since all three factors have to be present for autoimmunity to develop; then theoretically if one or more of these factors can be eliminated, we may halt autoimmunity; and in the long term bring it to remission. Let's look at these 3 factors, one at a time to consider our best strategies for healing. Genes Are we hard-wired with an autoimmune vulnerability? The answer is yes. Our genes can indicate if we have a vulnerability to autoimmunity, as well as what system or organ is most vulnerable. Keep in mind this does not mean that those genes will ever express this autoimmunity in our lifetime. Genes do NOT solely determine your fate in life. Can we change our genes? No, at this time we cannot change our genetic vulnerabilities. If you are curious as to what genetic vulnerabilities you may have, there are tests that can bring you these answers. Cyrex Labs™ has a test, Multiple Autoimmune Reactivity Array 5, which can identify multiple autoimmune antibodies. Work with your medical provider and this lab to get this information. But remember, genetics are NOT 100% our destiny. In order to arrest the autoimmunity, we must focus on the controllable factors — he environment and intestinal function. Environment Are there triggers in our environment that make us more vulnerable to autoimmunity? Yes, absolutely. Food can often be a triggering component because eating is one of the main interactions between our internal bodies and our external environment. Our digestive system is the playground where these interactions play out. This is why experts are now saying that a majority of our immune system is affected by our digestive function. In this book, we focus on dietary triggers; however there can be non-dietary triggers, like chemical exposure (breathing in or touching) from a pesticide or a heavy metal that activates your immune system. Recall that an immune system only mounts a response if there is a threat. If a threat does not exist, no immune response occurs. This means that we increase our vulnerability with exposure to certain threats, or triggers. It also means that if we can remove the threat, theoretically we can halt the autoimmune responses. Over time, we can arrest the development of further autoimmunity and begin the healing process. A main strategy to deal with environmental triggers is to identify potential threats, and eliminate exposure to them. What if you don't know what your triggers could be? Then you can try to identify them through a basic elimination diet and monitoring your progress. A diet that is free of gluten, dairy, and refined sugar is recomme