Dear Raw Girl: Fighting Lupus?

Hello Raw Girl! I came across your site after searching for vegan and dermatomyositis…I was diagnosed with Lupus about a year ago…they put me on meds and the symptoms didn’t improve and I got even more sick. By the grace of God I came across Jill Harrington’s Lupus Recovery Diet and became vegan. My symptoms improved and I thought I was *cured*…so I then began eating whatever I wanted. BIG surprise (not) my eyes are swollen and itchy. Turns out, I have this thing…so now I’m in the middle of a fast to get my body back on a fresh start and then STAY on the vegan diet. I’ve even started feeding my kids a more vegetarian diet. Wondering from your opinion…do you think my symptoms will improve again? Or is it too late? – Brittany Clarke

Dear Brittany:

Thank you for sharing this with me and trusting my opinion. First off, I want to say, whatever I express in this post is just that, an OPINION. Not fact, not necessarily the be all end all, just my own biased point of view. I am not a doctor so I cannot give you a specific medical opinion based on your body, but I can share with you my thoughts. Unfortunately there are many doctors with opinions, who speak into people’s lives, and their word is taken as truth. Time and time again, patients with terminal diseases have proven doctors wrong, and have far outlived their diagnosis just based on the power of will and positivity. That said, how bad do you want it? You made yourself well once before, so you clearly have what it takes to do it again if you visualize wellness and stick to your guns. I think you can do it.

I did some research through several natural cures books about Lupus, and diet is definitely key in keeping you well long term and reducing inflammation. They say no one knows the exact cause and conventional medicine usually treats issues that may lead to flare-ups such as medications, birth control pills, any pre-existing viral illnesses, or extreme stress. Attacking your condition from the holistic perspective you need to find out if you have any particular food allergies (apparently some food allergies can mimic lupus or worsen conditions), watch anything that may cause hormonal imbalances, assure that your digestion is optimal, make sure you address any potential nutritional deficiencies, and also that you avoid intake of more toxins and detox from heavy metals. So its important not only that you go vegan, you need to avoid the sugars and carbs that promote an internal acidic environment and inflammation, you also need to focus on really giving your body OPTIMAL  nutrition. Here’s some ideas based on my research that may help you.

• Juice Fasting. The juice fast plan is great, 3 days is a good length on green juices, and you can even throw in their some organic herbal teas to help promote detoxification. Try once a month if more seems too much to start.
• Buy organic whole foods. Avoid conventional veggies if possible so you don’t take in more toxins via pesticides etc. Thoroughly wash your veggies.
• Vitamin E . For this you can include wheat germ, watercress (which has three times the amount of Vitamin E in lettuce) and all other leafy greens, nuts and seeds.
• Essential Fatty Acids in ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil will help you reduce inflammation. You can add these to a salad. Or make a yogurt out of fruit and sprinkle ground flaxseeds on top.
• Foods high in sulfur will help repair damage that flareups do to your joint cartilage. Foods such as: onions, garlic, asparagus, arugula, blue green algea (E3 Live would be great), bee pollen, broccoli, kale, maca, spirulina, watercress, cauliflower, and pumpkin seeds are contain a nice amount of sulfur.
• Incorporate a supergreen supplement in your diet, some of which were mention in the sulfur food list above: spirulina, chlorella (which also helps body detoxify from heavy metals), and/or E3 Live (liquid blue green algae supplement).
• Make sure your water is clean! Tap water may expose you to toxins and microorganisms which won’t help because your body is already in a compromised state.
• Probiotics will help with digestion and maintain a healthy digestive environment.
• Natural Pain Relievers. Evening primrose oil and black currant oil can help to reduce joint inflammation. White willow bark is a natural alternative that can be used for join pain. (I can vouch for this one, when I had my accident I took this and valerian root to help ease the pain.)

All that said, the gist of it is that I believe, YOU CAN DO IT. Make sure to listen to your body, seek medical supervision holistic or regular if you need it just to see where you are. Consider going to a holistic practitioner and testing for any food allergies and nutritional deficiencies you may have, and try to organize your life in a way that minimizes your daily stress. I sincerely wish you the health you deserve, and because you did it once before, you should know, you most definitely can do it again! This next time, though, make sure to stick with it. -XoXo Raw Girl

For tips on how to have a stress free fast, check out this previous post:

http://rawgirltoxicworld.com/2009/11/18/tips-for-a-stress-free-fast/

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