drknews.

com Page 1
 The
Autoimmune
Diet
The Gut-Brain Repair Guide

By Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS

drknews.com Page 2
 The Autoimmune Diet

Copyright ©2017 Datis Kharrazian. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of
the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission
of the Publisher.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND

AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS BOOK, THEY MAKE
NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY
OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY
DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES
REPRESENTATIVES, WRITTEN SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND
STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION. THIS
BOOK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED
IN RENDERING MEDICAL, LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.
YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL WHERE APPROPRIATE. NEITHER THE
PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER
COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES.

drknews.com Page 3
 Introduction
Many people wonder what they can do immediately to manage their chronic health con-
dition. The science can be confusing and complex, especially to those with Hashimoto’s
hypothyroidism and other autoimmune diseases. These disorders can lead to brain fog,
fatigue, and loss of cognitive function that make it hard to figure out what to do next.

What people frequently fail to realize is that underlying all of these conditions is the
most important foundation of all – your diet.

While for most people, diet is not the only factor in relieving the suffering autoimmunity
causes, it’s a vital foundation to that process.

The autoimmune diet is a useful tool for healing

In this e-book you’ll learn the basics for the autoimmune diet, an effective protocol that
helps autoimmune patients overcome the core underlying factors preventing recovery:
inflammation, leaky gut, hormone imbalances, blood sugar imbalances, impaired brain
function, micronutrient deficiencies, and immune system dysregulation.

You will also learn about blood sugar balance and about how the brain and the gut team
up to support or undermine your health.

drknews.com Page 4
 Chapter One

What is the Autoimmune Diet?

The autoimmune diet is an elimination and reintroduction protocol. For a time you elimi-
nate foods that might drive inflammation and resulting symptoms, and then you reintro-
duce foods methodically to rule out reactivity.

While no one diet will work for everyone, the autoimmune diet is one of the most ef-
fective tools you can use to reduce or remove symptoms and bring your body back into
balance.

The autoimmune diet focuses on these key areas

1. Gut health: Gut inflammation, gut dysbiosis (imbalances in gut bacteria), and
a leaky gut lining contribute to poor absorption of nutrients and systemic
inflammation that feeds the autoimmune response. In the diet, foods that irritate
the gut lining are avoided, while foods that support gut health are included.
2. Nutrient density: Every system in the body needs a wide array of nutrients to
function at its best, including the immune system. Micronutrient deficiencies are
common in autoimmune patients. Nutrient-dense foods are central to the diet,
giving the body the tools it needs to heal deficiencies and support immune system
function.
3. Blood sugar balance: High and low blood sugar can lead to systemic inflammation,
immune flares, hormonal imbalances, and compromised brain function. Supporting
balanced blood sugar is critical for recovery from any inflammatory condition. The
autoimmune diet gives you the tools to support healthy blood sugar balance.
4. Immune system regulation: Inflammation, leaky gut, hormone imbalances, blood
sugar imbalances, and micronutrient deficiencies all contribute to immune system
dysregulation. By reducing bacterial overgrowth and inflammation in the gut,
removing food-borne immune triggers from your diet, providing dense nutrition
and supporting blood sugar regulation, the autoimmune diet helps to support
healthy immune function.

drknews.com Page 5
Tips for using the autoimmune diet

• Focus on eating 6-9 servings of vegetables per day, including the full color spectrum
• Eat plenty of essential fatty acids (ideal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio: between 1:1 and
4:1)
• Eat plenty of fermented foods to support gut healthy gut flora
• Eat frequently enough to avoid energy crashes caused by low blood sugar
• Stay hydrated with plenty of fresh, filtered water
• Strictly avoid foods on the “Foods to avoid” list. Even just a small snack or a bite of
these foods can trigger an immune reaction, inflammation, and an autoimmune
flare-up. The cravings will pass quickly, especially as you start to feel and function
better.
• Elimination/Reintroduction: This protocol is intended as a elimination diet to quell
inflammation and immune response, then a reintroduction protocol to determine
food sensitivities and know the best foods for you. More information on elimination
and reintroduction is below.

Important daily lifestyle habits to support your healing

• Get enough sleep: Aim for 8 to 10 hours per night, and more when possible
• Manage stress: What stressful factors can you reduce or eliminate from your life?
What daily stress-reducing activities can you engage in?
• Exercise: Light to moderate is good – avoid over-exerting yourself
• Maintain social connections: Many studies show that those who maintain healthy
social connections are healthier, happier, and live longer. Laugh!

Foods to eat
Most organic vegetables: Include as much variety as possible, making sure to include
the full color spectrum; anise, arrugula, artichoke, asparagus, beets and their greens,
bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumbers, garlic, kale,
kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, olives, onions, parsley, radishes, rhubarb, shal-
lots, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes and yams (not true potatoes), water chestnuts,
watercress, zucchini, etc.

