Autoimmune Approach
Donna Sigmond, your autoimmune specialist for personalized nutrition.
The immune system is a complex system designed to protect the body from foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses. However, the immune system can get overactive/underactive and begin identifying itself as a foreign invader and that condition is termed an autoimmune disease. The body goes rogue and begins identifying its own tissues and/or organs as something that should not be there and can be quite disabling.
The modern approach to treatment is pharmaceuticals; such as NSAIDs, steroids, and biologics or a combination prescription cocktail. These may help and they may not but there is a large piece missing. That is the fact that autoimmune diseases are multifactorial; they are also influenced by lifestyle, diet, environment and genetics. Thus, the best approach (and really the ONLY approach) to treating autoimmune disorders is to address all factors contributing to the immune disharmony.
Mark W
“Donna’s deep understanding of autoimmune ailments and her consistent compassionate care and attention have made all the difference in my journey to understand and address my disease.”
Still Struggling With Autoimmune Symptoms?
Unfortunately, many patients come to us after trying some kind of anti-inflammatory diet and find it may have helped some, a little or not at all. But if they are in my office it means it has not helped enough to mitigate their symptoms. Typically an anti-inflammatory diet means consuming mostly real and/or plant-based foods. I do agree that real food is better than processed but real food can still trigger the immune system to dysfunction.
Our approach is to identify food sensitivities and build a true anti-inflammatory diet unique to a specific person to shut down the inflammatory cascade. Within about 30 days we have a very reasonable base diet that we continue to build your tolerance level. In addition, as your immune system heals you are able to tolerate some foods that you could not previously, so long-term avoidance is not necessarily the answer or goal.
As educators, we include other foundational principles such as blood sugar regulation, microbiome diversity, micronutrient support, and lifestyle modifications to support the other good work happening. Our environment can impact our health positively or negatively. Do we sleep too much or too little and what barriers to good restorative sleep exist? Sleep apnea, stress causing our minds to stay turned on, and mood alterations like depression or anxiety impact our ability to repair.
Are there possible toxicities we are being exposed to every day? Such as second-hand smoke, chemicals from newly painted walls (VOCs), aluminum in american cheese, pesticide exposure, dental amalgam toxicities, poorly metabolized hormones, or possibly mold exposure to name just a few. We look for these barriers when they are in the way of our good health and if they are inert we leave them alone.
The goal is truly optimal wellness (WELLITUDE).
Can Genetics Impact Autoimmune Disorders?
Genetics is a chapter in our book that is part of all our stories. Our genetics are hardwired from our mother and father and those before them. But diet, lifestyle, and environment can change how our genes are expressed by turning them “on” or “off”. The expression of genes can give us a lot of information on how we could better exercise to reach our goals, where we need support to upregulate or downregulate various metabolic processes, or how to directly support neurotransmitter production to be less anxious or depressed for example.
Autoimmune disorders can arise from genetic predisposition and are affected by many types of environmental triggers such as one’s diet or toxin exposure, which can disrupt our immune system and change how our genes are expressed. Autoimmune disorders are polygenetic, meaning that many different genes impact many different processes in the body, which is why they are so complex to treat.
Our lifestyle impacts how our genes are expressed and that expression can impact our health at many levels. The study of this link between genetics and nutrition is called Nutrigenomics and with a variety of tools in our toolbox available, we can use them to address your health concerns with a Personal Approach.