Lupus: Disarming the Robber of Vitality
by Michael Donaldson, PhD
Lupus—What is It?
Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease in which the body starts to attack its various organs, causing inflammation and eventually failure. Common symptoms overlap with other diseases—the butterfly rash on the face, sensitivity to the sun, joint pain, fatigue, anemia, heart and lung inflammation, blood in the urine, excess protein in the urine, and anti-nuclear antibody in the blood. Symptoms vary between people and overtime. Flare-ups are common as with other autoimmune diseases. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates between 1.5 and 2 million Americans have lupus; more than 90% of them are women. Women suffer many more auto-immune diseases than men. Usually diagnosis occurs in women during their childbearing years. Our medical system describes the robbers of vitality very well, but lupus, like many other auto-immune diseases, has no medical cure, only drugs to ease the symptoms, if you can stand the side-effects.
Lupus—What Causes It?
It’s a bit of a guess as to what causes autoimmune diseases like lupus, Fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, Sjogren’s syndrome, or rheumatoid arthritis. It appears to be a combination of oral pathology (jawbone cavitations, often arising from wisdom tooth extractions, or anaerobic bacterial toxins from root canal teeth), genetic susceptibility, and environmental triggers. It’s proven that periodontal disease can contribute to systemic illness like cardiovascular disease, so it isn’t too far fetched (and has been shown) to see that other toxins from the mouth and jaws can contribute to other systemic diseases. It appears that you need all three conditions present to fully arm the robber of vitality. In this article I will focus on nutritional keys to deal with lupus.
Inflammation
Inflammation is the systemic hallmark of lupus. Acute inflammation is part of the healing process of injuries. However, in a person with SLE there is chronic inflammation where the signal to turn off the inflammation is ignored or not produced. This inflammation can be controlled by our diet and dietary supplements.
Omega 3 Fats
Our bodies require a sufficient supply of omega 3 fats to modulate inflammation by producing anti-inflammatory eicosanoids from EPA. Thirty grams of flaxseed per day has been used to protect the kidneys from free radical damage (1). Fish oil, 20 grams per day, has also been successfully used to reduce lupus disease activity. After 34 weeks, the 14 people taking fish oil achieved useful or ideal status, while the 13 people taking the olive oil placebo were worse or had no change (2). In a third study, subjects went into clinical remission without side effects using an EPA/DHA combination. The researchers found that lipid peroxides, nitric oxide, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase (all markers foroxidative damage) reverted to normal levels compared to before supplementation (3). These studies show that omega 3 fats play a very important role in modulating the inflammation found in SLE. This is true for other inflammatory conditions as well.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are also critical in reducing inflammation. Chronic inflammation generates a lot of free radicals all of the time, leading to a significant amount of vital organ damage. The main source of antioxidants is raw fruits and vegetables. Berries are excellent sources. Nuts, seeds, and legumes are also rich sources of antioxidants. Supplements by themselves without a great diet won’t get near the results that you need to stop the robbers of vitality.
Pycnogenol significantly lowered the SLE disease activity index in a small study, along with reducing free radical production and spontaneous apoptosis (4). Curcumin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well. It modulates enzymes involved ininflammation as well as down-regulating inflammatory cytokine production.
Vitamin D
The lack of vitamin D has been implicated in several autoimmune diseases, including SLE. People recently diagnosed with SLE had lower vitamin D levels compared to a control group. And if the subjects had kidney disease or were photosensitive (common with SLE) the chances of being deficient in vitamin D were even greater (5). In Germany a series of SLE patients revealed that low vitamin D levels were significantly associated with high disease activity (6). In a study comparing patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and SLE, the researchers found that vitamin D levels in the SLE group were significantly lower than healthy controls or the osteoarthritis group (7). Certainly, vitamin D levels need to be optimized to disarm the robber of vitality.