Quality meats: beef, chicken, bison, pork, lamb, turkey, and wild game. Select hormone-
free and antibiotic-free chicken, turkey, and lamb. Chicken has high Omega 6 content;
eat in moderation, and if you consume more, also eat a lot of Omega 3 oils to compen-
drknews.com Page 6
sate (see the end of this section for proper ratios). Select beef that is grass fed, hormone
free, and antibiotic free. Best choice are locally-raised grass-fed and pastured meats; sec-
ond best is organic. Avoid factory-farmed meats that contain antibiotics and hormones.

Organ meats and offal: heart, liver, kidney, tongue, and bone broth. An important con-
centrated form of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and essential
amino acids.

Glycine-rich foods: Include foods containing connective tissue, organ meat, joints, skin,
or bone broth.

Fish and shellfish: Seek out ocean-caught cold water, low mercury fish with high fat con-
tent. Swordfish, most tuna, and king mackerel are very high in mercury.

Quality fats: pasture-raised, grass-fed animal fats, fatty cold water fish, olive oil, avocado
oil, coconut oil, low-mercury Omega 3 supplements.

Low glycemic organic fruits: apples, apricots, avocados, berries, cherries, grapefruit,
lemons, peaches, pears, plums, etc. Keep intake between 10 and 20g per day.

Probiotic and fermented foods: sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled ginger, fermented cucum-
bers, coconut yogurt (guar-gum free), kombucha, water kefir, coconut milk kefir, supple-
ments, etc. You may need to make your own or buy one of the few brands that are
genuinely fermented and free of sugars or additives. Also, search for information about
anaerobic fermented foods in air-tight containers; these ferments do not produce hista-
mines that some people react to (including rashes, digestive upset, inflammation) com-
monly found in aerobic, or open, ferments typically using mason jars.

Noodles: Shirataki yam noodles (sold in Asian grocery stores) are fine, but avoid the
noodles that contain tofu (soy).

Edible mushrooms: Mushrooms are generally fine for most individuals. However, some
people with autoimmune conditions may react to immune-stimulating fungi such as
Maitake and mushroom-derived beta-glucan, so monitor your response.

Coconut: coconut aminos, coconut milk (guar gum free), coconut water and coconut wa-
ter vinegar, coconut cream (not concentrate), and coconut oil. Whole coconut products
(coconut butter, coconut cream concentrate, coconut flakes and chips, unsweetened
coconut yogurt, fresh coconut) have high inulin fiber and moderately high phytic acid,
which causes some individuals digestive issues – consume in moderation until you know
your tolerance level.

drknews.com Page 7
Herbs and spices: basil, cilantro, cinnamon, coriander, clove, cumin, garlic, ginger, horse-
radish, lemongrass, mace, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, saffron, sea salt,
thyme, turmeric (black pepper is considered a reintroduction item).

Vinegars: apple cider, balsamic, champagne, coconut, red wine, sherry, ume plum, white
wine. Avoid grain-based vinegars: rice and distilled white.

Teas: black, green white, yerba mate (avoid tea if you have adrenal fatigue).

Other: herbal teas, carob, rooibos tea, Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) (but not whole
licorice root), vanilla extract (if cooked). In moderation: fructose (in fruit and starchy
vegetables), pomegranate molasses. Very occasionally: maple syrup and maple sugar,
honey, dried fruit, dates and date sugar, molasses, unrefined cane sugar (sucanat, evapo-
rated cane juice, muscovado). Each person has unique tolerance to sugars – monitor
your response.

Grey areas depending on individual sensitivities: legumes with edible pods (green
beans, snow peas). Whole bean coffee in moderation (caution: many instant coffees
show gluten contamination). Sugars: Some people have strong reactions to even small
amounts of sugars; monitor your response. Seaweeds (high in iodine): Some people with
Hashimoto’s may not do well with additional iodine in the diet.

A note on fatty acids: Consuming a proper ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is key
for minimizing inflammation in the body. Too much omega-6 is highly inflammatory, so
it’s important to get enough omega-3 (anti-inflammatory) to compensate. The average
American ratio is close to 25 parts omega-6 to 1 part omega-3, resulting in high levels of
inflammation. Researchers recommend a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids that
ranges from 1:1 to 4:1 for optimal health and prevention of disease.

Foods to avoid
Grains: barley, bulgur, corn, couscous, kamut, millet, oats, rice, rye, spelt, wheat, wheat
germ.

Pseudograins: amaranth, buckwheat, chia, quinoa.

Nuts: all nuts and nut butters including peanuts (actually a legume).

