The Autoimmune Solution

October 20, 2014
Functional medicine physician Myers, who once suffered from Graves’ disease, claims that conventional medicine has failed the more than 50 million Americans with autoimmune diseases, which include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. The “Myers Way” relies on the “four pillars”: healing the gut (80% of the immune system, she notes, is located there); cutting out gluten; detoxifying the body; and dealing with infections (e.g., Epstein-Barr) and stress. Gluten, says Myers, causes inflammation and encourages leaky gut syndrome: avoid it, she advises, “like the plague” (in its hybridized state this is not the gluten, she explains, of our ancestors). Myers includes a 30-day meal plan for readers with autoimmune problems, replacing “inflammatory” ingredients like sugar, legumes, eggs, grains, and dairy with protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. In an appendix, she also includes a symptom tracker to help readers chart their progress. Though Myers’s protocol requires discipline (particularly difficult for vegetarians), those with autoimmune issues should welcome this helpful and hopeful resource from a physician who walks her talk. Agent: Stephanie Tade, Stephanie Tade Agency.