Leaky Gut Syndrome
A leaky gut is caused by inflammation in the intestinal tract itself. Proteins that are not fully digested into short peptides are allowed to slip between cells lining the intestinal tract and into the bloodstream. Antibodies form against these food proteins. Sometimes these antibodies also recognize self-proteins, which they also attack—autoimmunity. How can we support the body’s efforts in dealing with a leaky gut? First, by following the steps mentioned above—omega 3 oils, antioxidants, and vitamin D. Second, by eliminating animal proteins and foods that cause an allergic response. Animal proteins do not usually causea classic allergy response, but they contribute to the autoimmune antibody formation—many proteins in animal foods are like the proteins in our own bodies. Gluten (from the grains of wheat, rye, and barley) is also not well tolerated by many people. (Note: BarleyMax is made from the juice of the young barley and alfalfa grass and is gluten free.) The best way to test yourself for allergie sis to eliminate a food (like gluten grains) for 2 weeks and then eat a big serving of it. This test is much more reliable than allergy pricks. Simultaneous elimination of allergenic foods and animal proteins along with dramatically increasing the intake of vegetables and fruit will lead to a welcome reduction in the leaky gut process.
Iodine & Hormone Balance
Why do women get lupus nine times out of ten? There must be hormonal connections. Iodine is part of that connection. Iodine balances hormones. Although both men and women consume the same low amount of iodine, women actually have a higher need for iodine than men because iodine concentrates in the breast tissue and ovaries. Pregnancy and nursing increase iodine demand even more. So, women are more likely to be functionally deficient in iodine than men. Without sufficient iodine, women’s hormones won’t be balanced. It is very likely, though not thoroughly proven, that iodine plays a role inautoimmune diseases like lupus. For a generally healthy person, an intake of 1-3 mg of iodine per day is quite likely to be safe and effective without complications. More iodine can be taken safely, but health care practitioner oversight is recommended when this is done. More information on iodine is available at www.hacres.com/diet/articles/Iodine.pdf.
Stress
Everybody must learn to deal with the pressures and uncertainties of life. Resting the body, soul, and spirit are necessary. We need to feed our souls, too, to nourish our whole being. Finding refreshment in God’s presence and trusting Him to work things out are vital to being healthy and balanced. “The joy ofthe Lord is my strength,” needs to be our testimony, too.
Michael Donaldson, Ph.D. is Research Director of the Hallelujah Acres Foundation. His research studies have been published in many medical and nutrition journals, including BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Nutrition & Food Science, and Nutrition Journal.
References
1. Clark WF, Kortas C, Heidenheim AP, Garland J, Spanner E,Parbtani A. Flaxseed in lupus nephritis: a two-year nonplacebo-controlled crossover study. J Am Coll Nutr 2001;20(2 Suppl):143-8.
2. Walton AJ, Snaith ML, Locniskar M, Cumberland AG, Morrow WJ, Isenberg DA. Dietary fish oil and the severity of symptoms in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Ann Rheum Dis1991;50(7):463-6.
3. Mohan IK, Das UN. Oxidant stress, anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids in systemic lupus erythematosus. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 1997;56(3):193-8.
4. Stefanescu M, Matache C, Onu A, Tanaseanu S, Dragomir C,Constantinescu I, et al. Pycnogenol efficacy in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Phytother Res 2001;15(8):698-704.
5. Kamen DL, Cooper GS, Bouali H, Shaftman SR, Hollis BW, Gilkeson GS. Vitamin D deficiency in systemic lupus erythematosus. Autoimmun Rev 2006;5(2):114-7.
6. Becker A, Fischer R, Schneider M. [Bone density and 25-OHvitamin D serum level in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus]. Z Rheumatol 2001;60(5):352-8.
7. Muller K, Kriegbaum NJ, Baslund B, Sorensen OH, Thymann M,Bentzen K. Vitamin D3 metabolism in patients with rheumatic diseases: low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Clin Rheumatol 1995;14(4):397-400.
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