Seeds: chia, cocoa, flax, sesame, sunflower, instant coffee (many brands tested for gluten
contamination).

Seed-based spices: anise, annatto, celery seed, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek,

drknews.com Page 8
mustard, nutmeg, poppy seed, sesame, allspice, star anise, caraway, cardamom, juniper,
peppercorns, sumac, whole vanilla bean.

Dairy: butter, cheese, cow milk, creams, frozen desserts, goat milk, margarine, mayon-
naise, sheep milk, whey, yogurt (coconut yogurt free of guar gum is acceptable).

Eggs: During reintroduction, introduce yolks and whites separately, yolks first.

Beans and legumes: black beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, pinto beans, etc., and all soy
products (edamame, miso, soy milk, soy protein, soy sauce, tempeh, tofu, soy lecithin,
etc.).

Nightshades: eggplant, goji berries, sweet and hot peppers, hot pepper sauces, tomatil-
los, tomatoes, and potatoes (sweet potatoes and yams are okay – not in the same fam-
ily).

Nightshade-based spices: cayenne, chili powder, paprika, red pepper, curry, and spice
blends that contain these.

Medicinal mushrooms: Some people with autoimmune conditions may react to im-
mune-stimulating fungi such as Maitake and mushroom-derived beta-glucan, so monitor
your response.
Refined and processed oils: including vegetable oils.

Sugars: agave, candy, chocolate, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, etc.

Stevia and non-nutritive sweeteners: acesulfame potassium, aspartame, neotame, and

sucralose.

Emulsifiers, thickeners, and other food additives: guar gum, carrageenan, zanthan gum,
cellulose gum, soy lecithin.

Alcohol: all alcohol.

Gluten-containing compounds: barbecue sauce, binders, bouillon, brewer’s yeast, cold

cuts, condiments, emulsifiers, fillers, chewing gum, hot dogs, hydrolyzed plant and veg-
etable protein, ketchup, soy sauce, lunch meats, malt and malt flavoring, malt vinegar,
matzo, meat glue, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, nondairy creamer,
processed salad dressings, seitan, some spice mixtures, stabilizers, teriyaki sauce, tex-
tured vegetable protein. Beware of non-specific ingredients like “natural flavorings” or
“spices”.

drknews.com Page 9
Potential gluten cross-reactive foods: dairy, oats, yeast (brewer’s, baker’s, nutritional)
instant coffee, milk chocolate, millet, soy, corn, rice, potato. Cyrex Labs offers a good
cross-reactivity test.

NSAIDS: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen.

Other: canned foods, processed foods, wheat grass (contains wheat germ agglutinin),
barley grass, brown rice protein, pea protein, hemp protein, licorice root (DGL is okay),
aloe, slippery elm bark, commercial egg replacers, supplements containing ashwagandha
(a nightshade) or oat seed, immune stimulants such as chlorella and spirulina.

Elimination and reintroduction

Remember, the autoimmune diet is an elimination and reintroduction protocol. First you
eliminate foods that might cause your symptoms. Then you reintroduce foods methodi-
cally to rule out reactivity.

When to reintroduce foods depends on the individual. A good rule of thumb is to wait
for reintroductions until you notice a marked improvement in your symptoms and qual-
ity of life. For some that’s 30 days, for others it’s months or even a year.

It may take some time to unwind the self-perpetuating inflammatory cycles that lie be-
neath your symptoms, and it’s important to not rush into reintroductions. If you do, you
will likely sabotage your efforts to recover.

For some people, the diet is all that’s necessary to experience relief of autoimmune
symptoms. For others, it is necessary to work with a qualified healthcare practitioner to
determine what health issues underlie their symptoms.

Either way, the diet is the foundation for creating change.

Your stress level, sleep quality, exercise level, nutrient intake, genetics, oral tolerance,
and underlying health issues will affect your reactions to foods.

This affects when you can start reintroductions. It also means as these things improve
you may be able to reintroduce certain foods to which you previously reacted.

If symptoms start to return a short while after you reintroduced a food, you may need to
continue avoiding that food for a while or perhaps permanently.

Don’t consider the autoimmune diet a one-shot deal where you get to go back to your
old bad eating habits. For most people with autoimmunity, a customized version of the
drknews.com Page 10
diet based on your individual reactions becomes a way of life.

