Eating an Anti-Inflammatory Diet for LupusĀ
Green smoothies are put to the test for the autoimmune disease lupus.
There are dozens and dozens of journals I try to stay on top of every month, and one I always anticipate is The International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention, a peer-reviewed medical ājournal created to document the science of nutrition and lifestyle to prevent, suspend and reverse disease,ā with an editor-in-chief no less prestigious than Dr. Kim Williams, past president of the American College of Cardiology. I was honored to join its editorial advisory board, along with so many of my heroes. The best part? Itās free. Go to IJDRP.org and put in your email to subscribe at no cost, and youāll be alerted when new issues are out, which you can download in full in PDF form. (Did I mention itās free?)
When it comes to chronic lifestyle diseases, wrote Dr. Williams, āInstead of preventing chronic lifestyle diseases, we [doctors] manage. Never cure, just mitigate. Why? Because of ļ¬nance, culture, habit, and tradition.ā There are many of us, though, who āenvision a world where trillions of dollars are not spent on medical care that should never have been necessary, but rather on infrastructure, environment, education, and advancing science. For this reason, comes The International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention (IJDRP).ā After all, wrote the journalās co-founder, āWithout data, youāre just another person with an opinion.ā
To give you a taste of the journal: How about pitting plants against one of the most inflammatory diseases out thereālupus, an autoimmune disease in which your body can start attacking your DNA? Kidney inflammation is a common consequence, and even with our armamentarium of immunosuppressant drugs and steroids, lupus-induced kidney inflammation can lead to end-stage renal disease, which means dialysis, and even death. That is, unless you pack your diet with some of the most anti-inflammatory foods out there and your kidney function improves so much you no longer need dialysis or a kidney transplant. Another similar case was presented with a resolution in symptoms and normal kidney function, unless the patient deviated from the diet and his symptoms then reappeared.