I recently received a review copy of “The Paleo Approach” by Sarah Ballantyne. Sarah runs the blog The Paleo Mom, where she chronicles her own health struggles, her research (as a PhD), and her protocols for reversing autoimmune disease.
The Paleo Approach
Her book came at a providential time, as I just found out I have Hashimotos thyroid disease (autoimmune disease-strong family history in our family) and I’m working to reverse it naturally. The things I was already doing to help with this fit perfectly with what Sarah talks about in The Paleo Approach: determining food sensitivities, healing the gut, and addressing lifestyle factors.
Of all the books I’ve read in the last two years (and I’ve read over 100), The Paleo Approach is definitely one of the most thorough and well-researched. Throughout the book, Sarah covers in detail:
- What are autoimmune diseases and how do you know if you have one?
- The causes of autoimmune disease
- Leaky Gut and gut dysbiosis related to autoimmune disease
- Foods that can cause inflammation, especially in those with autoimmune disease
- Diet and lifestyle factors to help reverse autoimmune disease
Many people may think that this book isn’t applicable to them since they don’t have an autoimmune disease, but as Sarah points out, many of these symptoms can be associated with the early stages of autoimmune disease (and the best time to catch it):
- allergies
- mood issues like anxiety and depression
- low blood pressure
- digestive problems
- fatigue
- gallbladder problems
- blood sugar issues
- headaches and memory problems
- joint or muscle pain
- PMS
- skin rashes
- sleep troubles
- thyroid problems
- weight gain
- recurrent yeast infections
Sarah recommends a very anti-inflammatory diet for the short term and suggests avoiding: grains, dairy, eggs, soy, legumes, processed foods, sugars, sweeteners, sugar, spices derived from seeds, alcohol and caffeine. After a month or so of this diet, she recommends re-introducing these foods slowly to gauge a reaction.
The Bottom Line
Unless you’ve eaten a clean, real-food, low-inflammatory diet your entire life, trying the protocols in this book for a month may have a tremendously positive effect on your health. If you have the early stages of an auto-immune disease, you can catch it early. If not, you haven’t lost anything!
Have you ever tried an autoimmune paleo protocol? How did it go?
Correction:
Sarah Ballantyne explicitly says 2-4 weeks minimum for your body to adjust to the diet (mostly a change in gut flora), and about 6 months minimum to heal on the diet (replacing unhealthy cells with new, healthy ones and healing damaged tissue). Only after we have acheived consistent symptom remission, we can (if we choose) think about testing and reintroducing foods outside of the scope of the healing process (such as eggs, grass-fed dairy, caffeine, etc).
Three primary reasons, as far as I can tell:
1. Prematurely reintroducing foods can delay or reverse the healing process
2. Reintroducing even non-problematic foods before restoring gut health can result in false-positives for food sensitivity
3. Giving ourselves time to become familiar with and sensitive to a feeling of consistent health allows us to more easily identify even subtle problematic symptoms during testing that could lead to serious long-term health problems (e.g,. a stuffy nose or sneezing after eating something). Many of my symptoms I didn’t even know existed until they were gone…it was like, “I feel better…why do I feel better? Oh, my knees don’t ache all the time…wait a second…my knees were aching all the time!” So I can be on the lookout for achey joints as I reintroduce foods.
Just wondering if you’d tried the full autoimmune paleo approach to healing your Hashi’s? And if so, how did it work?
We’ve been struggling w/ infertility and in going to the doctor discovered that my thyroid antibodies are elevated, which could be contributing to our problems getting pregnant. Because I have tons of the Hashimoto’s symptoms (we’re going back to the doctor soon and will discuss a diagnosis w/ him), I’m thinking that’s what I have. I’m hoping to find the best way to get well–and quick! I’m 41 and we really want to have a family. I was just wondering if you’d have any recommendations.
Thanks for any thoughts you might have the time to share.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for reviewing this book for “us!”
My good friend wrote a book about dealing with Hashi’s: “You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone” (loving yourself through Hashimotos).
A GREAT book. Might be one for your healing journey! Who knows!
Thanks for all the insight you give us daily!
Carissa
I look forward to this book! Thanks for the review, and best wishes in dealing with your Hashimoto’s disease.
I’m dying for you to be a guest on their podcast!
Nascent Iodine to be precise. Everyone in the Northern Hemisphere should be taking it after the Fukushima disaster.
Do you take iodine? I think for some time they didn’t think that Hashimoto’s was related to iodine, but now they do! The Iodine Crisis by Lynne Farrow — you should check it out 🙂
I have been cooking all my cruciferous vegetables to keep my thyroid healthy as I have been reading there is a connection. I even put cooked kale in my morning smoothies–am finding I digest cooked greens better anyway.
I love the Paleo Mom blog and will definitely check out her book.
Thanks for continuing to share all this great info! Blessings-Juie