Summary of reintroduction rules

1. Select the food to reintroduce. Plan to eat it two to three times in one day.
2. The first time you consume it, eat half a teaspoon or less. Wait fifteen minutes.
3. If you experience immediate symptoms, do not consume the food again.
4. If you have no immediate symptoms, eat one teaspoon of the food. Wait fifteen
minutes, monitoring for symptoms.
5. If you have no immediate symptoms, eat a slightly larger bite.
6. Wait two to three hours and monitor for symptoms.
7. If you had no symptoms, eat a normal sized portion, either by itself or with a meal.
8. Do not eat that food again for three to seven days, and do not reintroduce any
other new or suspect foods during that time. Monitor for symptoms.
9. If you have no symptoms in the three to seven day period, that food is potentially
safe for you to eat.
10. To confirm that food, eat a bit of it every day for another week, and monitory
closely for reactions. Food reactions typically come in two forms; a strong reaction
that leaves no doubt, and a slower inflammatory response that builds slowly to
become noticeable later. If you have no reaction after this week, you may add this
food back into your diet. You may now move on to your next food reintroduction.

Symptoms can be represented by any change; digestive upset, mood changes, fatigue,
pain, sleep issues, brain fog, skin rash, etc.

IMPORTANT: If you have a reaction to a food reintroduction, you must wait until those
symptoms are completely gone before moving on to the next reintroduction.

General order of food reintroductions

Some foods are more likely cause a reaction than others. It’s best to reintroduce foods
lowest on that list first, ending with the most-likely items. If you have had food sensitiv-
ity testing done, leave any foods you have a diagnosed sensitivity for until the end of
reintroductions. A general order of reintroduction is:

Egg
Egg yolks first: Most people tolerate the yolks well; intolerance is more common to the
whites. Research shows soy protein is transferred to eggs; soy is a common chicken feed,
so if you are intolerant to soy, you may find soy-fed chicken eggs are reactive for you.
drknews.com Page 11
Seeds before nuts
Introduce one item at a time, not mixed: seed-based spices (no nightshades), oils, but-
ters, flours; raw nuts (soaked); toasted (beware store-bought seeds roasted in non-com-
pliant oils); cocoa; coffee (in moderation).

Dairy
Grassfed ghee then butter; raw goat yogurt/kefir, milk, cheese; raw cow dairy in the
same order. Why raw, why this order? Raw dairy has live enzymes that make it easier
to digest. Dairy has three components; butterfat, lactose and casein. Butterfat doesn’t
cause a problem for many people; intolerance is more common for lactose and casein.
Therefore ghee and butter come first. Goat dairy is easier to digest than cow dairy.

Nightshades
These come last because they are the most common food intolerance for those with au-
toimmune conditions, and if you have an inflammatory reaction, it takes longer to calm
down and continue with reintroductions. Be sure to reintroduce one vegetable at a time.
You might react to all, or only to some.

Consider never consuming

Tomatoes
NSAIDS (they disrupt gut health)
Grains/Gluten

Reintroduction of other foods depends on your individual health history and needs.

drknews.com Page 12
 Chapter Two

It’s not just about diet: The gut-brain

axis and blood sugar stability

While the diet itself is important, it’s also important to improve communication between
the brain and the gut and really focus on stabilizing blood sugar.

These factors are key for improving your health.

The gut-brain axis – how the brain and gut talk

Many people who end up on the autoimmune diet also suffer from poor brain function
and chronic gastrointestinal complaints. It’s important to learn how to address the in-
timate relationship between the gut and the brain, called the gut-brain axis, when em-
barking on the autoimmune diet.

This communication between the brain and the gut is bi-directional, meaning communi-
cation travels in both directions.

If your brain is not working, it can lead to chronic digestive symptoms, and if your gut
function is impaired, it can affect your brain function.

This entire pathway of communication happens through the vagus nerve, a large, mean-
dering nerve that connects the brain with all the organs of the body.

Gut-brain axis basics

Let’s start with the basics of how everything works. Your brain constantly receives sen-
sory messages from your eyes, skin, ears, joints and muscles, tongue, and nose. These
inputs activate your brain, causing neurons (brain cells) to fire.
Constant stimulation keeps neurons healthy and strong, just as physical exercise keeps
your muscles healthy and strong. Your brain processes inputs from the body and re-
sponds by sending messages out to various parts of your nervous system via the vagus
nerve. The vagus nerve also carries information from the body back to the brain.
drknews.com Page 13
A small percentage of these messages are voluntary, such as moving your arms and legs,
while the majority are involuntary, such as heart rate, respiration, and digestion.

The brain affects the gut

Via the vagus nerve, the brain plays a major role in gastrointestinal function, controlling
the movement of food through the intestines (motility), releasing digestive enzymes to
break down food, and regulating blood flow that carries vital nutrients to support gut
health.

When the brain ages, degenerates, or otherwise becomes impaired, this hinders activa-
tion of the brainstem, an area at the base of the brain that leads to the vagus nerve.

Lack of sufficient output through the brainstem (like a muscle not getting exercised) can
impair the vagus nerve, which may result in poor gut motility and constipation, among
other problems such as fermentation in the gut, overgrowth of intestinal bacteria and
yeast, a reduced ability to create stomach hydrochloric acid (HCl) to digest proteins prop-
erly, and faltering ability to digest fats.

