6 Natural Remedies That Prevent Autoimmune Diseases
When your body attacks itself, it’s necessary to look for alternatives that won’t allow you to lose your quality of life.
In this article, you can learn about 6 natural remedies that fight autoimmune diseases and will help you improve your quality of life and boost your overall health.
Autoimmune diseases are when you have an error in your immune system. This causes it to attack its own cells inside your body. When this problem occurs, there’s usually an exaggerated response against your own substances and tissues. In other words, your body is trying to defend itself.
Common Symptoms
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Swelling
- Redness
- Chronic inflammation
- Muscle and joint pain
- Feeling excessively hot without an apparent reason
6 Natural Remedies to Fight Autoimmune Diseases
Although autoimmune diseases are very different, there are some remedies that will be very helpful to improve the quality of life of patients. Continue reading to find out about some of the most common and effective natural treatments.
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1. Drink Tea
Green tea and black tea have some beneficial compounds such as: flavonoids, catechins and theaflavins. These are great for preventing and reducing the effects of autoimmune diseases. Since some teas can provide a new flavor to your taste buds, it’s recommended that you gradually add it into your diet because you may not like the taste of it and stop drinking it.
A good option to get in the habit of drinking tea is having it with certain fruits, such as citrus or wild berries.
2. Eat More Apples
Another natural remedy that prevent autoimmune diseases are apples. These fruits are rich in quercetin. This element reduces allergic reactions and reduces swelling, which are two common characteristics in autoimmune diseases. Quercetin is also found in:
- Berries
- Capers
- Red grapes
- Red onion
It’s important to know that the largest percent of quercetin is in the skin or peels of those foods. Therefore, you should avoid eating apples eating.
3. Include More Recipes with Carrots
Carrots contain carotenoids, the pigment of plants that contain betacarotene. Consuming these foods will take care of any deficiencies you may have and considerably reduce swelling. Other sources of carotenoids are:
- Sweet potatoes or yams
- Apricots
- Spinach
- Pumpkin
- Kale
If a patient with inflammation uses some of these foods in his/her daily diet., then his/her inflammation will go down in no time.
4. Add a Little Ginger
Ginger is a very beneficial root for your body and is another natural remedy that prevents autoimmune diseases.
It helps reduce inflammation due to inhibiting prostaglandin, decreasing cytokine and producing chemokine. All of this means the impact of autoimmune diseases will decrease.
This food is recommended especially for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. You can add it to your foods or drink a cup of ginger tea every day.
5. More Omega-3
Omega-3 is an essential fatty acid that counteracts the formation of chemical compounds that produce inflammation. You can get this substance through the following foods:
- Chick peas
- Salmon
- Sardines
- Anchovies
- Nuts
- Flax
- Soy
6. Include More Fiber in Your Diet
With a healthy and active colon, you can improve your intestinal transit, which will in turn lighten the load on your immune system.
For this to be possible, you should increase the amount of fiber you eat in your daily diet. The best type of fiber is natural, found in:
- Fruits
- Whole grains
- Leafy green vegetables
Fiber is one of the best natural remedies to fight autoimmune diseases. It helps regulate your body while providing lots of nutrients.
Be sure to avoid consuming processed foods, even ones that say they’re high in fiber on the nutrition label. The problem with these products is that they are also high in sugars and preservatives, which make your problems worse.
Other Measures to Improve Your Quality of Life
1. Reduce Stress
It’s necessary to look for ways to alleviate your stress. This way, you will combat the problems caused by autoimmune diseases. The most effective methods are:
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Relaxing massages
- Other relaxation techniques
It’s a good idea for the patient to practice various techniques throughout the week. Little by little, you’ll find out which ones give you more effective results and which ones give you immediate benefits. All you have to do is give them a try.
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2. Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is fundamental for prevent symptoms of autoimmune diseases. You have to keep in mind that insomnia or just not resting enough can worsen other symptoms.
Ideally, you should sleep between 6 and 8 hours at night. If you have problems reaching this goal, you could try drinking a warm tea or do more exercise throughout the day.
3. Follow a Balanced Diet
A balanced diet keeps you healthy and provides you energy. Additionally, it’s capable of improving symptoms caused by autoimmune diseases. Nutrition is fundamental for your body and when your diet is good, so is your health.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Autoimmune diseases. womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/autoimmune-diseases
- Bach J-F. The effect of infections on susceptibility to autoimmune and allergic diseases. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2002;347(12):911–920 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12239261
- Zenewicz LA, Abraham C, Flavell RA, Cho JH. Unraveling the genetics of autoimmunity. Cell. 2010;140(6):791–797. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491807/
- U.S. National Library of Medicine. Autoimmune disorders. medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000816.htm