Autoimmune Protocol – Autoimmune Warrior

Top 5 Anti-Inflammatory Foods

If you suffer from autoimmune disease or other auto-inflammatory conditions, then you’re no stranger to inflammation. According to the Cleveland Clinic, inflammation is defined as the process by which your body activates your immune system to fight off bacteria, viruses, and toxins, and to heal damaged tissue. However, if your body sends out inflammatory cells when you’re not sick or injured, you may have chronic inflammation. Excessive chronic inflammation is what underlies many chronic health conditions, from rheumatoid arthritis to systemic lupus erythematosus.

While modern medicine may turn to pharmaceuticals like NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), steroids, or immunosuppressants, patients are increasingly turning to natural products with anti-inflammatory properties to help them prevent damaging inflammation and reduce existing inflammation. In this blog post, we explore 5 anti-inflammatory foods that can help you fight chronic inflammation.

1. Manuka Honey

Honey has long been used in traditional medicine for its healing properties. But did you know that manuka honey sourced from New Zealand has such powerful anti-inflammatory properties that it was approved for wound treatment by the FDA?

What sets manuka honey apart from other types of honey are the properties methylglyoxal (MG) and dihydroxyacetone (DHA) which give manuka honey its supreme quality and purity. These properties have been shown to have various health benefits, including protecting against gastric ulcers, inhibiting influenza viruses, soothing sore throats, and treating antibiotic-resistant infections.

Manuka honey is known to be expensive, since it’s exported almost exclusively by New Zealand in limited supply. Check the label to ensure your honey is certified manuka honey, and not a blend of honeys from various countries.

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2. Coffee

Are you surprised by number two on this list? While technically not a ‘food’, coffee beans have polyphenols and other anti-inflammatory properties and bioactive compounds like chlorogenic acids, cafestol, kahweol, and caffeine. These compounds have shown in a few studies to reduce inflammation. A 2015 study found that coffee consumption reduced 10 markers of inflammation among regular coffee drinkers. Those who saw the greatest benefit drank 3-4 cups of coffee per day.

Keep in mind that while coffee has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, coffee can mess with your sleep patterns, especially if you drink it late in the day or are caffeine-sensitive. And, since sleep is an important factor in your overall health and wellbeing, it’s something to consider.

The long and short of it is, you can enjoy your cup of Joe (in moderation, that is)!

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3. Turmeric

Turmeric is root vegetable-derived spice with a vibrant, yellow hue. The spice is commonly used in Middle Eastern and South Asian cuisine, and has been used in traditional medicine thanks to curcumin, a bioactive compound with anti-inflammatory benefits.

In a 2006 study of patients with autoimmune ulcerative colitis (UC), patients who took 2 grams of curcumin a day, along with prescription disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), were more likely to stay in remission than patients who took the prescription medication alone. This suggests that curcumin may help to prolong remission periods for patients with chronic inflammation.

Other research studies on the health benefits of turmeric have shown that curcumin improves memory, lessens pain, fights free radicals, combats depression, helps prevent cancer, and lowers one’s risk of heart disease. That’s a lot of benefits for a spice!

Turmeric and curcumin powder are extremely versatile and can be added to curries, soups, stews, meat marinades, roasted vegetables, rice, eggs, baked goods, smoothies, teas, milk, and more.

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4. Olive Oil

According to Harvard Health Publishing, an anti-inflammatory diet should include olive oil. As this article by Healthline explains, olive oil is rich in monosaturated fats, and has been shown to reduce one’s risk of heart disease and brain cancer in scientific research.

One 2014 study found that the group that followed a Mediterranean diet and consumed an extra 50mL per day of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) significantly decreased their inflammatory markers over the course of 12 months. This is likely because olive oil contains an antioxidant called oleocanthal, which has been recognized as a naturally occurring non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), similar to manmade ibuprofen.

Researchers Lisa Parkinson and Russell Keast concluded: “It is plausible that low, chronic doses of a naturally occurring NSAID such as oleocanthal may attenuate inflammation over time, and may then contribute to significant reductions in the development of chronic inflammatory disease.”

Buy Now: Extra Virgin Olive Oil

5. Green Tea

Green tea has long been enjoyed in Eastern traditions for its earthy flavor since the Tang dynasty in 618-907 AD.