Poor brain function contributes to leaky gut

Poor brain health, brain trauma, or brain degeneration decrease activation of the vagus
nerve. This lack of activation inhibits blood flow to the intestines, which prevents the
intestinal wall from functioning and regenerating normally.

This can lead to the development of intestinal permeability, more commonly known as
“leaky gut;” the gut wall weakens and becomes overly permeable.

The over-permeable gut wall allows large, improperly digested proteins, bacteria, fun-
gus, and other pathogens to cross the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, where they
alert the immune system to attack and destroy not only the pathogens, but eventually
body tissue as well when autoimmunity develops.

With leaky gut this immune activation is constant, leading to systemic inflammation that
causes pain, food sensitivities, rashes, brain health issues, mood issues, and other symp-
toms.

The irritation can lead to a buildup of mucous on the intestinal wall that results in mal-
absorption of key nutrients. In addition, damage to the intestinal mucosa can cause the
gastrointestinal tract to be unable to produce the enzymes necessary to properly digest
food.

drknews.com Page 14
This leads to malnutrition, further intestinal inflammation, further permeability, and the
development of food sensitivities, bacteria overgrowths, yeast overgrowths, and poor
intestinal immune health.

Leaky gut and systemic inflammation

With leaky gut, as these compounds pass through the tight junctions they trigger the in-
testinal immune system, releasing inflammatory cytokines, or immune messenger cells.

These cytokines make their way into the bloodstream, where they cause inflammation
throughout the body (systemic inflammation), including in the brain, joints, heart, skin,
blood vessels, and other tissues. This explains why systemic inflammation can manifest
in so many different ways.

Leaky gut affects brain function

Leaky gut has also been shown to play a role in severe depression by allowing harmful
bacteria into the bloodstream. These bacteria carry in their membranes lipopolysaccha-
rides (LPS), large molecules that trigger inflammation. LPS inflame the gut wall and, once
in the bloodstream, cause inflammation throughout the body.

These inflammatory cytokines also activate the brain’s immune system, creating brain
inflammation and degeneration, altering how well neurons function and communicate.
This can ultimately change brain function and cause severe depression.

This inflammatory mechanism is called the “cytokine model of depression,” and revolves
around inflammation in the brain instead of a lack of neurotransmitters.

In essence, leaky gut syndrome impacts a vast network of mechanisms, which all feed
back into creating more leaky gut. It is not uncommon for these individuals to suffer
from chronic leaky gut and depression for years or decades.

Exercises to improve vagus nerve function

Constant stimulation of neurons keeps them healthy and strong, just as physical exercise
keeps a muscle healthy and strong. The same is true for your vagus nerve.

If you have a poorly functioning gut-brain axis and vagus nerve, neurological exercises
can increase the function of the vagus pathway. Vagal exercises are easy to perform at
home. The exercises below can be very helpful for patients who have poor vagal tone
and gut-brain axis failure.
drknews.com Page 15
Gargling. The first exercise is to gargle with water several times a day. The vagus nerve
activates the muscles in the back of the throat that allow you to gargle. Gargling con-
tracts these muscles, which activates the vagus nerve and stimulates the gastrointestinal
tract.

Drink several large glasses of water per day and gargle each sip until you finish the glass
of water. Gargle long enough and deep enough to make it a bit challenging.

It will not work unless it is more challenging. Do this exercise for several weeks to help
strengthen the vagal pathways.

Sing loudly. Sing as loudly as you can when you are in your car or at home. This works
the muscles in the back of the throat to activate the vagus.

Gag reflex. Purchase a box of tongue blades so you can stimulate your gag reflex
throughout the day.

Do not to jab the back of your throat; just lay the tongue blade on the back of your
tongue and push down to activate a gag reflex.

Gag reflexes are like doing push-ups for the vagus while gargling and singing loudly are
like doing sprints.

Coffee enemas. Patients with brain degeneration who are having significant difficulty
with regular bowel movements are encouraged to perform daily coffee enemas.

Distending the intestines with an enema activates the vagus. The caffeine in the coffee
stimulates intestinal motility by acting on cholinergic receptors. This allows the patient
to relieve bowel contents, which is very important for overall health.

Many people notice bowel function improves over time and they can begin weaning
off the enemas. This is because the enemas help develop positive change in their vagal
system pathways.

Unfortunately, some people have such rapid brain degeneration that it outpaces the
ability to gain positive changes. In this case the coffee enema is used to prevent impact-
ed bowels.

