I commonly get asked – “Does a gluten free diet help this (insert disease name) autoimmune disease?”

The answer is typically yes.  Why?  It has been well established that gluten contributes and in many cases, causes these types of conditions.  We know that it creates leaky gut syndrome and gut bacterial changes that change the way the immune system behaves.  This in turn leads to the development of autoimmunity.  There are 140 different types of autoimmune disease.  Typically they are named based on their location.  For example:

• Celiac disease (affects the small intestine)
• Crohn’s disease (right side of the large intestine)
• Ulcerative Colitis (left side of the large intestine)
• Hashimoto’s (thyroid gland)
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis (the skin)
• Eczema and psoriasis (the skin)
• Asthma (the lungs)
• Osteoporosis (the bones)
• Rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and Lupus (the joints)
• Schizophrenia and bipolar disease (the brain)
• Neuropathy, Epilepsy, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (the nervous system and brain)

If you have been diagnosed with autoimmune disease…

For anyone with a diagnosis I recommend genetic testing for gluten sensitivity immediately.   Diet is too easy to change and has too great an impact to ignore.  Unfortunately most traditional doctors will tell patients that diet has nothing to do with disease.  This would not be the case if nutrition was actually taught in medical school.  If your doctor will not help you identify nutritional elements related to your disease, I recommend that you find a functional medicine doctor who will.

Wishing you excellent health,

Dr. Osborne

Dr. Osborne is an expert in functional medicine and chiropractic care.  He is Board Certified in Nutritional Medicine.  You can contact his office at 281-240-2229.  He regularly treats patients from across the world.  His office is in Sugar Land, Texas in the Greater Houston area.