More recently, research has found that drinking green tea has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, obesity, and other serious health conditions. Many of these benefits have been attributed to green tea’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, especially epigallocatechin-3-gallate, known as EGCG for short. EGCG inhibits inflammation by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine production and damage to the fatty acids in your cells.

Plus, green tea makes a great alternative to other anti-inflammatory beverages, such as coffee, that still provides a jolt of caffeine for your morning routine.

Buy Now: Green Tea

Are you surprised by any of these top 5 anti-inflammatory foods and beverages? Which is your favorite anti-inflammatory foods out of the ones above? Let us know in the comments below!

Study Finds Link Between Dairy Consumption and Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

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Is there a link between cow's milk and autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis (MS)? — *Could there be a link between the consumption of dairy products and multiple sclerosis (MS)? A new study from the University of Bonn sheds light on that question. Image courtesy of Health Europa.*

A new study from the University of Bonn in Germany has revealed a link between the consumption of dairy products and multiple sclerosis (MS), reports Science Daily.

The researcher who led the study, Stefanie Kürten, a professor or neuroanatomy at the University Hospital Bonn, is considered to be an expert on MS, an autoimmune disease that often has debilitating and disabling symptoms. Kürten says it was her patients themselves that prompted her theory that there could be a link between the consumption of dairy products and MS symptoms.

“We hear again and again from sufferers that they feel worse when they consume milk, cottage cheese, or yogurt,” Kürten explained. “[So] we injected mice with different proteins from cow’s milk. We wanted to find out if there was a protein that they were responding to with symptoms of disease,” she said.

The myelin sheath of healthy mice who do not have demyelinating disease, as shown under a microscope. — *In healthy mice, the myelin sheath (black) fits snugly as a compact layer around nerve fibers. Image courtesy of Prof. Kürten/the University of Bonn.*

Her team’s research had some interesting results: when they administered the cow’s milk protein casein to mice, together with an effect enhancer, the mice went on to develop neurological disorders. A microscopic look at the mice’s nerve fibers showed damage to the myelin sheath, which is the insulating layer that gets damaged by the body’s immune response in patients with MS.

Rittika Chunder, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Kürten’s research team, explains: “We suspected that the reason [for the damage] was a misdirected immune response, similar to that seen in MS patients.” “The body’s defenses actually attack the casein, but in the process they also destroy proteins involved in the formation of myelin.”

The myelin sheath of mice injected with casein is looser, as shown under a microscope. — *In mice injected with casein, the structure of the myelin sheath loosens, and sometimes is missing altogether. Image courtesy of Prof. Kürten/the University of Bonn.*

So why would one’s body attack the casein, the protein found in milk, to begin with? The researchers theorize that presumably, the multiple sclerosis patients studied developed an allergy to casein at some point in their lives as a result of consuming milk. Then, the immune system mistook a protein called MAG, which is important for myelin production, with casein.

“We compared casein to different molecules that are important for myelin production,” Chunder explained. “In the process, we came across a protein called MAG. It looks markedly similar to casein in some respects – so much so that antibodies to casein were also active against MAG in the lab animals.”

So, if you have MS, should you avoid milk and other dairy products altogether? Not necessarily, say the researchers, as this only affects MS patients who are allergic to cow’s milk casein.

“We are currently developing a self-test with which affected individuals can check whether they carry corresponding antibodies,” said Kürten. “At least this subgroup should refrain from consuming milk, yogurt, or cottage cheese.”

Another multiple sclerosis study out of Harvard University has pointed to the Epstein-Barr virus being the trigger for the demyelinating autoimmune disease. And, the MS Society of Canada has published vitamin D recommendations, due to the link between vitamin D deficiency and MS, demonstrating that there isn’t necessarily one catch-all cause of MS.

Still, Kürten’s research has opened an interesting conversation for further studies related to the link between diet and autoimmune disease – and many leading physicians and scientists believe that there is, in fact, a link. Dr. Terry Wahls, a physician who has MS herself, published a book called The Wahls Protocol about how she used Paleo eating principals to put her MS symptoms into remission.

For all of our readers with multiple sclerosis: what do you think about the new research about the link between dairy and MS? Do you follow a certain diet to control your MS symptoms? Let us know in the comments below!

Multiple Sclerosis is Likely Caused by a Virus, Says Study

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*US military study suggests that the Epstein-Barr virus may be a leading cause of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Image courtesy of HealthCentral.*

Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a debilitating autoimmune disease, may in fact be caused by a virus, suggests a new study published in Science by Harvard Medical School Researchers.

