Autoimmunity occurs when an overburdened immune system becomes hypersensitised, attacking healthy tissues along with foreign invaders.

How do you become so sensitised? Normally, your immune system is already very busy fighting off a wide variety of invaders – including allergens, toxins, bacteria and viruses.

Unfortunately, many people overload their immune systems every day, in a wide variety of ways – from poor food choices, to absorbing toxins from their environment, water and even cosmetics.  Apart from toxic overload, gut issues are a major catalyst for compromised immune functions.  In particular, leaky gut (when cracks or holes in the lining of the intestinal tract allow toxins to leach into your blood) is considered to be a precursor for many if not all autoimmune illness.

As a result, your immune system stays on “high alert” all the time. This can cause it to start to attack healthy tissues as well and even entire organs. Various systems in your body can suffer from your joints, brain, skin, and glands to your thyroid.

There are hundreds of autoimmune illnesses, each of which have their own unique symptoms. Symptoms of autoimmune thyroid diseases (like Hashimoto’s) can include depression, fluctuations in weight, difficulty sleeping, and anxiety. Coeliac Disease manifests itself through digestive problems and/or neurological issues, rashes, and the sudden loss of control of your body’s movements. Those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) will often notice symmetric joint problems in the wrists and hands.

The conventional approach to treat autoimmune disease centers primarily around prescribing powerful immune-suppressing medication such as injection biologics like Humira, Remicade and Enbrel – rather than identifying and addressing the root cause like toxins or gut issues.

Sadly, people still report feeling poorly on these medications which do nothing to address the inflammation and underlying imbalances that caused autoimmunity in the first place.