Systemic lupus erythematosus, Lupus, Autoimmune disease, Inflammation, Plant-based diet

The Potential Influence of Nutrition on Lupus

By Bill Misner, PhD

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease driven and exacerbated by autoimmunity. Patients with lupus have blood antibodies targeted against their body, damaging the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, kidneys, joints, brain, and nervous system. Women are more at risk than men; however, lupus is two times more common in Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and African American women than Caucasians.

Lupus provokes onset of symptoms that may differ from person to person. The intensity of these symptoms is called a “flare” that may range from mild to severe. Typical symptoms are chest pain upon taking a deep breath, upper respiratory infections, fatigue, fever, hair loss, mouth sores, muscle pain, painful swelling in joints, pale or purple fingers/toes, a red rash on the face (called a butterfly rash), sun sensitivity, swelling in legs, ankles, eyes, and swollen glands. I know these symptoms from having observed their recurring phenomena in my wife for the past 37-years.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for lupus, only a few medicines or lifestyle changes that may help those who have this disease to tolerate lupus. Patients with lupus must see not only their primary care physician but also other specialists to treat a plethora of specific symptoms such as inflammation, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, balancing hormones, and recurring infections.

Reducing Inflammatory Substances

Because lupus is a long-term autoimmune disease that induces the body’s immune system to become hyperactive in attacking normal healthy tissue, the resultant pro-inflammatory cycle that increases pain throughout the body, which raises individual discomfort and malaise, may be reduced. There are a number of substances that cause inflammation and should be avoided.

• Any common food ingredients that have less than 1-gram fiber to 5-grams carbohydrate ratio (<1:5} including processed sugar (sucrose), processed high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), processed carbohydrates found in white bread, white pasta, gluten, snack foods, chips, and crackers.^1-6

• Trans fats, vegetable oils, seed oils, alcohol, and processed meat increase systemic internal inflammation. The high bacteria load in raw or cooked animal foods and fermented foods trigger an endotoxemic surge of inflammation, which is exacerbated by the presence of saturated animal fat. The primary reason increased inflammation results after people consume animal foods is related to dead bacteria releasing their endotoxins absorbed by our digestive system. “Endotoxemic inflammation” is directly associated with eating meat, egg, chicken, and dairy, but does not occur when eating most plant foods. Exposure to a high-fat meal elevates circulating endotoxins irrespective of metabolic state, as early as one hour after a meal .^7-9 Dr. Michael Greger stated: “Though the bacteria can be dead; they can be cooked; but their endotoxins are still there. You can boil meat for two hours straight; dip it in an acid bath (like our stomach); and expose it to digestive enzymes. Bacterial endotoxins have been found to survive both cooking and our bodies’ best attempts at acid and enzyme digestion.”¹⁰

• Alfalfa sprouts contain an amino acid called L-canavanine that may increase inflammation in people with lupus by stimulating an overactive immune system.

Increasing Anti-Inflammatory Substances

What anti-inflammatory foods should you eat if you have lupus? In general, you should try to eat a nutritious whole plant food diet that contains fresh fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, nuts, and organic corn. While antioxidant supplements are available, it is rather the combination of nutrient-rich whole foods high in antioxidants from a diet high in fruits and vegetables that may have the greatest effect rather than through supplements. Examples include nuts, apples, ground flax seeds, prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, beets, red bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, and with an emphasis on green leafy vegetables.

Is Remission from Lupus Plausible?

There is an interesting case report of a young lady, who at age 16, was diagnosed with systemic lupus (lupus nephritis). She was in stage 4 kidney failure and was told she had six months to live. Her doctor told her that the best-case scenario with standard treatments was dialysis versus the worst case scenario that she would die. She suffered severe arthritis and debilitating migraines and a typical butterfly rash that went from one cheek to another. She consistently tested positive for lupus. She had chemotherapy for two years straight, once a month. Her lupus went into remission for the first four years while she attended undergraduate school and the first three years in medical school, though she always tested positive for lupus. She was careful and got frequent blood tests, did not go in the sun, was very careful about her sleep and self-care, and was on a low dose medication prescription to ease modest joint pain.

It is generally recommended that people with autoimmune disorders do not go to medical school because of the impact stress and sleep deprivation have on their health. During her third year of medical school, she worked stressful 100-hour weeks; and then during her fourth year, she suffered a severe relapse. She had double vision and collapsed in the clinic one day, then woke up and drove home disoriented and confused. Tests revealed she had new antibodies that were causing blood clots that passed into her brain, causing double vision and a transient ischemic attack, a mini-stroke. Her physicians told her she would be at serious risk for a major stroke for the rest of her life and that she probably wouldn’t live to age 50. They also warned her that having children would kill her and that she would have to inject herself with a blood thinner for the rest of her life.

Shortly after her husband put her on an exercise program and a whole plant food diet, she began to have no joint pain, no migraines, felt incredible, was full of energy, even working 30-hour overnight shifts at the hospital multiple times a week. Her lupus blood tests only four months after changing her diet came back negative, while blood clotting tests were on the high side of normal. Her doctors assumed there had been a mistake at the lab. No one ever knew what had happened—it was an unheard of, such a dramatic remission. In all documented cases, lupus may be in long-term remission, but the blood tests typically reflect the autoimmune condition, lupus. After more testing every month, she discontinued all meds after one year in 2006. Since then, she has continued completely off meds with healthy blood work that has actually improved over the years. After these events, she decided to have children. Her physicians once again warned her that having a baby would bring the lupus back and kill her. She became pregnant and gave birth to two healthy children in five years.

Who is this lady? She is Brooke Goldner, MD, who is a board-certified physician known worldwide for developing a nutrition-based treatment for her own autoimmune disease, lupus. She is a graduate of the Temple University School of Medicine, was chief resident at UCLA-Harbor’s residency program in psychiatry, and holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from Cornell University. She is the creator of the hyper-nourishing healing protocol for lupus recovery and the bestselling author of Goodbye Lupus.¹¹

References

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2. Schmier JK, et al. Cost savings of reduced constipation rates attributed to increased dietary fiber intakes: a decision-analytic model. BMC Public Health. 2014 Apr 17;14:374.

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4. Baron RB. Eat more fibre. BMJ. 2013; 347. 
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6. North CJ, Venter CS, Jerling JC. The effects of dietary fibre on C-reactive protein, an inflammation marker predicting cardiovascular disease. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Aug;63(8):921-33.

7. Harte AL, et al. High fat intake leads to acute postprandial exposure to circulating endotoxin in type 2 diabetic subjects. Diabetes Care. 2012 Feb; 35(2):375-82.

8. Erridge C. The capacity of foodstuffs to induce innate immune activation of human monocytes in vitro is dependent on food content of stimulants of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jan; 105(1):15-23.

9. Deopurkar R, et al. Differential Effects of Cream, Glucose, and Orange Juice on Inflammation, Endotoxin, and the Expression of Toll-Like Receptor-4 and Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling-3. Diabetes Care. 2010 May; 33(5):991-7.

10. Greger M. Dead Meat Bacteria Endotoxemia. 2012. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dead-meat-bacteria-endotoxemia/

11. Goldner B. Goodbye Lupus: How a Medical Doctor Healed Herself Naturally with Supermarket Foods. Austin, Texas; Express Results: 2015.