Coffee enema how-to:

A coffee enema is very easy to do. Purchase an enema bag with an anal insert tube and a
lubricant such as KY Jelly. There are many enema kits specific for coffee enemas available
online these days.
drknews.com Page 16
Then make organic coffee and cool it all the way to room temperature. (Do not use in-
stant coffee as many brands are contaminated with gluten.) Make sure it’s not too hot.
You can also find coffee specific for coffee enemas online.

The next step is to fill the enema bag with coffee and lubricate the anal tip of the tube.
You will then need to lie on your right side. It is best to perform this in the bathtub in
case you spill anything.

Then insert the tube into your anus and raise the bag with your hand so it is higher than
your head. The higher you raise the bag the faster the bag will empty.

Once the coffee has drained from the bag into your intestines try to hold the contents in
your bowel for five to 10 minutes. You will have urges to have a bowel movement, but
hold the contents as long as you can.

The coffee will stimulate the cholinergic receptors in your intestines and activate motility
as well as stimulate your vagal system to develop plasticity. The cholinergic stimulation
from coffee will also cause your gallbladder to contract, helping release liver metabolism
end-products into your bowel for elimination.

Be patient with the exercises

It will take some time using these exercises to strengthen vagal tone and the gut-brain
axis. You may need to perform them for several weeks to produce change, just as you
would with weight training.

The gut also affects the brain

Like the brain, the gastrointestinal tract has a nervous system that includes neurons,
neurotransmitters, and electrical signals. Called the enteric nervous system, it is some-
times referred to as the “second brain.”

It appears the gastrointestinal tract contains chemical messengers – peptides and hor-
mones – that profoundly impact the brain’s immune system and its neurotransmitter
pathways. Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that relay information between neu-
rons and profoundly affect brain function, mood, personality, and more.

We know multiple communication pathways travel back and forth between the gut and
the brain, and that gut health affects brain function.

drknews.com Page 17
For example, have you ever eaten something that made you bloated and then you be-
came irritable and angry afterwards? This is an example of how a chemical introduced to
your gastrointestinal environment immediately impacted your brain chemistry.

Gut flora and the brain

Researchers have also discovered our gut flora, the several pounds of bacterial organ-
isms we carry in our intestines, affects brain chemistry.

Healthy gut flora serves many beneficial roles. However, poor diets, stress, excess sugars
and carbs, repeated antibiotic use, and other factors tip the balance of gut flora so that
harmful bacteria outweigh the beneficial.

Newer studies implicate imbalances in gut flora in mood disorders such as depression
and various psychiatric disorders. Has taking antibiotics for several days ever changed
your brain function or mood? It is quite possible the antibiotics could have imbalanced
your gastrointestinal flora and thus your gut-brain neurochemistry.

drknews.com Page 18
 Chapter Three

Why blood sugar balance is so

important to the gut and the brain
Along with diet as a foundation for relieving autoimmune suffering, a key player is blood
sugar balance. Most patients who suffer from chronic illness have some kind of issue
with blood sugar imbalance, also called dysglycemia.

This not only affects your energy level, weight, inflammation levels, and thyroid function,
it also affects your brain function, trickling down to digestive function and mood.

Glucose is the brain’s fuel source, making stable blood sugar vital to healthy, balanced
brain chemistry and the prevention of neurodegeneration. When blood sugar is unstable
– either too high or too low – not enough glucose gets to the brain and the brain will
degenerate and not function well.

Remember that the brain is directly connected to digestive function. When brain func-
tion is compromised, gut function can become compromised, and that’s when we get
into trouble with leaky gut and other issues.

Symptoms of Blood Sugar Imbalances

Reactive hypoglycemia symptoms (low blood sugar spikes)
• Increased energy after meals
• Craving for sweets between meals
• Irritability if meals are missed
• Dependency on coffee and sugar for energy
• Becoming light headed if meals are missed
• Eating to relieve fatigue
• Feeling shaky, jittery, or tremulous
• Feeling agitated and nervous
drknews.com Page 19
 • Become upset easily
• Poor memory, forgetfulness
• Blurred vision

Insulin resistance symptoms (high blood sugar spikes)

• Fatigue after meals
• General fatigue
• Constant hunger
• Craving for sweets not relieved by eating them
• Must have sweets after meals
• Waist girth equal to or larger than hip girth
• Frequent urination
• Increased appetite and thirst
• Difficulty losing weight
• Migrating aches and pains

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar

The list of reactive hypoglycemia symptoms above may be very familiar to you. The
reasons to avoid sugary, high-carb diets and the resultant blood sugar swings are well
known.

The most obvious is the effect of low blood sugar in the person with hypoglycemia. As
the brain is deprived of fuel when blood sugar drops too low, it stops functioning well,
producing shakiness, headache, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, and other neuro-
logical symptoms.

