Various fasting regimens have been attempted for autoimmune inflammatory diseases, such as lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic urticaria, mixed connective tissue disease, glomerulonephritis, and multiple sclerosis, as well as for osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia.
The strongest evidence for the benefits of fasting surrounds the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune joint disease, as I detailed in my previous blog post. A German study suggested benefits for osteoarthritis as well and reported improvements in pain and joint function, but we would really need randomized controlled studies to know for sure. The researchers despaired because they only had 30 patients, but that is 30 times more than many reports on fasting in the medical literature, which may detail only unique cases.
One woman, for example, with a rare autoimmune disease known as mixed connective tissue disease, which can cause all kinds of painful and distressing symptoms, was treated with steroids in an attempt to suppress her immune system. After 21 days of fasting and without medication, “he had no more complaints.” More importantly, his symptoms seemed to disappear and he “remained medication-free.” So, does fasting work for mixed connective tissue disease? All we can say is that it worked at least once.
A similar success story has been reported with fibromyalgia. A woman with pain all over her body, who was unable to maintain activity and was taking many medications, became “symptom-free” after a 24-day fast and remained so at her “follow-up visit 1 month later.” However, when a modified fasting regimen was applied tried In dozens of people, the benefits seen at week 2 largely disappeared by week 12, as shown below and at 1:32 of my video. Fasting for autoimmune diseases.
What about lupus? A 45-year-old woman who had remained He had pain despite taking immunosuppressive medications, was pain-free on the fourth day of fasting, and remained symptom-free for a year when his symptoms began to return, but eliminated them again with a second seven-day fast, “after which he had no more symptoms.» However, note that she did not just fast. She fasted on water only and then followed a plant-based diet in an attempt to solidify the gains. On her own, a strictly plant-based diet without animal proteins. shown to control symptoms at least in some cases.
The same goes for sacroiliitis, a common manifestation of ankylosing spondylitis, an autoimmune arthritis that primarily affects the spine, causing Back pain that can last for years. In the case of a 33-year-old man, all kinds of conventional therapies and medications were tried, but the pain did not go away. Complete avoidance of foods of animal origin was therefore recommended, and “the discomfort clearly and persistently improved” within a matter of days, until the patient resumed eating meat. Once again on plant-based nutrition, he stopped taking most of his medications and had almost no symptoms. So, at least in this case, the inflammatory pain refractory to other treatments was abolished by eating healthier. At least it’s worth a try!
Autoimmune glomerulonephritis, where your body attacks your own kidneys, is a common manifestation of lupus. In one case series, 29 patients fasted for 60 hours and then ate only fruits and vegetables until they improved. They described recoveries so remarkable that fasting, in their opinion, “should be an essential part of the treatment.”
What about multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune nerve disease? People with MS were random to a “diet that imitates fasting”; in this case, a modified fast that began with an 800-calorie daily diet of fruit, rice or potatoes, followed by a week drinking a few hundred calories of flaxseed oil and vegetable broth and then transitioning to a Mediterranean-based diet. in plants. Over the next three months, they experienced a significant improvement in overall quality of life. They also tried a ketogenic diet, but it failed to offer a clinically or statistically significant overall benefit, as you can see below and at 3:34 in my video.
And finally, let’s look at chronic urticaria (urticaria), where get a rash of itchy hives and welts, as seen here and at 3:40 on my video. Individuals began They improved on day 3 of the fast, and their hives were completely gone by day 11. This is consistent with studies from Germany and Japan that evidently showed about 75 percent effectiveness for these patients on what appears to be a kind of fasting diet. tea with sugar. Fasting therapy is certainly worth trying, but of course fasting should only made under trained medical supervision. Otherwise, you would never know if you have any hidden underlying kidney problems that could land You’re in a coma and then maybe in the morgue. You should monitor kidney function and electrolytes to ensure your body is ready for the challenge.
“Despite the possible good results, water-only fasting is It is not a cure or treatment in the traditional sense; It is simply intended to promote the body’s self-healing mechanisms.” Since fasting is unsustainable, by definition, “to maintain the results obtained from water-only fasting, it is necessary to follow a health-promoting lifestyle that includes a diet of minimally processed plant foods, adequate sleep, and physical exercise.” intense».
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out my related video. Fasting for rheumatoid arthritis.
I have done three webinars on fasting. All videos are available for free on NutritionFacts.org, but you can also download them digitally, as a package or separately. See:
To view all fasting videos currently on the site, visit our fasting topic page.
Are you interested in learning more about using diet to prevent and treat autoimmune diseases? Check out related posts below.
