When your doctor doesn’t understand how the heck you healed yourself from a disease that has “no cure”, he or she may refer to it as a “Spontaneous Remission”.

Yet, in my research and work with hundreds of clients-I see “spontaneous remissions” all the time! People can use food and lifestyle adjustments to heal from chronic health challenges and autoimmune conditions without just relying on harsh treatments and drugs. The fact that these people took control of their lives by changing their diet and lifestyles- eliminating inflammatory foods, thoughts and habits- has everything to do with this “miracle”. It just makes sense!

Autoimmune conditions are now the third leading chronic disease behind heart disease and cancer. Our genetics cannot change quickly enough to be responsible for this. Increases in chronic disease are caused by unhealthy lifestyles and changes in our environment.

Doctors tell us that there is no cure and that they don’t know the cause of autoimmune disease. The only treatment options they offer are powerful immune suppressing and symptom control medications which leave many people feeling worse, and vulnerable to all kinds of dangerous side effects including digestive issues, weight gain, fatigue, cancer, depression and infection.

Why wouldn’t we at least try healing naturally? What have we got to lose? The side effects of healing naturally look a lot better: weight loss, increased energy, improved sleep quality and mood and no more brain fog! Your inflammation goes down, pain is reduced and that nasty autoimmune attack might just start to cease fire as the triggers are taken away and the disease-enhancing terrain in your body has improved.

You can always supplement with targeted medications to support the healing process and get symptom relief if you choose.This is a much gentler and more integrative approach, and you may not even need these medications long term as your body begins to regain balance and optimal function. In fact, I believe an integrative, more patient-centered approach is the best approach. If your practitioner claims that there is only one approach to treating your condition using only medication-you might want a second opinion.

There is another way!

In the next few months, I will be sharing stories of clients and friends who have healed themselves from devastating autoimmune conditions with food and lifestyle as their primary healing modality. They also supplemented their diets with targeted, high quality vitamins and minerals.

Many of them tried immune-suppressing medication and traditional methods, only to come out sicker and more desperate for help. They didn’t tolerate the treatments well and refused to settle on using these harsh treatments long term, knowing there must be a better way.

So here’s what we know

Again, the problem is an immune system that is out of control. The standard medical approach is to suppress the immune system, but we need a well-functioning immune system to protect us from foreign invaders such as toxins, infections, allergens, cancer growth and bacteria. If you want to stop your body from attacking itself, you must find and treat the source. There are many lifestyle changes that will calm and balance the immune system so why not give that a try? It’s like stepping on a nail and taking aspirin for the pain rather than dealing with the problem and removing the offending nail!

If you have autoimmune disease, look for the triggers including:

-Food sensitivities to foods like gluten, soy, dairy and GMO processed foods that can all cause damage to the gut and cause inflammation throughout your body.

-Leaky Gut also known as intestinal permeability, which is caused by eating the hard to digest foods mentioned above along with medication, infections and stress. The damage caused to the intestinal lining allows foreign proteins into the blood stream. These foreign proteins initiate the immune attack and inflammatory response leading to an increased risk for an autoimmune condition.

-Infections that may be contributing to the autoimmune condition and need to be treated and addressed

-Toxins and heavy metals that can trigger autoimmune responses and wreak havoc on the immune system.

-Chronic stress which causes long term inflammation that creates disease and makes the condition worse and more resistant to treatment.

Treat these conditions and reverse the disorder. It has been done!

Stay tuned for the stories of how others have found the strength and motivation to look beyond their medicine cabinets to enjoy lifelong healing in their kitchens and beyond. Their stories are inspiring and need to be heard!

***Never stop your medical treatment or medications without consulting with your healthcare practitioner.

Mary Moskowitz MS CHC is an Integrative Health Coach specializing in autoimmune/thyroid conditions. She is passionate about supporting her clients to heal from chronic health conditions and to find the resources and information they need so they can finally get their lives and health back.