Hypoglycemia is also often linked with adrenal fatigue, a condition in which the adre-
nal glands do not produce enough cortisol. Cortisol, a hormone that helps us cope with
stress, is responsible for raising blood sugar levels when they drop too low, as they do in
hypoglycemia.

However, when cortisol levels are low the body is not able to boost blood sugar up to a
healthy level. The result is the familiar symptoms of feeling shaky, lightheaded, spaced
out, and irritable.

drknews.com Page 20
Adrenal function is related to production of other hormones as well that come into play
with systemic inflammation and autoimmune symptoms.

Insulin resistance, or high blood sugar

If you relate to the list of insulin resistance symptoms above, then you’ll want to know
that excess sugar and starchy foods are a major promoter of inflammation in the brain.
When inflammation affects the brain, neurons die rapidly and in great numbers, speed-
ing up brain aging and increasing the risk for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Like sugar, inappropriate levels of insulin are also pro-inflammatory in the brain. This in-
flammatory cascade affects how the vagus nerve communicates with the gut, mentioned
in more detail above.

Although these facts alone are alarming, they don’t take into account the effect of sugar,
starchy foods, and insulin surges on hormonal balance, gut health, thyroid function, and
adrenal health.

By skewing function in those areas, brain degeneration is promoted even further. A brain
free of inflammation and degeneration requires balanced hormones, a healthy gut, good
thyroid function, and good adrenal function.

You can have both high and low blood sugar

Some people have symptoms of both high and low blood sugar. Whether you have hypo-
glycemia, insulin resistance, or both, you must make changes to your diet if you want to
improve your brain health; there are no exceptions to this.

Although using popular neurotransmitter supplements for the brain may buy you a little
time or a little relief, as long as blood sugar imbalances dominate brain function you will
never enjoy lasting success.

With insulin resistance, you can no longer simply eat what you please when you please.

With hypoglycemia, you cannot continue missing meals or snacking on something sugary
or starchy.

Nutrients to support a healthy response to insulin resistance

Certain nutrients help the cells to regain their sensitivity to insulin so that it can bring
glucose into the cells for energy. Key ingredients include chromium, vanadium, alpha
lipoic acid, mixed tocopherols, magnesium, biotin, zinc, inositol, and gymnema sylvestre.
drknews.com Page 21
Insulin resistant folks are those who become drowsy after meals or even need to lie
down and take a nap, especially after a meal heavy in rice, pasta, bread, or other carbo-
hydrates.

Women with insulin resistance tend to have excess facial hair, some balding, and a large
belly. Men may also have a large belly, as well as “breasts” or a tendency toward being
more emotional.

The rule of thumb for insulin resistance is that if you feel sleepy after you eat, you just
ate too many carbohydrates.

What if your meal was virtually carbohydrate-free, say a chicken breast and green beans
drizzled in olive oil, and you still feel sleepy after eating? It means your insulin resistance
has advanced to such a degree that you may need specialized nutrients to correct insulin
resistance.

Nutrients to support a healthy response to hypoglycemia

Key ingredients include chromium, bovine adrenal gland, choline bitartrate, bovine liver
gland, bovine pancreas gland, inositol, L-carnitine, co-enzyme Q10, rubidium chelate,
and vanadium aspartate.

Nutrients for when you have both low and high blood sugar

Sometimes a person will swing back and forth between insulin resistance and hypogly-
cemia. In these cases, it’s recommended to take nutritional compounds for insulin resis-
tance with meals, and nutritional compounds for hypoglycemia between meals.

It’s important to work with a qualified health care practitioner so you take the right
nutrients and botanicals in the right amounts. Taking the wrong nutrients for your blood
sugar condition has the potential to make your condition worse.

Using the autoimmune diet to stabilize blood sugar function

Hypoglycemia and insulin resistance are not mutually exclusive. If you have one you
most likely have some degree of the other. Either way, both are a sign your blood sugar
is unstable and either dropping too low, spiking too high, or both.

Both cause the insulin surges that skew many others systems in the body. In this case,
you have to determine which nutritional compounds you need and at which time.

For instance, you may need insulin resistance support with your meals to help sensitize
drknews.com Page 22
your cells to insulin so blood sugar levels don’t climb too high. However, between meals
and before bed you may need support for hypoglycemia so that blood sugar doesn’t
drop too low.

Also, regardless of whether you have one, the other, or both, the most fundamental
change you can make is to follow the autoimmune diet. All the herbs and special supple-
ments in the world cannot fully support you until you make the necessary, brain-friendly
dietary and lifestyle changes.

Sticking to a diet that stabilizes blood sugar can be challenging at first, due to intense
cravings and the addictive nature of certain foods, and how ubiquitous these foods are
in our culture.

Also, unidentified food intolerances stimulate the adrenals so that people actually get an
“adrenaline rush” from the foods to which they are sensitive, which also creates intense
cravings. Knowing this fact can make it easier to resist.