The researchers tested a cohort of more than 10 million young adults on active duty in the US military between 1993 and 2013. During this 20-year timeframe, 955 individuals were diagnosed with MS over the course of their period of service. The researchers found that the risk of MS increased 32-fold after infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, known as EBV for short.

MS is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The chronic inflammation occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers, causing communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease can eventually cause permanent damage or deterioration of the nerves. Other symptoms include vision problems, slurred speech, fatigue, dizziness, tingling or pain in parts of the body, and bowel, bladder, and sexual dysfunction.

Multiple Sclerosis and the Epstein-Barr Virus

Although the exact cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown, it has long been hypothesized that the demyelination in the brain and spinal course is triggered by a viral infection. This particular study found that serum levels of neurofilament light chain, a biomarker of neuroaxonal degeneration, increased only after EBV seroconversion, suggesting that EBV is a leading cause of MS. However, the risk of MS was not increased after infection with other viruses, such as the cytomegalovirus (CMV); the researchers had also compared samples to CMV positivity as a negative control group, and found that CMV positivity was actually associated with a lower risk of MS.

“The key finding is that MS is a complication of infection with EBV,” said Alberto Ascherio, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Commenting on the size and longevity of the study, Ascherio said: “There is no comparable population in the world.”

Stanford University researchers believe that molecular mimicry may be the culprit behind why those infected with Epstein-Barr have a higher risk of developing MS. Molecular mimicry occurs when immune cells targeting EBV accidentally attack myelin, due to the molecular similarities between the virus and this tissue. A 2018 study identified EBV-infected B cells in the brains of MS patients, lending support to the molecular mimicry theory.

*Deficiency of vitamin D from the sun may also play a role in the development of MS. Image courtesy of Minnesota Oncology.*

Multiple Sclerosis: Vitamin D Deficiency and Genetic Factors

It’s unlikely that EBV is the sole reason behind the development of MS, however. The study suggests that EBV seropositivity is necessary to develop MS, but it isn’t sufficient – otherwise, 95% of the world’s population would have MS, since the virus is prevalent worldwide. According to the UK-based Multiple Sclerosis Trust, an estimated 2.5 million people worldwide have multiple sclerosis. So why do only some people develop MS and not others?

Another theory about the development of MS is vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, may be a protective compound against the development of MS; it has been found, for instance, that the distribution of MS around the world is uneven; generally, the prevalence of the disease increases as you travel further north or south from the equator. The parts of Asia, Africa and America that lie on the equator have extremely low levels of MS, while Canada and Scotland have particularly high rates. This suggests that vitamin D, particularly from the sun, is important in preventing MS, possibly due to its anti-inflammatory properties.

Other studies have shown that certain ethnic groups have a markedly lower prevalence of MS, despite living in places where the disease is more common. For example, the Sami or Lapps of northern Scandinavia, the Inuits of Canada and Greenland (Denmark), and the Maoris of New Zealand exhibit very low rates of MS, despite living in some of the northernmost and southernmost climates in the world.

*The Inuit people of Canada and Greenland have very low rates of MS among their population, despite living in some of the northernmost regions of the world. Photo courtesy of The Paleo Diet.*

Multiple Sclerosis and Diet

Another theory that has evolved is the relationship between Multiple Sclerosis and one’s diet. As noted above, many northernmost communities do not get sufficient vitamin D from the sun, due to their local climate. However, they make up for this by consuming a vitamin D-rich diet; for example, fish and marine mammals like seal and whale. These foods are also rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which are also known to have anti-inflammatory properties and may help other autoimmune conditions beyond MS, like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Although considered controversial to some, Dr. Terry Wahls, who has multiple sclerosis herself, developed a dietary approach to treating autoimmune conditions with paleo principals, which she calls the Wahls Protocol.

New Ways to Treat MS

Ascherio, for his part, believes that his team’s groundbreaking research on the connection between viruses like Epstein-Barr and MS could pioneer the development of new multiple sclerosis treatments. For example, immunosuppressive therapies that deplete B cells infected by EBV.

There is also renewed interest in developing vaccines and antivirals against EBV with the objective of eradicating MS. While antivirals targeting EBV don’t yet exist, Ascherio says their development is realistic: “Once you establish the causal connection, I think it’s a question of providing sufficient rational for research on antivirals, specifically for EBV, that could help people with MS [around] the world,” he concluded.