Mindfulness about eating habits on the autoimmune diet, support with the right nutri-
tional compounds that stabilize blood sugar, and the determination to weather the hard-
est period – that is, the first three days after changing your diet – will make it easier and
more rewarding for you to follow a healthier way of eating.

Tools to balance blood sugar

Whether you have hypoglycemia or insulin resistance or both, a few basic rules apply to
boost your brain health and balance your brain function:

1. Eat a breakfast of high-quality protein and fat. When you wake up in the morning,
you have been fasting for hours. Chances are your adrenal fight-or-flight hormones
have been called into action (particularly if you woke up at 3 or 4 a.m. feeling anx-
ious). You need to calm down your system by eating a breakfast high in protein and
fats, and low in carbohydrates.

You may wake up with nausea or no appetite. That is a side effect of your adrenal
hormones, and that cup of coffee is only making the problem worse by stressing the
adrenals. You simply must force yourself to eat some protein, even if it’s a little bit.

By eating this breakfast, you are setting your body up for blood sugar stability
throughout the day. In just two to three days of stabilizing your blood sugar you will
no longer wake up feeling nauseous.

Supporting blood sugar issues is futile unless you eat breakfast. If you like to work
out first thing in the morning, just make sure you eat within one hour of waking up.
drknews.com Page 23
 2. If you have hypoglycemia, eat a small amount of protein every two to three
hours – a few bites will do. The goal is to keep your blood sugar stable and leave the
adrenal glands out of the picture (they kick into action when blood sugar is low).

Going for long stretches without eating exacerbates the imbalance, which can ac-
celerate degeneration of the brain and contribute to brain chemistry imbalances. As
your dysglycemia improves, you will find you can go longer between snacks.

3. Find your carbohydrate tolerance and stick to it. A high-carbohydrate diet is at the
root of blood sugar imbalances and accelerated brain degeneration.

A good rule of thumb for how many grams of carbohydrates should you eat each day:
If you feel sleepy or crave sugar after you eat, you have eaten too many carbs.

Many symptoms of blood sugar imbalances, such as sleep issues, irritability, and en-
ergy crashes start to diminish on a lower-carbohydrate diet.

Also, unidentified food intolerances can create sugar cravings or fatigue after meals,
so it’s important to find out if that’s an issue for you.

4. Never eat high-carb foods without some fiber, fat, or protein. These will slow
down the rate at which the glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream and help pre-
vent “insulin shock.”

5. Do not eat sweets or starchy foods before bed. This is one of the worst things the
hypoglycemic person can do. Your blood sugar will crash during the night, long before
your next meal is due. When this happens, your adrenals kick into action, creating
restless sleep or that 3 a.m. wake up with anxiety.

6. Avoid all fruit juices and carrot juice. These can be more sugary than soda, and
will quickly have you crashing.

7. Avoid or limit caffeine. The energy boosting drinks on the market should also be
avoided. Blood sugar imbalances are hard enough on the adrenal glands, the glands
that handle our stress response, and adding in adrenal stimulants fatigues them fur-
ther.

8. Eat a well-balanced diet consisting mostly of vegetables, and quality meats and
fats. A diet of junk food, fast foods, and other processed foods works against you.

A diet dominated by leafy, green vegetables and adequate in quality protein and fats
is enormously restorative.
drknews.com Page 24
 9. Eliminate food allergens and intolerances. Whenever a food creates an immune
response, it also creates blood sugar instability and insulin surges. Eating these foods
can create sugar cravings and fatigue after meals. To stabilize blood sugar and pro-
mote brain health, problem foods should be eliminated and the gut repaired.

drknews.com Page 25
 Conclusion

Autoimmune diet resources

and ongoing support

The autoimmune diet protocol can seem daunting at first, and planning is essential to
success.

You must have the right foods on hand at all times. To succeed, it’s helpful to make clear
menus and grocery lists, and to clean out your cupboards of non-diet-compliant foods to
make it easier for you to stick to the plan.

It’s very helpful to batch cook so you have meals at hand and are not tempted to fall ‘off
the wagon.’

Thankfully, there are now plenty of great websites that offer recipes compliant with the
autoimmune diet, also called the Autoimmune Protocol or AIP.

I hope you have benefited from this guide.

To learn more about why these foods are so important to include or avoid, please see
my Oral Tolerance and Save Your Brain courses.

Also, please check out my books Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab
Tests Are Normal? and Why Isn’t My Brain Working?

drknews.com Page 26
Autoimmune Gut-Brain Diet: Foods to Eat

drknews.com Page 27
Autoimmune Gut-Brain Diet: Foods to Avoid

drknews.com Page 28